Theta Is For Thalassa Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thalia

Greek mythology refers to several characters named Thalia, but I chose only one of those for the question.

The Muses were nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (the goddess of memory). She served Apollo as the God of the arts, and each Muse had her own domain. Thalia (comedy) and Melpomene (tragedy) are usually seen as a pair, but there were also Erato (love poetry), Terpsichore (dance), Calliope (epic poetry), Euterpe (lyric poetry) and Polyhymnia (hymns). The two Muses I've not yet mentioned would in modern time be catalogued as protectors of science instead of art: Clio protected history, and Urania protected astronomy.

Thalia the Muse was usually portrayed as a beautiful young woman in a gown, holding up a smiling theatre mask. As she also protected bucolic poetry, she oft carried a shepherd's staff and a wreath of ivy, too. Her name could be translated to "the flourishing".

Zeus fathered also another set of sisters of whom one was named Thalia. The mother was Eurynome and the daughters were collectively known as the Charites (the Three Graces): Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia. Thalia the Grace was named after the Greek word for plenty, as she made banquets copious and abundant.

Yet another character named Thalia was a Sicilian nymph. When she attracted Zeus' attention (he had eye for every beautiful creature, man or woman), this Thalia was buried in the ground to avoid the wrath of Hera (Zeus' wife). Hot springs and geysers come forth from this Sicilian Thalia.

Wikipedia also mentions a Nereid named Thalia: one of the fifty daughters of Nereus, and one of 32 of those who sang on the shore before Troy to mourn for Achilles.

Answer: Themis

Themis was indeed the Greek precursor of the Roman goddess Justitia. Not all of her pictures include the blindfold that is typically associated with Roman Justitia (for whom the adage "all are equal before the law" was sacred).

Themis was one of the Titans, the offspring of Uranus and Gaia. The Titans included Oceanus and Tethys (who married each other), Hyperion and Theia (another pair of married siblings), Crius (married to his half-sister Eurybia), Cronus and Rhea (the third pair of brother and sister united in matrimony), Coeus and Phoebe (once more a marriage between siblings), Iapetus (who was married to one of his nieces) and the single women Themis and Mnemosyne.

Both Themis and Mnemosyne were seduced by their nephew Zeus. From this union with her nephew, Themis conceived two sets of three daughters. One were the Horae ("seasons" as in forms of justice): Dikč (justice), Eunomia (morality, literally translated good order) and Eirene (peace). The other were the Moirai (fates): Clotho who spun the life thread, Lachesis who measured the exact length, and Atropos who cut the thread of life at the end.

Answer: Theseus

Theseus was a prince of Athens who appears in several stories. The best known story is about how Theseus slew the Minotaur. For some reason or other, Athens had to send to Crete on regular intervals (some sources state seven years, other nine years) a group of young boys and girls as sacrifice to the Minotaur. The Minotaur was a colossal creature, resembling a man with a bull's head. This creature came forth from the union between Pasiphae (wife of the Cretan King Minos) and a white bull sent by Poseidon. In order to keep the Minotaur, King Minos had a formidable maze (the Labyrinth) construed, where no man could find his way out.

Theseus was one of the youngsters who was to enter the Labyrinth and confront the Minotaur, unarmed. But he had hidden a sword under his tunic, and the guards responsible had not found it. Minos' daughter Ariadne, who fell head over heels in love with Theseus, had offered him a ball of thread which Theseus used to find his way out of the Labyrinth.

Another story tells about Theseus growing to adulthood in his mother's country, and then travelling by land to his father Aegeus in Athens. On his way, he confronted six notorious villains and killed them all.

Answer: Thalassa

Primordial deities were the very first generation of divinities. First we had Chaos (the Void), then the primordial deities. Two of these primordial deities, named Uranus (the sky) and Gaea (the earth) married and had the Titans as children. Two of the Titans formed another married couple: Chronos (time) and Rhea (the flowing). From the marriage of Chronos and Rhea finally came the Olympian gods, including Poseidon (the standard god of the seas). So if we don't get lost in this very confusing genealogy, we can conclude that Thalassa was the great-aunt of Poseidon.

The quizzers who are familiar with Greek language will have noticed that the primordial goddess of the sea is named the Sea. This is a phenomenon typical for most of the primordial deities: their name is also their function.

