Women in Greek Mythology I: the Strong Quiz

Answer: Medea

Medea was a grand-daughter of the sun-god Helios, and niece to the sorceress Circe. Hera did her a great disservice by making her love Jason, who did not merit her devotion on any level. She gave up everything she had and betrayed her own father to save Jason's life and to make his quest successful, then used her wits to save his life again from his wicked uncle Pelias.

Her reward was to be cast aside when a more politically advantageous union presented itself to Jason. She responded by murdering the new bride, as well as her own children by Jason. Medea is the subject of a play by Euripides.

Answer: Penelope

While Odysseus was absent for twenty long years, first at the war at Ilium, then all over the Mediterranean at the mercy of Poseidon, Penelope kept a horde of suitors at bay. Had she refused their advances outright, they would easily have overwhelmed the island with their collective force.

Her ultimate stratagem was to tell them she would select a new husband from among their number once she finished weaving a tapestry in honor of the departed Odysseus. By day she spun under their watchful {eyes;} by night she unraveled her work and undid her progress, buying precious time.

This bought her three years, by the end of which time Odysseus returned.

Answer: Ariadne

The story of the Minotaur begins with the impiety of Cretan King Minos, who swore to sacrifice a certain miraculous bull to Poseidon. When Minos substituted another bull to send to the knife, the gods were offended. They therefore caused Minos' wife to conceive an unholy passion for the bull.

The Queen ordered Daedelus, the engineer of unparalleled skill, to construct a device to make it possible for her to consummate her desire, so he made a hollow cow with which the bull could couple with the queen inside.

She subsequently bore Asterius, the Minotaur, a creature with the body of a man but the head of a bull -- and an appetite for human flesh. An oracle told Minos to 'conceal his shame with cunning' so he ordered Daedelus to build a bewildering maze within which to house the creature. (Because Daedelus and his son knew the way through the maze, Minos then betrayed them by imprisoning them in a tall tower. Daedelus fashioned wings with which the two escaped, but his son Icarus famously flew too high... Daedelus went on to invent hot and cold running water, and to 'thread the conch' among other escapades) ...To make a long story short, Theseus, along with thirteen other youths, was sent by Aegeus of Athens as tribute to Knossos, where Minos would feed them to the Minotaur. Ariadne decided to help handsome Theseus, and therefore gave him a ball of thread (and in some versions of the myth, a knife) with which to mark his trail through the so-called Labyrinth (from a word for axe, presumably because the Minotaur bore an axe, or because the maze contained a sacred axe, or because the palace at Knossos contained a famous axe or axes) so that he might find his way out of it. ...Theseus was successful, and fled Knossos with Ariadne, but faithlessly abandoned her on Naxos.

However, Ariadne was comforted there by the god Dionysos, which you have to figure was trading up. ...One last factoid: Theseus screwed up again, by forgetting to hoist the red (or white) sail that would signify to his adoptive father Aegeus that his mission had been successful. Seeing Theseus' ship on the horizon with its original black sail, Augeus leapt into the sea and ended his own life. Hence the name of the Aegean Sea.

Answer: Cassandra

Cassandra caught Apollo's eye, and the god would do anything to have her. Rather originally, not to mention cleverly, she demanded the gift of prophecy in exchange for bestowing her charms upon the lusty god. However, she got a little greedy and refused to succumb to his advances despite the fact that the god kept his side of the bargain. Apollo thereupon spat into her mouth, cursing her so that although she would keep the gift of prophecy, her predictions would never be believed.

She predicted that Paris' kidnapping of Helen would lead to the destruction of Ilium, that the wooden horse would contain armed men, and that she and Agamemnon would both die if he took her with him to Mycenae.

She was right every time.

Answer: Atalanta

In the great Calydonian boar hunt, Meleager delivered the beast's death blow, but acknowledged Atalanta's crucial role by giving her its head, hide and {tusks;} to do so caused his death, since his uncles protested and a fight ensued in which he slew them, for which his mother burned the log with which Meleager's fate was linked, so that he perished.

She is also said to have slain two centaurs who tried to take her virginity. Later, when Milanion, also known as Hippomenes, fell in love with her, and she with him, Aphrodite aided the lovers in overcoming Atalanta's vow to maintain her chastity until defeated by giving the lad three golden apples to roll into Atalanta's path as they raced, delaying her while she picked them up.

