A is for Abas Trivia Quiz

Answer: The god of the rivers

The god of all rivers, Achelous, is a deity with a name that was known all around the Mediterranean. Mosaics and paintings depict him either as a bearded unkempt man (where flowing water is depicted instead of the long tresses) or as a bull with a human face(the opposite of a minotaur, so to say).

The first king of the island Euboea was Abas, son of Poseidon and Arethusa. He was accidentally killed by his grandson Elephenor. The son of Melampus and Iphianeira, who also was called Abas, became a prophet for Argos.

This Abas the Seer was the father of (among others) Lysimache, queen of Argos. Abas, the companion of Diomedes, was one of the many heroes from the Trojan war. According to Ovid, Abas was one of those who accompanied Diomedes on the latter's voyage home.

But at one point, Artemis changed Abas and four others into swans. Ovid did not list why. Another person was turned into a lizard by Demeter for insulting her. Some sources says the lizard was another Abas; other sources mention the lizard previously was Ascalabus.

Answer: Achilles

Achilles is one of the main characters in the Iliad. Achilles was the son of the human Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis, so he was a half-god. The Roman author Statius (AD 45-96) told the story how Thetis dipped her son into the river Styx in order to make him invulnerable.

But neither in the Iliad nor in other sources before Statius is there any sign of this general invulnerability. There are a few examples that Achilles was indeed vulnerable. Achilles fell out with the Greek leader and refused to continue the siege of Troy.

But when his friend Patroclus was killed by Hector, Achilles took up the spear once more in rage. The Iliad doesn't contain the story of Achilles' death. Several sources mention that Achilles was shot by Paris with a poisoned arrow.

Answer: Adonis

Adonis was a very fair youngster. There are several parents mentioned for him, but in most sources Adonis' mother was turned into a myrrh tree before his birth, and the tree gave birth to Adonis. The goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone both desired to bring up the handsome boy, and Zeus decided that they would each have four months a year to raise him. (The rest of the year was a sort of holiday, where Adonis could choose his whereabouts himself). When Adonis died in the arms of Aphrodite, his blood dripped on the ground and there the first anemone sprang open.

Admetus was a very hospitable king. When he received Apollo as a guest, Apollo was so grateful he rescued Admetus from a few deathly encounters. Most notably, Apollo convinced Admetus in finding someone to die in his place in order to trick Thanatos (Death). Alas, it was Admetus' wife Alcestis who chose to die for him....Aegeus was the first king of Athens and father of Theseus. When Theseus sailed to Crete for his fight with the Minotaur, Theseus promised his father to raise white sails on his ship when he would return triumphant. But Theseus forgot, and Aegeus leaped into the sea drowning himself. That's the origin of the name of the Aegean Sea. Aeneas was one of the few Trojans surviving the Greek onslaught. He fled Troy, sailed across the Mediterranean and finally founded a city in Italy. Aeneas was one of the ancestors of Romulus and Remus.

Answer: Agamemnon

Agamemnon was king of Mycenae and his brother Menelaus was king of Sparta. When the Trojan prince Paris kidnapped Helen, Menelaus' wife, Agamemnon gathered the Greeks and led the combined Greek forces against Troy. Agamemnon was married to Clytemnestra and they had four children: Iphigeneia, Orestes, Electra and Chrysothemis.

When the Greek were about to embark for Troy, Agamemnon was forced into sacrificing Iphigeneia to obtain favourable winds. The Iliad starts when the Greek have captured some women and enslaved them. Achilles chose the slave Briseis ("with the soft cheeks"), while Agamemnon ended up with Chryseis. Unfortunately Chryseis was the daughter of a high priest of Apollo, and her father implored Apollo to strike the Greek with a plague.

The only way out for Agamemnon was to liberate Chryseis, and instead he demanded Achilles to hand over Briseis. That's the cause of the refusal of Achilles to take up arms, which almost lost the war for the Greek. After the Greek victory, Agamemnon sailed back to Mycenae.

There his wife and her lover Aegisthus killed him (possibly as a revenge for the sacrifice involving Iphigeneia). Orestes then took upon him to revenge his father, and after he killed the murderers, Orestes had to flee the Erinyes (vengeance Furies).

Answer: Ajax the Greater

Ajax, son of Telamon, was no relative of Ajax, son of Oileus (better known as Ajax the Lesser). Because of their statures both Ajax warriors were given the descriptive epithets. Ajax the Greater was indeed almost a giant: a tall, heavily built fighter, whose principal weapon was a very large and heavy shield.
Ajax the Greater fought on different occasions against a numeric majority of Trojans attacking the Greek ships. The Iliad mentions several of these battles, and (contrary to the other fighting parties) never states that Ajax was wounded.
After Achilles' death, Ajax and Odysseus competed to inherit Achilles' armour. Odysseus won and Ajax turned madly against a captured flock of sheep (which he mistook for the principal Greeks). As Ajax came to his senses, he realized that he had made a fool of himself and chose to commit suicide instead of living with the shame.

