Hidden Greek Gods Trivia Quiz

Answer: Zeus

"BlaZE USed her sick..."

King of the Gods and ruler of thunder, Zeus is perhaps the most famous Greek god of them all. His father Cronus had overthrown his own father, Uranus, and as it was foretold that in turn he would be overthrown by a son, Cronus swallowed each of his children as soon as they were born. When Zeus was born, his mother tricked Cronus by giving him a rock in swaddling clothes, which he swallowed thinking it was the baby, and Zeus was hidden away. When he grew up, he forced his father to regurgitate the children he had swallowed, and waged a war against Cronus and his siblings, the Titans.

Answer: Hera

"...gave HER Aunt's money..."

Hera is wife and sister to Zeus, and Queen of the Gods. Although she is goddess of marriage and childbirth, her own track record in these is not a good one! Zeus had many affairs, invoking her wrathful jealousy; for example, when Zeus impregnated a mortal woman named Semele, Hera disguised herself and persuaded Semele to request to see Zeus in his true form. He obliged and Semele was killed by his lightning. When Zeus impregnated Leto, Hera disallowed her to give birth on any land or sea, and kidnapped the goddess of childbirth so she would not go into labor! As a mother, she famously threw her own son, Hephaestus, from Mount Olympus, as she was so disgusted by his ugliness!

Answer: Hermes

"...HeatHER MESmerized..."

Hermes is the messenger of the gods, as well as being god of thieves, travelers, and the guide of souls to the underworld. He is depicted with wings protruding from his cap and sandals, and is able to move between the mortal and divine worlds as he pleases. Due to his swiftness, he is regarded as god of athletes, and is famous for his cunning. When Zeus turned his lover Io into a cow to protect her from Hera's wrath, Hera sent the 100-eyed Argus Panoptes to ensure she did not go back to Zeus. Zeus in turn sent Hermes, who lulled all one hundred eyes to sleep, and then cut off Argus's head.

Answer: Atlas

"...turned up AT LASt."

Atlas is a Titan, who is depicted as holding up either the heavens or the Earth upon his shoulders. He was condemned to this fate by Zeus following the war between the Olympians (led by Zeus), and the Titans (led by Zeus' father, Cronus). He tried to trick Heracles into taking over this onerous duty; the hero shouldered Atlas's burden temporarily, while the latter did him the favor of retrieving the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. Atlas relished his freedom from the terrible task of supporting the world, and asked Heracles to maintain the post for a while longer, intending to leave him to do it forever - however, Heracles saw through it, and asked Atlas if he could momentarily take back the Earth while he padded his shoulders for protection. When Atlas took it back, Heracles ran off with the apples and never returned!

Answer: Thetis

"...pick up THE TISsue..."

Thetis is a goddess of water, and she comprises the Nereids with her forty-nine sisters. She is often depicted as the leader of the Nereids, who had shape-shifting abilities. It had been prophesied to Zeus that the son of Thetis would be more powerful than his father, so despite his attraction to her, he did not want to sire such a child. Thus he and his brother Poseidon arranged for Thetis to marry a mortal man, Peleus; however, she refused the marriage. Her father told Peleus to find Thetis as she slept, and to bind her down to prevent her escape by shape-shifting; although she did assume many forms in an attempt to flee him, Peleus managed to hold her, and eventually she did consent to the marriage. Together they bore Achilles, the famous hero of the Trojan War.

Answer: Eos

"...completely whitE OSprey."

Eos is a Titan and goddess of the dawn. Her father is Hyperion, the bringer of light, and she is sister to the sun, Helios, and the moon, Selene. She is described as having rosy fingers, with which she brought the dawn each morning. After she slept with the god of war, Ares, she was cursed by a jealous Aphrodite, goddess of love; this gave Eos never-ending sexual desire and she was always in love. This led her to abduct men as her lovers, including Cleitus, whom she made immortal. When she took the Trojan Tithonus as her lover, she asked Zeus to grant him immortality too, but unfortunately she neglected to ask that he remain eternally young, so poor Tithonus lived forever, growing older and more decrepit. He was able to transform himself into a grasshopper, but he continued to live forever, begging for death.

Answer: Lethe

"...don't LET HEnning..."

Lethe is the name of one of the five rivers of Hades, the underworld, and the goddess Lethe is the personification of this river, of forgetfulness and oblivion. Her mother was Eris, the goddess of strife, and her siblings include the Phonoi ("the murders"), the Algea ("the pains"), and Limos ("starvation"). When souls came into Hades, they were required to drink from Lethe's waters, in order to forget their mortal lives. Some religions believed that there was a choice to drink from the waters of Lethe, or from the waters of Mnemosyne, or memory, to attain omniscience.

Answer: Apollo

"A POLL Of voters'..."

Along with his father Zeus, Apollo is one of the most famous of the Greek gods. An Olympian, he is the god of the sun, while his twin sister Artemis is identified with the moon. Artemis was born first, and then helped their mother Leto with the birth of Apollo. He is at the center of much of Greek mythology, and has had countless lovers, male and female. One such lover was the hero Hyacinth. However, Zephyrus, god of the west wind, was in love too with Hyacinth, and was jealous that he preferred Apollo, so when the lovers were playing discus one day, Zephyrus caused Apollo's throw to veer off course, hitting Hyacinth and killing him. In his grief, Apollo created the flower hyacinth from his spilled blood.

Answer: Athena

"...of mATH ENAbles us..."

Athena is the goddess of wisdom, and is known to most people. Her mother was Metis, about whom it had been prophesied that her children would be more powerful than their father, and thus after sleeping with her, Zeus panicked and ate Metis! However, she was already pregnant with Athena, who was born with full armor from her father's head. She is the patron of the city Athens; she and the sea god Poseidon quarreled over who should have the city, and each brought gifts to the people, who were to choose which they preferred. Poseidon created a salt water spring from the rock of the Acropolis, while Athena gifted an olive tree. The people preferred the tree rather than the salty water, and she was named patron. The Parthenon was erected in her honor and the city named for her.

Answer: Hades

"...Francis HAD EScaped..."

Hades is the god of the underworld, brother to Zeus and Poseidon. Although he was not the god of death - this was Thanatos - and he was usually regarded as passive rather than evil, the living generally feared him. He did show wrath to those who tried to cheat death, or to escape the underworld; for example, Sisyphus twice cheated Hades, only to be condemned to an eternity of hard labor, which involved pushing a large rock to the top of a hill, only for it to roll back down again every time. Persephone was Hades' queen, whom he kidnapped while she picked flowers. Her mother, Demeter, goddess of agriculture, let the world grow barren in her grief, leading Zeus to retrieve Persephone. However, Hades had tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds, thus she had to remain at least part of the year in the underworld with him - these occasions represent winter, when Demeter is grieving again and thus neglects the world.