Lambda is for Ladon Trivia Quiz

Answer: Laomedon

Laomedon was a close relative of Ganymede (probably his nephew). When Zeus abducted the beautiful Ganymede (and later made him cupbearer for the Olympic Gods), he offered Laomedon by way of compensation two legendary horses, so swift that they could run over water.

Apollo and Poseidon had offended Zeus and were to work for Laomedon, in building the city walls. Laomedon promised to pay these gods for their work, but broke his promise - upon which Poseidon sent a sea monster, that would kill all Trojans except if Laomedon would sacrifice his daughter Hesione. At the last moment, Heracles defeated Poseidon's monster and freed Hesione, for which deed he asked Laomedon the two legendary horses as a reward. Once again, Laomedon broke his promise, upon which Heracles declared war on Laomedon. Heracles and his companions defeated Laomedon and killed all of the royal family, except Hesione and Priam. Priam then became the Trojan King and would die at the end of the Homeric Trojan War.

Answer: Laius

Laius (in Greek called Laios) was one of the last descendants of Cadmus, the founder of the city of Thebes, when Amphion and Zethus led a coup and grabbed the Theban throne. Royalists smuggled the young Laius out and he was raised by Pelops, the king of a small town in the Peloponnesus. Later Laius fell in love with the youngest song of Pelops, Chrysippus, and raped him. Laius also taught Chrysippus to steer a chariot, and Chrysippus would be one of the first legnadary winners of chariot races.

Laius then married Iocasta, but and oracle warned him not to conceive child with her. When Iocasta did give birth to a son, Laius had the infant exposed on Mount Cithaeron, with pierced feet. A shepherd found this infant and entrusted him to the Corinthian royal couple Polybus and Merope. The child was named Oedipus (Swollen Foot). Oedipus was informed by the Delphic oracle of his fate: he would kill his father and marry his mother. Trying to evade his fate, Oedipus left Corinth and his foster parents, only to encounter Laius at a crossroad and kill him in a quarrel. And when Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx and thus saved the Theban population from a gruesome fate, he was offered the hand of Iocasta in marriage.

Answer: Lethe

Most of you will know the Lethe as one of the rivers in the Underworld, but the river has also been personified into a minor goddess. Drinking from the river Lethe causes total oblivion, and the goddess Lethe personifies oblivion or forgetfulness. So you might say that Lethe is the archenemy of any quiz player.
For those who have forgotten the name of the rivers of the underworld (blame it on Lethe!), I'll list them here: the Styx (the Dark River), the Lethe (the River of Oblivion), the Phlegethon, (the Flaming River), the Acheron (the River of Woe) and the Cocytus (the River of Lament). The deceased could only enter the Underworld by crossing the Styx (ferried by Charon) and then had to drink from the river Lethe.

Oddly enough an American book publishing company chose the name Lethe Press. As Lethe is intricately linked to oblivion, I find this name a very poor choice for a book publisher.

Answer: Leukothea

The main story is that Leukothea once was princess Ino, daughter of Cadmus (the legendary founder of Thebes). She married Athamas of Boeotia, and the couple took care of the infant god Dionysus. However, in doing so they incurred Hera's wrath, and Hera struck Athamas with rage. Athamas killed his eldest son, and as he chased Ino, she leapt into the sea with her youngest son. Since then she is renamed Leukothea (The White Goddess) and protects sailors from drowning.

In Rhodos there is a similar story, but here Leukothea is the new name of Halia ("the Saltness of the Sea"), daughter of the ocean-dwelling people Thalassa (the prime personification of the sea) and either Pontus (personification of the eastern shores of the Black Sea) or Ouranos (the heaven).

Answer: Laocoon

Most of you will associate the question immediately with the marvelous marble statue in the Vatican.

