Just What Do You Think This Is? Quiz

Answer: Centaur

In Greek mythology, the centaurs lived in regions of Thessaly, Elis, and in southern Laconia. Some stories have them as aggressive and wild, while others show them to be wise teachers.

One very well known centaur of legend is Chiron, who was the offspring of the Titan Cronus and Oceanid Philyra, making him a half brother of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon (among others). Chiron was known for his abilities in medicine, music, archery, hunting, and prophecy.

Answer: Griffin

The griffin (also spelled griffon or gryphon) has the head, wings, and (in some depictions) front legs/talons of an eagle while the body, tail and rear legs (sometimes all four legs) of a lion. The creature was considered by many to be the king of all creatures, which is not hard to imagine, considering the two source animals that combine to make this beautiful beast.

Answer: Sphinx

The Greek sphinx sometimes is also shown with wings, but whatever its shape, it is always a cruel and treacherous creature. In the story of Oedipus, if he had not been able to answer the sphinx's riddle, Oedipus would have been killed and eaten by this monster.

Answer: Hydra

In various different stories with the hydra, there are no set number of heads on the creature. In one story it had as many as 50 heads! But when Heracles faced the Hydra in the second of his twelve labours, it began with six heads. The problem was, with every head that Heracles cut off, two would grow back in its place!

Heracles finally defeated the Hydra with the help of his nephew Iolaus, who used a firebrand to burn the neck stumps after Heracles cut the heads off. This stopped any new heads from growing back.

Answer: Minotaur

Minotaur translates as 'bull of Minos', and if you keep reading you will see why.

King Minos had the brilliant Deadalus build the Labyrinth in Knossos on the island of Crete in an effort to keep the Minotaur captive.

Every year, seven youths were sent into the maze to be devoured by the Minotaur, until Theseus volunteered to go in and slay the beast.

Answer: Scylla

In Homer's "Odyssey", Odysseus had to sail the his ship between Scylla and Charybdis (a sea monster and a giant whirlpool) on opposite sides of the Strait of Messina (between Sicily and Italy). Avoiding one meant having to face the other, and there was no safe passage in between them.

Scylla was described as having twelve dangling feet, six long necks, and grisly heads lined with a triple row of sharp teeth.

Answer: Cyclops

The Cyclopes (that's the plural spelling) have two different origin stories. According to Hesoid, they were sons of Uranus and Gaia, making them brothers of the original Titans. According to Homer, however, the Cyclopes were the sons of Posiedon (who was the brother of Zeus and Hades).

Odysseus (from Homer's "Odyssey") encounters a Cyclops by the name of Polyphemus during his epic journey.

And if you've read the "Percy Jackson" books (or seen the movies), you may remember that Percy's half brother (both sons of Poseidon) Tyson is a Cyclops.

Answer: False

There is no particular bird that harpies are supposed to be a mixture of (with humans), but they are often paired with vultures because of their habits of stealing food from travelers and their often vicious and cruel behaviour. In Piers Anthony's "Xanth" series, most of the harpies are also shown as being filthy and foul-mouthed.

Not all harpies in the mythology were nasty, though, and some were described as being beautiful and fair-haired, paired with the body of an eagle.

Answer: Alexander III

As the story goes, after Thessalonike's death, she turned into a mermaid, living in the Aegean Sea. When sailors encountered her, she would ask them one question: "Is King Alexander alive?"

There was only one correct response to give: "He lives and reigns and conquers the world." This would result in calm seas and a friendly farewell.

If any other answer was given, Thessalonike would become enraged and the ship would meet a certain doom.

Answer: Pegasus

The picture also shows Pegasus being ridden by Bellerophon, who captured the winged horse and rode him while killing the monster known as the Chimera (it had a lion's head on a goat's body, with a serpent for a tail).

Two main stories exist to explain Pegasus' origins. In one, he is the offspring of Poseidon and the Gorgon Medusa, while in the other, Pegasus sprang whole from the blood that was shed when Perseus killed Medusa.