Who's Who: Mythological Pairs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pollux

Castor and Pollux were the twin sons of Jupiter. While Castor was mortal, his brother was immortal. Inseparable from birth, both were great horsemen and hunters, and they joined together in many adventures. When Castor was fatally injured, Pollux asked Jupiter to give his brother half of his immortality. Different stories suggest that they dealt with the situation in different ways; one says they alternated days between Hades and Mt. Olympus. Homer says that they alternated days between being dead and alive. Eventually they were transformed into stars, and still today are the two brightest stars in the Gemini constellation.

Answer: Helen

The Judgement of Paris is considered to have been the cause of the Trojan War. Paris, a prince of Troy, was flattered that he had been chosen to judge which goddess - Hera, Aphrodite, or Athena - was the fairest. His bribe for choosing Aphrodite was the receipt of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta.

The problem? Helen was married to Menelaus. She left with Paris, but there was no way the Greeks would allow her to be taken to Troy without a fight! Thus began a ten year war, which ultimately resulted in the destruction of Troy.

Answer: Jupiter

The Greek god Zeus was known as Jupiter in Roman mythology. According to the legend, Zeus was the son of Cronus and Rhea. Because of a prophecy that one of his children would overthrow him, Cronus swallowed each one after they were born. Zeus was saved by his mother and fulfilled the prophecy by defeating his father and freeing his siblings.

He became the sky god, the god of thunder and lightning, and the ruler of Mt. Olympus. Over time Zeus was adopted into the Roman pantheon of gods and goddesses, and became known as Jupiter.

Answer: Daedalus

Daedalus was a talented architect and inventor. He is known for designing the great labyrinth, where the Minotaur was kept, for King Minos of Crete. The labyrinth, or maze, was to be so intricately difficult to maneuver that no one could escape it. After that happened, he fell into disfavor with the king and found himself, along with his son, Icarus, imprisoned in the very maze he had designed. Always thinking, Daedalus constructed wings for the pair to use in their escape from Crete. Icarus was warned not to fly too close to the sun - it would melt the wax that was used to hold the wings together - but he did just that, and fell into the sea.

Answer: Medusa

Perseus was a demi-god in Greek mythology; he was part man and part god. His father was none other than the almighty Zeus and his mother was a beautiful woman named Danae. When a king asked to marry his mother, Perseus told him that he would do whatever the king wanted if he would leave his mother alone.

The king replied that Perseus would have to kill the Gorgon, Medusa. Gorgons were really scary, especially because they had snakes for hair. A person who looked at them would be turned to stone. So, what did Perseus do? He used a special shield that the gods made for him.

It was so shiny that he could see the reflection of what Medusa was doing without actually looking at her. Perseus beheaded Medusa and took her head to the king. When he still refused to withdraw his proposal, Perseus showed him the head and the king turned to stone!

Answer: Ariadne

Theseus was the son of King Aegeus of Athens, who was unhappy because he had to send tribute in the form of young men and women to King Minos of Crete every nine years. The youths would be released into the labyrinth, or maze, where the fearsome Minotaur lived under Minos' palace, and would never make their way out. Aegeus decided to send his son, Theseus, to Crete, with the hope of ending this practice.

It was love at first sight when Minos' daughter, Ariadne, saw Theseus. She offered to help him if he would take her with him when he left Crete.

She consulted the architect of the maze and gave Theseus a ball of string to find his way out of it once he killed the beast. Some sources say that she also gave him a sword, while others claim he killed the Minotaur with his bare hands.

Although the two married, Theseus eventually abandoned Ariadne and she married the god Dionysus.

Answer: Argonauts

Jason was the son of King Aesen of Iolcus, who was overthrown by his brother, Pelias. Jason, saved by his mother, was raised in a cave by Chiron the Centaur. When he was old enough Jason returned to claim his father's kingdom. Pelias told him he could have it if Jason would go on a quest and return with the Golden Fleece. Jason agreed and assembled a crew of fifty Greeks to go with him on his ship, the Argo.

The list of Argonauts varies according to different sources, but many heroes, including Atalanta, Heracles, Orpheus, and Castor and Pollux, joined the group.

They all didn't live to make the trip back to Iolcus, and even though Jason did return with the Golden Fleece, he did not live happily ever after.

Answer: Charybdis

In Greek mythology Scylla was a sea monster who lived on one side of a narrow strait of water; Charybdis, described by some sources as another monster and others as a whirlpool, lived on the other side of the strait. Some believe these hazards were located between Sicily and Calabria, at the toe of the Italian boot, an area that is called the Strait of Messina. Homer mentions them in "The Odyssey" and tells that Odysseus was told to sail closer to Scylla and avoid Carybdis, as more people would be lost in a whirlpool.

The problem was that if sailors tried to avoid one, they would certainly run into the other. It was the proverbial "rock and a hard place".

Answer: Artemis

In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo and Artemis were the twin children of Zeus and Leto. Apollo, who had the same name in both cultures, was the god of light, music, healing, poetry, and the sun. Also the god of prophecy, the ancient people believed that if they went to Apollo's Oracle at Delphi they could ask questions about their future. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, childbirth, and the moon.

In Roman mythology Artemis was called Diana. Forever friends, Apollo and Artemis enjoyed hunting together and causing havoc among mere mortals.

Answer: Deimos

Phobos and Deimos were the twin sons of Ares, the Greek god of war, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Phobos, the god of fear, goes into battle with his father in order to cause chaos in the form of fear and panic within the armies of those who are fighting. Deimos was the god of terror, the feeling of dread, that afflicts those in battle. Like Phobos, he goes into battle along with his father, but he also teams up with Eris, the goddess of discord.

In one work, the brothers act as their father's charioteers in battle, while in another Zeus gives them thunder and lightning to battle the monster Typhon.