In the events following Iliad, the Greeks retreated but left a large wooden horse (which was hollow inside, and contained a number of the greatest Greek warriors). The Greek would-be deserter Sinon told the Trojans a fabricated story about the wooden horse being a gift to the Gods, and the Trojans were so pleased with this fiction that they decided to roll the horse into the city - even if that necessitated the breaking down of part of the city walls. The only Trojan who protested against this elation, was Laocoon, a priest of Poseidon (according to Virgil) or of Apollo (according to Sophocles). One of the gods (according to various sources Poseidon, Apollo or Athena) took offense to Laocoon's behaviour and sent some huge serpents to strangle Laocoon and his two sons.

Answer: Leto

Zeus, the supreme god, was known as a womanizer and philanderer. Once upon a time he spotted Leto. He fell in love with her and seduced her while taking the form of a swan. Soon after Leto had cuddled the swan, she discovered to be pregnant. But Zeus' wife Hera was quite enraged at the nth time her husband was unfaithful to her. Hera had Leto chased around all the world, until she finally found shelter at the island Delos, where she gave birth first to Artemis (the goddess of hunt) and several days later to Apollo (the sun god).

In a later story Niobe, mother of seven sons and seven daughters, mocked Leto for having only two children. That was a very poor decision of Niobe's. Apollo and Artemis avenged their mother by killing off all (or almost all) of Niobe's offspring, one at a time.

Answer: Lycaon

There were at least two different mythical characters named Lycaon. The one I'll discuss here was king of Acadia, son of Pelasgus and either Meliboea or Deianira. (The other Lycaon was the father of Deianira). Lycaon of Arcadia had at least fifty children. One day he decided to challenge the omniscience of Zeus, the supreme god. Lycaon invited Zeus to a banquet and served him the flesh of Nyctimus, one of Lycaon's many sons. Alas: Zeus did notice that something was wrong, and in a fit of anger he changed Lycaon into a wolf, and killed all of Nyctimus' siblings. On the other hand, Zeus revived Nyctimus.

Several variations on this story exist. Sometimes Lycaon's offspring were all turned into wolves, sometimes only Lycaon underwent the metamorphosis. Several versions of the story added that most of Lycaon's sons were wicked people.

Answer: Lachesis

Lachesis was one of the three Moirai: three woman at a spinning wheel. Clotho spun the thread of life for each mortal, Lachesis measured the length of the life thread, and Atropos cut the thread when it was time for the mortal to die. But contrary to what modern people may think, fate was not inevitable: Zeus and the other gods could intervene and lengthen the lifespan of some mortal, and there were even temples dedicated to the Moirai, so it is probable that Greeks believed a well-chosen sacrifice could be used to obtain a longer lifespan. 

Answer: Lyssa

Lyssa, the daughter of Nyx (Night), was indeed the spirit of madness. She struck the Maenads (women following Dionysus) and also incited the hunting dogs against Actaeon, the hunter who inadvertently saw Artemis bathing in a stream and was transformed into a stag for his indiscretion. His own dogs devoured him in a frenzy.

But in the theatre play "Herakles" Lyssa was more reluctant. She was ordered by Hera to strike Heracles with madness so that he would slay his own children, but Lyssa had it noted that she acted against her will.

Answer: Laertes

The ancestry of Laertes starts with Cephalus, his grandfather. Cephalus was instructed by an oracle to share the bed with the first female he would meet, and this happened to be a female bear. When the bear became pregnant, she transformed into a woman and gave birth to Acrisius - Cephalus' only son. Acrisius also had one single son, named Laertes. And this peculiarity continued: although it was customary to have many offspring and especially a lot of sons (for they could take care of their aging parents), Laertes also had only one son: Odysseus, of whom we know much more. And even Odysseus had only one son, named Telemachus.

Laertes would have been part of the voyage of the Argonauts, although the different episodes don't mention any special intervention of Laertes.
When Odysseus sailed for Troy, Laertes took refuge on his old farm and stayed there during twenty years. Odysseus came and visited him in disguise, and when Odysseus revealed his true identity Laertes was revitalized. After Odysseus and his son Telemachus had killed the many suitors of Odysseus' wife Penelope, Laertes helped his family against the suitors' next of kin.