Mission Impossible Trivia Quiz

Answer: Crete

The minotaur was a half man, half bull, creature who lived in a labyrinth designed by Daedalus for the king of Crete. The monster lived on a diet of young men and women, seven of each, who were chosen by lots to be sacrificed from among the residents of Athens.

Theseus undertook the seemingly impossible task of killing the minotaur to prevent further loss of life. With the help of the king's daughter, Ariadne, who gave him a ball of twine to mark his way, Theseus succeeded in his mission. Having taken Ariadne with him, he then callously abandoned her on the island of Naxos.

He then compounded his sins by forgetting to change the sail on his ship from black to white, leading his father to commit suicide believing his son was dead. Since Theseus then inherited his father's throne, the 'forgetting' might just have had an ulterior motive.

Answer: Chimera

The Chimera had the body of a goat, with the head of a lion and the tail of snake, and had the ability to breathe fire. Legend has it that Bellerophon managed to kill the Chimera by riding on Pegasus, who he managed to tame with a golden bridle. He then threw a spear into the beast's mouth and, as the metallic spear melted, the Chimera choked to death.

Answer: Venus

Cupid's mother, Venus, was jealous of Psyche's beauty. Venus sent Cupid to pierce Psyche with one of his arrows so that she would fall in love with some unsightly being. Instead Cupid fell in love with her himself (he actually pierced himself with his own arrow). Psyche was able to complete the four tasks, which included sorting out a huge pile of seeds and obtaining water from the river Styx, and eventually become immortal.

Answer: Shield

Athena first gave Perseus advice on how to find the Hesperides, who had weapons to defeat Medusa. They provided him with a sack to safely carry her head. Zeus provided him with a sword and the 'helm of darkness' for hiding. Hermes lent him winged sandals to allow him to fly. Perseus, after many adventures, returned with the head of Medusa and used it to kill his mother's unwanted suitor.

Answer: Alexander

It was prophesied that the one who could untie the knot would conquer Asia, although there are some that say the prophesy was only made after Alexander had succeeded in the impossible task. In legend, Alexander actually failed to untie the knot, but solved the difficult problem by taking out his sword and slicing it in half. The event has passed into popular usage as a metaphor for any problem solved by a bold and unexpected solution.

Answer: Wales

The hero is named Culhwch, who is a cousin to the famous King Arthur. He has fallen in love with Olwen, the daughter of a giant, who sets Culhwch a series of tasks to prove his worth. These include hunting a boar and rescuing a prisoner from an underwater cell. The story was originally written in Welsh, and appears to date from 1100.

Answer: Wolf

The chain was made by the gods using items including the sound of a cat's footsteps, a woman's beard and the breath of a fish. Although the chain worked, Fenrir managed to bite off the hand of the god Tyr while being bound. Fenrir is also known as Fenris, and is the son of Loki and a giantess called Angerboda. In Norse legend, the day when he breaks his bounds will be the day of doom.

Answer: Cerberus

The main task of Cerberus was to prevent any man from entering Hades. It was Hercules' twelfth mission to kill Cerberus, without any sort of weapons. Consequently, he had to use only his personal skills, one of which was that he was a very good wrestler. Cerberus attacked Hercules who was protected by his impenetrable Nemean lion skin, and was thus able to counterattack and subdue the beast by wrestling with him. Having proved that he had defeated the animal, Hercules had completed his tasks and Cerberus was allowed to resume his post.

Answer: Talos

Talos was put on the island by Zeus to guard it against invaders and pirates. He would kill them by throwing rocks at them from the top of the cliffs or by scorching them to death. Due to his armour he was said to be invincible with only one weak point which was by his heel in his single vein of ichor, which ran through the length of his body. The impossible mission of killing him was achieved when he was fighting Jason and the Argonauts. He was enthralled with Medea, and she used her powers to remove the plate from his heel, and burst the vein thus allowing his life force to flow out.

Answer: Medea

Jason's tasks included the ploughing of two fields, one with fire breathing bulls
that he had to yoke and one with dragon teeth. In addition, he had to get the dragon guarding the fleece to go to sleep in order to retrieve it. He would not have succeeded without Medea's help, and as part of his reward, he wedded her. He later abandoned her for the daughter of Creon. Her revenge was to kill his new bride.