Ovid's "Metamorphoses" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Philomela

Tereus and Procne married, although their marriage was ill-omened. Tereus went to fetch Procne's sister Philomela for a visit and ended up raping her. He cut out her tongue and imprisoned her so that she would tell no one what he had done. Finally, she wove a tapestry showing her troubles and sent it to her sister at the palace.

She and her sister plotted revenge and finally fed Tereus his own son on a platter.

Answer: Nisus

Nisus was fighting a war against Minos, the king of Crete. His daughter, Scylla (no relation to the monster) fell in love with Minos and cut off her father's purple lock of hair and gave it to him. Since an ancient prophesy had predicted that if the purple lock of hair was cut off, the city would fall, Minos won the war.

He did, however, reject Scylla afterwards and, in her despair, she tried to kill herself but was turned into a bird

Answer: Procris

Cephalus, on the advice of Eos, disguised himself in order to test the fidelity of his wife. He returned to the palace and offered her large sums of money to sleep with him. When she hesitated, he revealed himself and accused her of being unfaithful.

She, in her anger, ran off to join Diana's band of nymphs. Cephalus begged her forgiveness and she eventually returned to him, bringing with her a hunting dog and a spear that never missed. One day he was hunting and called out to the wind, which he named Aura, to lie with him. Procris misunderstood him and thought Aura was a woman.

She followed him, hoping to catch them together, but when he heard her hiding behind a bush, he unleashed his spear, thinking she was a dangerous animal. He found out too late that it was his beloved wife that he killed.

Answer: Perdix

Daedalus became angry that his nephew, Perdix, was more clever than he, so he ended up throwing him off a building. The gods turned Perdix into a partridge, an animal which is said to remember its human death and avoid high places.

Answer: Ocyrhoe

Ocyrhoe sang a song which prophesied events about the future, including the fate of her wise father. The gods didn't like their actions being revealed, so they turned her into a horse.

Answer: Coronis

The raven came to Apollo with the news of Coronis's unfaithfulness. The Deadly Archer flew into such a rage that he slew Coronis where she stood. She then died, but not before revealing her pregnancy with his child. Apollo managed to save Aescalapius and gave him to Chiron to raise.

He also turned the raven from white to black for bringing the bad news, one of the first "shoot the messenger" stories.

Answer: Pentheus

Pentheus refused to allow his people to worship the newly arrived deity, Bacchus, who happened to be his cousin. Bacchus, angered, made the disrespectful ruler's mother and aunts think that Pentheus was a wild boar. They then tore him apart with their bare hands, holding up his head as a trophy.

Answer: Athamas

Athamas, the husband of Ino, was sent madness by one of the Furies who was given instructions by Juno. Ino had been bragging about her stepson and nephew, Bacchus, a son of Jupiter. Juno hated all the sons of Jupiter that weren't born from her, so she decided to punish Ino.

After Athamas had killed one of their sons, Ino and the other one, Melicerta, jumped into the sea and were turned into sea deities.

Answer: Phineus

Phineus, the brother of Cepheus who was the father of Andromeda, was originally to wed Andromeda, but it was called off when it was demanded that she be sacrificed to a sea monster. Perseus saved her life in return for her hand in marriage and it was granted to him by Cepheus.

At their wedding banquet, Phineus started a battle in which Perseus was vastly outnumbered, but still won, with the help of Medusa's head.

Answer: Marsyas

Marsyas had the arrogance to challenge Apollo to a pipe-playing contest. He lost to Apollo's superior skills and the sun god flayed him alive. The earth took pity on the suffering creature and turned him into the river Marsyas.

Answer: Erisychthon

Erisychthon cut down a sacred grove of Ceres and thus angered the earth goddess. She responded by sending Famine to him, so that he would always be hungry and never fulfilled. He ran out of money buying food, so he sold his daughter for more. Neptune took pity on her and gave her the ability to change shapes so she was able to escape. Erisychthon ended up selling her again and again, in different forms.

Answer: Acheolus

Acheolus and Hercules both wished to wed the beautiful Deianira and Hercules suggested they duel for it. Achelous agreed and turned into a bull to defeat Hercules, but Hercules ended up pulling off one of his horns. This turned into the cornucopia, which forever after produced unlimited food.

Answer: Aeson

Medea, an accomplished witch, agreed to heal the aging father of Jason and make him a young man again. She emptied the king's blood from his veins and put a potion in its place. The king regained his former youth, much to the happiness of Jason. She then told the daughters of Pelias that she could do the same for their father, and they believed her.

She even demonstrated to them the process by turning an old ram into a young lamb again. They drained Pelias's blood from his veins, but Medea didn't fill them with the potion, so he died.

She then fled, only to discover that Jason was to marry another woman. Filled with rage, she killed his bride-to-be and her two sons that were fathered by him.