However, Ovid tells us that the boy failed to show his gratitude to the goddess through sacrifice, and that she arranged the lovers' downfall.

She caused them to become overcome with lust while in a sacred place, so that they desecrated it with their coupling. In punishment, they were transformed into bears, providing Atalanta's tale with a certain satisfying closure.

Answer: Electra

Electra was the sister of Orestes, who helped avenge the death of Agamemnon, their father, by killing Clytemnestra, their mother. She lends her name to the Electra complex, if less aptly than does Oedipus to his better-known eponymous pathology. She was certainly brave and resourceful, but she wasn't an {Amazon;} she is the subject of a tragedy by Sophocles. (Penthesilia, renowned for her courage, skill in battle, and wisdom, killed many Greek heroes at Ilium until she faced Achilles in single {combat;} after a close-fought bout he defeated her. Melanippe was captured by Heracles when he came seeking Hippolyte's girdle for his Ninth Labor, and his men attempted to bring her back to Greece.

She staged a mutiny and took over the ship, slaying all of Heracles' fighting-men. Myrine is said to have conquered Atlantis, and then lost it through the Atlanteans' treachery.

She went on to conquer Lesbos, Samothrace and Lemnos, before dying in battle in Thrace.)

Answer: Antigone

Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta (thus also Jocasta's grand-daughter). Her brothers Polynices and Eteocles were meant to alternate as rulers of Thebes, but Eteocles refused to cede the throne at the end of the first year. In the great battle that ensued, it was decided that seven simultaneous single combats, one at each of Thebes' seven gates, would decide the outcome (this was the famous 'Seven Against Thebes'). Eteocles' camp was triumphant, but (obedient to their father's curse) Polynices and Eteocles had killed one another simultaneously. Creon succeeded the brothers to the throne, and formally ordered that Eteocles receive funeral honors, but that the corpse of Polynices be denied them. Antigone must then decide between conflicting loyalties, and resolves the dilemma by abjuring mere human law in favor of piety and familial duty. Creon orders her locked in solitary confinement to starve.

The prophet Tiresias arrives, and points out that Antigone is in the right in the eyes of the gods. Creon sees the folly of his harsh application of the letter of the law, and rushes to free her, only to find that she has already ended her own life. Antigone is the subject of Sophocles' greatest tragedy.

Answer: Omphale

Heracles had recently slain Iphitus, son of Eurytus and Prince of Oechalia (Heracles, a married man, was angry that Eurytus would not give Heracles his daughter Iole as a concubine). Heracles therefore sought purification from the Pythia, the Oracle at Delphi.

The Pythia refused to purify him, so he attempted to make off with the sacred tripod appertaining to the oracle, claiming he intended to set up a rival oracle of his own. Apollo intervened to prevent the theft, and a fight ensued. Zeus stepped in, ending the fight and requiring the oracle to come up with a purification task for the hot-headed godling.

The Pythia finally indicated that Heracles must serve as a slave to a woman for one year. He was subsequently sold to Omphale, who really made the most of having him in her power.

But if you ask me, if he hadn't enjoyed having his skirts lifted and his bottom paddled by a woman with strong hands, he wouldn't have put up with it.

Answer: Dido

Dido later fell in love with Aphrodite's son Aeneas, as he fled the Trojan War. She aided him and loved him, but was ultimately spurned by him, since he was ambitious to found his own great city -- Rome -- rather than live a pampered life in hers. She took her own life in her {grief;} this story is told in the Aeneid.

Answer: Alcestis

Apollo's son Asclepius, the healer, had brought Hippolytus back to life, an infringement upon the prerogatives of the gods and of the Fates which enraged Zeus to the point of slaying Asclepius with a thunderbolt. Apollo, incensed at his son's death, slew the Cyclops who had forged the thunderbolt. Zeus, bitter at the death of his Cyclops, ordered Apollo to live for one year as slave of Admetus, king of Pherae.

It seems that Apollo ended up liking Admetus, or perhaps he was worried about the effectiveness of his purification task, but in any event, when he discovered that Admetus had but a short time to live, he petitioned the gods to extend the king's life.

The Fates agreed to do so, but only on the condition that someone else volunteer to die in his place. Even Admetus' aging parents were unwilling to face death for {him;} only Alcestis' love and courage were equal to the prospect.