At least twice in Greek mythology a farmer (typical land dweller) accuses Thalassa of being very cruel. In both stories she shifts the responsibility for any shipwreck to the winds, and thinks she's quite innocent. The few depictions of Thalassa that remain show her as a rather young woman, nude to the waist and further down covered by seaweed. (I wonder what fashion designers would make of that one).

Answer: Thanatos

Thanatos was a minor deity, rarely depicted in Greek art or poetry. The earliest images of Thanatos show him as an old man with a beard and wings, later he was pictured as a winged and clean-shaven youngster.

Although Thanatos is the Greek word for death (no matter what the causes), Greek myth associates the deity Thanatos only with non-violent death. If someone was killed violently, it was the Keres (sisters of Thanatos) who came collecting the victim, while Thanatos only cared for those who died of natural causes.

There are only two mythical characters who outsmarted Thanatos. Heracles wrestled him down when Thanatos came to collect Alcestis, and Sisyphus once used Thanatos' chains to tie the owner with.

Answer: Thetis

Thetis was one of the fifty daughters of Nereus (speak of a large family!), and perhaps the leader of them all. Both Zeus and Poseidon wanted to have intercourse with Thetis, but as they remembered a prophecy that her son would be greater than his father, Zeus and Poseidon relinquished their plans. Instead Thetis married Peleus, and a great banquet ensued with all the gods attending. All the gods? No, Eris (goddess of discord) was not welcome, and in revenge she threw a golden apple with the inscription "for the fairest". This was of course enough to spoil the party, and eventually it would lead to the Trojan War.

Peleus and Thetis had one son, Achilles, but Thetis feared he would die in the Trojan War. So she dipped Achilles in the river Styx, which made him invulnerable - but for the heel by which his mother had held him. In the course of the Trojan War, a poisoned arrow would hit Achilles in his vulnerable heel - hence the famous expression.

Answer: Thersites

Thersites is only a minor character in the 'Iliad'. He has not the looks of a great hero: he is cripple, his shoulders bend inwards, his hair is a mess of various tufts. And he has the nerve of sharply criticizing the leader of the Greek armies, great Agamemnon - until the cunning Odysseus rebukes him. Then he coils up in a corner, fearing Odysseus' revenge.

Shakespeare and Goethe also refer to Thersites as some kind of fool, and Plato described how Thersites would be reborn as a monkey. So all in all he doesn't look like a true hero, and neither speaks or acts as one.

Answer: Thaumas

Arriving into the more obscure outskirts of Greek myth, we meet Thaumas. Those of you who know a lot of ancient Greek will translate his name correctly to "wonder".

Thaumas was a son of Gaia, and thus the same generation as the Titans. However, his father was Pontus, not Uranus (and thus he was not one of the Titans: these are the offspring of Uranus and Gaia).

According to the Greek author Hesiod, Thaumas had as daughter Iris, the messenger of the Olympian Gods. Furthermore he had as daughters the Harpies, a group of creatures who resembled fair-haired maidens with wings, but whose faces were quite ugly.
Various sources mention the name of one or two of the probably three harpies: Aello also known as Podarge, Ocypete and Celaene. They would come out to torture those mortals who transgressed the divine law.

Answer: Thyestes

The family tree of the Mycenian kings starts with Tantalus, who slaughtered his son Pelops and served his meat to the Olympian Gods. They knew what had happened, and only Demeter accidentally took a bite of Pelops' shoulder. The gods revived Pelops and punished Tantalus: in the underworld he will remain forever, with fresh water to drink and juicy fruits to eat just beyond his reach.

Pelops married Hippodamia and they had several children, among whom were Atreus and Thyestes. Thyestes was in love with Atreus' wife, and he claimed the throne by producing a golden lamb as token of his right to be king. But Atreus revolted and Thyestes swore to abdicate if the sun would reverse its course - a feat that Zeus accomplished at the demand of Atreus.

Atreus had two famous sons: Agamemnon and Menelaus, who both played a crucial role in the Trojan War.

Answer: Thrasos

The Greek word 'thrasos' (with a miniscule) can mean either courage or recklessness. But when written with a capital Th, Thrasos is the daemon of insolence - brother to Hubris (the personification of exceeding reason, quite the opposite of humility) and Ate (the goddess of ruin).

I'm afraid this was quite the most obscure of these Greek mythical characters, but ultimately there are not that many whose name starts with Th.