Celebrities Named After Greek Legends Quiz

Answer: Ariadne

Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete. Her legend is associated with mazes, labyrinths, assisting her true love Theseus to overcome the Minotaur monster, and web-spinning.

Ariadne Diaz was born in Mexico in 1986. She is a well known model and accomplished actress in film and television. One of her notable roles was that of the overweight but sweet Marianela Ruiz y de Teresa Pavon in the TV series "Llena da amor" which ran from 2010-2011. After being orphaned, she is sent to live with a perfectly ghastly aunt, her uncle and her four cousins. Her aunt spends much of the series in trying to bump off her niece and steal her inheritance. The Cinderella associated theme of this entertaining series all ends happily ever after - eventually.

Answer: Athena

Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, civilization, law and justice, strategy and warfare, mathematics, the arts and crafts, and Greek religion and mythology. Gracious me, what an exhausting schedule. So highly honoured and respected was she that the Athenians built the mighty Parthenon on the Acropolis as a tribute to her constant intervention on their behalf. The olive tree, a valuable commercial plant in many parts of the world today, is said to have been created by this powerful Greek goddess.

Athena Cage was born in Kentucky in 1969. She is an American singer, songwriter and producer who has several albums of her own music credited to her name, and with performances on several other platinum albums by other singers. One of her songs, "All or Nothing" is heard in the 2001 movie "Save the Last Dance", with a storyline centred around an interracial couple's romance, dancing, and a sought after win in an important dance audition. Athena Cage is also well known for her major contributions to many community works in Kentucky and for her establishment of the Athena Cage Scholarship Fund at Western Kentucky University where she completed her own education.

Answer: Cassandra

Cassandra was the beautiful daughter of King Priam of Troy. When the powerful god Apollo attempted to seduce her (the fiend!), and was rejected, he punished her in his rage by giving her the ability to be able to see into the future, but never to be believed. And they say Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Born in Kansas in 1951, Cassandra Peterson is an American actress and singer with over sixty appearances in movies, television series and music videos, and several singles to her credit as well. She began her performance career as a go-go dancer in Las Vegas where she met and dated Elvis Presley for a short time. She is most well known for her persona of the gothic, seductive Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, who first sprang to the public's attention in 1981, and who has since become a hugely popular cult figure with a huge range of merchandise based on her image. These include costumes, comic books, action figures, pinball machines, perfume and dolls - just to name a few.

Answer: Daphne

Daphne is a nymph from Greek mythology who is associated with streams, springs, fountains and other sources of fresh water. Because of her beauty, she was another girl pursued by Apollo (that god was positively scandalous!), but just before he caught her, she cried out to her father, who was a river god, for help. Dear old Dad promptly turned her into a laurel tree to save her. Today this is why laurel trees are often seen near water. It is also why, at the Pythian Games, held every four years at Delphi to honour Apollo, a laurel wreath was distributed as the prize for the winner. That was tempting providence a bit. No god would have liked to be reminded that he bombed out in his amorous pursuits.

Born in California in 1962, Daphne Zuniga is an American actress who, by 2014, had already appeared in almost seventy films and various television series. Her most well known role was her four season stint in the TV series "Melrose Place" (1992-1999). In this show which followed the complicated and romantic daily lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex (Melrose Place) in California, she played Jo Reynolds, a photographer on the run from her brutal spouse. Interestingly, although not for her, Daphne suffered from mercury poisoning in 2004, believed to have been caused by over-consumption of fish, including eating sushi four times a week. I think she deserves a medal for even getting past the first mouthful of that stuff. The dish usually includes raw seafood. Even more interestingly, Daphne was, in 2009, appointed to the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation. How apt is that?

Answer: Hermione

Hermione was the only child of King Menelaus and Helen of Troy. She was betrothed to Orestes by her grandfather, unbeknownst to her father, who subsequently betrothed her to Pyrrhus, son of Achilles. The nerve of those old boys controlling women's lives in that way. A dust up soon followed between Hermione and the discarded concubine of Pyrrhus, and when her father refused to support her in that dispute, Hermione took off with Orestes, had his child, and then disappeared from legend. Hermione is also my cat. She too causes a lot of trouble wherever she goes.

Hermione Gingold (1897-1987) was an English actress who appeared in twenty-six films, numerous stage and radio productions and fourteen television series during the course of her career. Her stage persona was usually that of a deep-voiced, acerbic, eccentric individual. That deep voice was the result of surgery on her vocal cords early in her youth and not from choice or affectation. Hermione, who was also a frequent guest on talk shows, was skilled at both comedic and dramatic roles. One of her film roles was that of the witch Bianca de Passe in the 1958 romantic comedy "Bell, Book and Candle" which starred James Stewart and Kim Novak. This tells of a witch (Kim as Gillian) who falls in love with a mortal (James as Shep) and casts a spell on him to make him love her as well. Angry with her when she finally tells him the truth, he has Bianca (Hermione) remove the spell. It ends up happily eventually when it is revealed that Gillian has lost her powers because she fell in love with a mortal, and Shep realises that he still loves Gillian, but this time for real. That's a jolly shame about her powers. Think of the meals she could have whipped up in a flash.