Answer: Triptolemus

When Triptolemus was staying in the palace of Lynchus, the greedy king attempted to kill him. Ceres would not allow him to do this, so she turned him into the lynx that still bears his name. This story was the last in the song of the Muses in their contest against the Pierides. The daughters of Pierus refused to admit defeat and were turned into magpies, doomed to chatter forever.

Answer: Aglaurous

Minerva entrusted the care of a child to three sisters: Herse, Pandaros, and Aglauros. The child was put in a box and the sisters forbidden to open it under any circumstances. Herse and Pandaros were faithful to the orders, but the wicked Aglauros opened it anyway.

This angered Minerva and she plotted her revenge. Later, Mercury fell in love with Herse and demanded of Aglauros that he be able to see her. She asked for money and he agreed, and with this Minerva saw her chance. She asked envy to visit Aglauros and make her envy her sister's love with Mercury.

When Mercury returned, Aglauros refused him entry because she couldn't stand to see them happy together. Mercury turned her into a statue, black because of her wickedness, for her disrespect.

Answer: Caenis

Caenis wished to be a man so that no one could ever rape her again. As well as granting this request, Neptune made her invulnerable to attack. Thus, Caenis became Caeneus, a brave and steadfast warrior. He helped fight off the centaurs at the wedding of Pirithous, but was eventually buried under a pile of rocks. Some stories say that he emerged as a golden bird.

Answer: Polyxena

The Greeks led Polyxena to the tomb of Achilles, where his ghost demanded that she be sacrificed. She complied with these wishes with such a regal grace that the Greeks wept as they killed her. Her death was one of the factors that led to her mother, Hecuba, going mad.

Answer: Cyparissus

Cyparissus loved a particular deer and often used to walk with it in the woods. One day, when he was hunting, he accidentally killed it and felt intense guilt and sorrow. He begged Apollo to let him mourn forever for his dearest friend. Apollo granted his wish and turned Cyparissus into a cypress tree, which even today is a sign of mourning.

Answer: Byblis

Byblis fell in love with her brother, Caunus, although he knew nothing of her passion for him. She debated with herself the morality of her love, and decided that she must tell him or kill herself. Caunus was disgusted by her inappropriate feelings and sailed off for a new city. She wept so much for him that she was turned into a spring.

Answer: Iphis

Iphis's father, Ligdus, said that they were too poor to raise a girl, and that the child could only survive if it was a boy. His wife, Telethusa, desperately wanted to keep her little girl, so she told her husband that Iphis was a boy and raised her as one.

When she was of an appropriate age, Ligdus betrothed her to a girl named Ianthe. Iphis fell in love with Ianthe, but realized that only as a boy could she express her love. Isis felt pity for the doomed girl and turned her into a boy, so that Iphis and Ianthe were able to marry.

Answer: Myrrha

Myrrha loved her father Cinyras, but not in the way a daughter is supposed to love a father. She felt intense guilt over her feelings and tried to hang herself, but her faithful nurse stopped her. The nurse came up with a plan to fulfill Myrrha's feelings and told Cinyras that a young lady was smitten wih him.

He was anxious to meet her and Myrrha came to him wearing a mask. She lay with him for several nights until he removed her mask and discovered, to his horror, her true identity. She ran from him and wandered for nine months, carrying his child. Finally, after she prayed for death, she was turned into a myrrh tree. Illythia delivered the baby, Adonis, from the trunk of the tree.

Answer: Latona

Latona, after giving birth to Apollo and Diana, was extremely thirsty and wandered into the province of Lycia. She tried to drink from a stream and the Lycian peasants didn't let her. They even stirred up the mud in the bottom of the stream so it would be polluted. For their arrogance, she turned them into frogs, forever to swim in the murky waters of streams and lakes.

Answer: Alpheus

Arethusa was a water nymph and a huntress of Diana. One day, Alpheus, a stream, fell in love with her, but she wanted nothing to do with him. When he was pursuing her, she begged Diana for help, and the goddess turned her into a river. Arethusa tells this story to Ceres after helping her locate Proserpina.

Answer: Hyacinthus

Hyacinthus was Apollo's good friend and they loved each other dearly. One day they decided to have a discus throwing contest. When Apollo threw his discus, it flew high into the clouds and Hyacinthus ran to retrieve it. It hit him on his way back to earth, and he died almost instantly. Apollo, grieving the loss of his dear friend, turned him into the hyacinth flower, whose petals forever spell the Greek word for alas.

Answer: Lycaon

Lycaon was a king of Arcadia who tested Jove when he visited his palace. He did not believe that Jove was really a god, so he served him human flesh and also tried to kill him. Jove was angered by Lycaon's arrogance, so he turned him into a wolf.