Agenor was a Phoenician king who lived long before the Trojan War. He was most probably the father of Europa, the maiden Zeus seduced in the shape of a bull.
Alpheus was a river god who gave his name to the Alfeios river in Greece. When the god Alpheus fell in love with the nymph Arethusa, she was miraculously transformed into a well on a small island near Sicily. However, the Alfeios river is said to communicate from Greece with the Arethusa well near Sicily.
Anchises is a Trojan, the father of Aeneas. Anchises made love to Aphrodite and as a result, Aeneas was born. At the fall of Troy, Aeneas and his family escaped. Later on, Aeneas settled in Italy and became one of the ancestors of Romulus and Remus.

Answer: Alcinous

Alcinous and his wife Arete were king and queen of the island Phaeacia a few years after the fall of Troy. When Odysseus was stranded on the shore of Phaeacia, he was awakened by the cheerful chattering Nausicaa and her handmaidens made while playing with a ball and doing the laundry in a nearby river. Nausicaa invited Odysseus to the palace. After Odysseus told his adventures, Alcinous gave Odysseus the ships, crew and provisions he needed to return to Ithaca.

Aeolus was the main god of the winds. Argus was a giant with at least one hundred eyes. When he was killed by Hermes, Hera placed Argus' eyes on the tail of a peacock. Asclepius was the son of Apollo and the main god of medicine. Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt because Asclepius revived dead souls, so Hades could not welcome them. 

Answer: Amphitrite

Amphitrite was either a daughter of Nereus or of Oceanus. She was especially associated with high sea, and most written references to her state she was "moaning" - the roar of the sea comes into mind. Amphitrite gave birth to dolphins, to seals, and to Triton, the first merman.

Aglaia is the name of several mythical females. One of them is the youngest of the Three Graces (Charites), another is one of the daughters of Asclepios and thus associated with medicine. Andromeda was the daughter of queen Cassiopeia. She was chained to a rock as a sacrifice for a sea monster. Lucky for her, Perseus saved the nude damsel in distress. Alcyone and her husband Ceyx were a very happy couple. When Ceyx died on a sea trip, Alcyone decided to drown herself to be with her husband again. Both were turned into kingfisher birds.

Answer: Andromache

This is one of the most touching scenes from the Iliad. If you ever would venture to read the Iliad, take your time for this scene (Iliad VI: 440-493, an English translation is available on the internet). Andromeda went out to the city gate to search for Hector, and her handmaiden followed swiftly with Hector's son, Astyanax. Astyanax feared Hector's elaborate helmet, so Hector took it off.
Later on when Hector indeed was killed, Andromache was waiting for him, rushing the servants to boil water for Hector's bath.

Answer: Antigone

Antigone and her siblings Eteocles, Polynices and Ismene were the children of their half-brother Oedipus and Iocaste. When Oedipus found out that he married his mother, he blinded himself and went into exile - but the troubles of this family weren't over yet. Antigone was a princess of Thebes.

Her brothers Eteocles and Polynices killed each other in battle over the hegemony of Thebes, and her uncle Haemon decreed that Eteocles deserved a proper burial, but that the body of Polynices should be left for the wild animals. Antigone felt this was a grave injustice, and so she buried Polynices.

When questioned about this deed, she declared to have the universal laws in higher esteem than man-made decrees. Antigone was sentenced to death by entombment.

While in her grave, she hung herself.

Answer: Arachne

Arachne was a shepherdess who learned weaving at a very young age. Her talent was so great, that many people asked her if she had learned weaving from Athena (the goddess of arts and crafts). Arachne replied time and again that she was a far better weaver than Athena, and so Athena enraged came to her and challenged Arachne. Different sources of the weaving contest and the outcome exist. According to Ovid, the human won and Athena had her revenge by turning Arachne into a spider. Another version states Arachne won but committed suicide out of a feeling of remorse. The third version states Athena won and Arachne would never weave again. Seeing Arachne's disappointment, Athena compassionately transformed her into a spider, so she could make webs for eternity.

Alala was a very minor goddess, the goddess of the war cry. Antiope was an Amazon, the only one who ever was reported as a married woman (the wife of Theseus). Atropos was one of the three Moirai (Fates in Roman myth). Whilst her sisters spun the life thread and measured the length of the life bestowed upon any mortal, it was Atropos who cut the life thread and thus ended the life of any mortal.