Answer: Demeter

Demeter, the Greek goddess of grains and fertility of the earth, is also considered to look after sacred laws and the cycle of life and death as well. Mother of the famous Persephone, who was abducted by Hades (what was it with those Greek gods?) and only allowed back to visit her mother during the flowering cycles of the earth, Demeter's Roman equivalent is Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, grains and fertility.

Demeter Bitenc was born in 1922. He is a notable Slovenian actor who has appeared in over seventy-five films since he first began acting in 1953. These include his role as Captain Pucher in the 1977 movie "Cross of Iron", a war film also featuring James Mason and James Coburn. It relates the story of the conflict between a cowardly aristocratic Prussian officer who wishes to win an iron cross and an experienced, honourable soldier in the infantry, and features a rather chilling ending.

Answer: Hermes

Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, is the Greek god of travel, communication, language and writing. That makes his role as messenger for the gods very suitable. He is also the patron of travellers, thieves, poets, orators, athletes and a few other societal categories. Hermes, known to be a bit of a mischief-maker in between his long list of duties, is noted for the winged sandals that he wears. He's the equivalent, you could say, of the express delivery.

Hermes Phettberg, is a rather unappealing looking comedian, author, actor and talk show host. Born in Austria, his pre-entertainment life included continuing education, working in a bank, and an assistant vicar. This didn't seem to have suited his inclinations in any way, for he then went about co-founding an organisation called "Libertine Sadomasochismusinitiative Wien" of all things. His name, which is a nom de plume, is a corruption of the German for Fat Mountain. His writing includes an ongoing newspaper column with a religious bent, based on biblical scripture, but then he is also noted, among other things, for participating in various theatrical productions, for his insistence on discussing his problems and sexual fantasies ad nauseam during his talk shows, and for participating in artistic and public sexual performances. He really sounds quite revolting, to be frank, and probably should have chosen the name Dionysus instead.

Answer: Eros

Eros was the Greek god of love, with Cupid his Roman equivalent. He is known for his mischief-making interference in affairs of the heart of both mortals and gods, usually causing them to fall in love with the unlikeliest objects of desire, people they would never choose under normal circumstances. He is either depicted as a fat cherub or a fit young man of perfect form. If you seek his intervention on the fourth day of every month, who knows, you could get lucky in love, or, given his propensity to cause mischief, end up with a serial killer instead.

Born in London in 1995, Eros Vlahos is a British comedian and actor who, by the time he was eighteen, had appeared in four films, had recurring roles in eight television series, and, featuring his own material, performed live in several stage and radio shows. The most notable role he played during this time was in the 2010 movie "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang", which was released in several other countries as "Nanny McPhee Returns". In this movie he plays the role of Cyril Gray, one of two spoiled cousins of the three Green children who live on a farm with their stressed mother while their father is away at war. War also breaks out on the home front between all the cousins - and this is when the magical Nanny McPhee intervenes.

Answer: Gaia

Gaia is basically the great and extremely powerful mother of everything, the earth, the universe, the gods, the Giants and the Titans. All the later gods were either born out of her union with Uranus or with Pontus, two primal gods representing the heavens and the waters respectively.

Gaia Germani is a retired Italian actress of film and television who was born in Rome in 1942. She had one of the loveliest faces to ever appear up on the big screen, and was noted for her starring roles in films such the 1965 comedy, "The Wedding March", in which she appeared opposite the great Italian actor and director, Ugo Tognazzi, who had a total of 130 films as an actor and five as a director to his credit. Unfortunately, because most of Gaia's work was done in Italian or French movies, there is a paucity of information about this film or any of her other work. She made a successful transition to television work after making a relatively small number of movies, and then moved to a successful career in television, before, at the young age of thirty-three, she retired completely from show business, as mysterious and inscrutable as the goddess Gaia herself.

Answer: Iris

Iris is another messenger of the gods, but her main role is to represent a rainbow. She is able to travel with the speed of wind wherever she pleases and carries a vase of water from the river Styx wherever she goes, in order to put anyone who has lied to sleep.

Iris Adrian (1912-1994) was an American actress and dancer who was born in California. She was a lovely looking girl, who, after winning a beauty pageant and then working for Ziegfeld Follies, began acting in film. Initially she appeared in silent movies, but when the advent of the talkies arrived, she became a regular in this new form of entertainment, working constantly until her retirement in 1980. Iris made over 130 movies between 1930 and 1980, but almost always in supporting or minor roles. Her persona was largely that of a gold-digger or a gangster's girlfriend, but now and then she managed to gain other roles as well. One of her movies was the 1942 comedy "Roxie Hart" which starred Ginger Rogers. It tells of a murder, and a fading actress taking the blame for it in order to boost her career, safe in the knowledge that women were seldom convicted for such a crime. It's basically the same type of plot as the later "Chicago" musical made in 2002, but Roxie in the earlier version is innocent. Iris plays another female criminal, Two-Gun Gertie, up on criminal charges at the same time. Don't you love that name?