Women in Greek Mythology II: the Metamorphosed Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In early myths this woman was an only {child;} in later versions she was the youngest and most beautiful of three sisters, and the only one of the three to be mortal. A lover of Poseidon, she trysted with him in a temple of Athena, thereby desecrating it and incurring the goddess' wrath. Athena punished her with a cruel, ophidian transformation, rendering her hideous, even fatal, to behold. Who was she?

Answer: Medusa

As everyone knows, Medusa (in later myths one of the three Gorgon sisters) was given snakes for hair, and was thereby made so hideous that to gaze directly upon her was enough to be turned to stone.

2. This woman was a follower of Artemis who suffered the grave misfortune of catching the eye of lusty Apollo. The god attempted to rape her, and she called upon her father, Peneus, to save her. To preserve her virginity, he kindlily transformed her, forever, into a tree. Who was she?

Answer: Daphne

Daphne became a laurel tree. Apollo was disappointed, but 'honored' her by making the laurel tree sacred to him, and wearing a laurel wreath in her memory. The Roman Caesars demonstrated their divinity by wearing a similar wreath. Laurel leaves are also called bay leaves, and are called 'daphne' in Greek. (Of the wrong answers, Asteria could almost have appeared as a subject of this quiz. Depending on the version of the myth, Asteria may have been turned into a quail by Zeus for rejecting {him;} in the alternative, he pursued her as an eagle after she had taken the form of a quail in order to escape him.)

3. This Lydian woman was so skillful a weaver that she felt justified in comparing her skills favorably to those of Athena. In a contest, the woman arguably won, but her tapestry mocked the gods. Enraged by the profanity -- or perhaps at her defeat -- Athena shredded the offending textile, and transformed its weaver into a verminous creature. Who was she?

Answer: Arachne

Arachne was changed into a spider, and now weaves cobwebs rather than tapestries. Her name is lent to the class of which spiders are an order, namely, the arachnids (also including ticks, mites, scorpions, etc.).

4. This woman, a daughter of King Inachus and a priestess of Hera, was one of many, many women 'lucky' enough to become a paramour of Zeus. Even more than most of Zeus' lovers, this woman aroused the jealousy of Hera. To protect her, Zeus transformed her into a white cow. Who was she?

Answer: Io

Hera caught Zeus with the lovely heifer, and suspected something. So she demanded the cow as a gift, and set her hundred-eyed servant Argus to guard it. Zeus wasn't content with that, perhaps because he hadn't yet had his way with the girl, so he sent his son Hermes on a rescue mission.

Hermes was able to put watchful Argus into such a deep sleep (either by playing his lyre or by a combination of music and touching the eyes with his caduceus) that all hundred of his eyes closed. Hermes then slew Argus and rescued Io.

When Hera discovered Argus' death, she sent a gadfly to torment the still-bovine Io (and also set Argus' eyes to the tail of her bird, the peacock, that he might always be remembered), driving her all over the Mediterranean world.

She went first to the Ionian Sea, which bears her name to this day. She ended up in Egypt, where she was finally forgiven by Hera and restored to her human {form;} subsequently, she bore Zeus' son, Epaphus, on the banks of the Nile. According to some versions of the myth, Hera then sent the Curetes (formerly the guardians of the infant Zeus) to steal the boy, and Io was forced to wander the world again in search of her son. Eventually she found him and returned to Egypt where Epaphus became king. According to some versions, Io acquired the name Isis and became a goddess in her own right. Thus Io's is the only story told here with a happy ending for the woman in question.

5. This woman, a daughter of King Lycaon of Arcadia (who was himself turned into a wolf by Zeus for his own transgressions) and a priestess of Artemis, was another maiden to catch the roving eye of Zeus. Versions of the myth differ as to who actually did the transforming, but one way or another, she was changed into a bear, so that her own son (by Zeus) could not recognize her and hunted her. Who was she?

Answer: Callisto

Some versions have Hera transforming Callisto out of {jealousy;} in others Artemis transforms Callisto to punish her for forsaking {chastity;} in still others, Zeus transforms her to protect her from one or the other of the goddesses' wrath. Callisto's son, Arcas, later hunts her, and Zeus makes Arcas a bear as well, to prevent him killing his own mother. Later, the bears are hunted by men, and Zeus throws them into the sky to become the constellations Ursa Major and Ursus Minor -- for their own protection, of course. (Of the wrong answers, Niobe also could appear as a subject of this quiz.

She had six sons and six daughters, and foolishly mocked Leto for bearing only two children (namely, Artemis and Apollo). Leto sent her own children to kill Niobe's dozen. Niobe was so stricken with grief that Zeus, out of pity, turned her to stone to end her sorrow.)

6. In myths of later vintage, this woman was beloved by the ex-mortal sea-god Glaucus, who sought the aid of Circe to win her love. Jealous Circe, rather than help lovelorn Glaucus spitefully transformed the blameless maiden into a hideous monster. Who was she?

Answer: Scylla

Circe threw magical herbs into Syclla's bathing pool, leaving her human from the waist up, but monstrous from the waist down, piscine but with dogs as appendages. She was set across the Strait of Messina from Charybis, leaving but a narrow gap that ships could pass through.

These versions of the myth were unknown to Homer, for whom Scylla was just a monster, daughter of a sea-god. (Of the wrong answer, Lotis could almost be a subject of this quiz, having been transformed into a tree (the lotus) to save her from ithyphallic Priapus, who became inflamed with lust when he saw her naked and wine-sodden.

However, it is ambiguous who transformed her -- she may have effected the transformation herself, in self-defense, after being awakened by the braying of an ass.)

7. These sisters were transformed into alder trees -- which stand at river-sides weeping amber 'tears' -- by their own father, to assuage the grief they felt at the death of their brother. Who were they?

Answer: The Heliades

Phaethon was a son of Helios, the god or Titan who drove the chariot of the sun across the sky each day. One day he stole his father's chariot, but could not control its horses, so fell from the sky and died in a river. His sisters, the daughters of Helios or Heliades, wept for him until their father transformed them.

8. These sisters were transformed into doves to save them from the unwanted attentions of Orion, who might otherwise have dishonored all seven of them. Who were they?

Answer: The Pleiades

The Pleiades were the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. As an additional safeguard of their virginity, Zeus was kind enough to set them as constellations in the sky, perhaps in fear that Orion might violate them even in avian form. They are also, although less commonly, known as the Atlantides (after their father).

9. This daughter of Nereus and priestess of Artemis was transformed (by the goddess or by her father, depending on the version of the myth) into a spring, to save her from the unwanted attentions of the river-god Alpheus.

Answer: Arethusa

Before she was transformed, the nymph managed to flee as far as Sicily, where there is (now) a spring bearing the name Arethusa. The legend has it that Alpheus mingled his riverine waters with those of Arethusa's well, and that this is the explanation why native Greek flowers bloom in just that place in Sicily.

It is also said that a wooden cup thrown into the Alpheus bobbed up again in Arethusa's spring. It is certainly true that the Alpheus runs part of its course underground. Alpheus and Arethusa are the subject of many poems, including one by {Shelley;} and Alpheus is the sacred river Alph running through the caverns measureless to man of Coleridge's Kubla Kahn. (Of the wrong answers, Rhodope could also appear as a subject of this quiz. She was transformed into a mountain for the insolence of assuming Hera's name.)

10. This nymph was ravished by Hades and then transformed by him into a white poplar tree. Who was she?

Answer: Leucippe

The name Leucippe or Leuce means 'white,' like the tree she became. The poplar was thenceforth sacred to Hades (rapist gods apparently frequently suffer from some sort of cognitive dissonance which causes them to 'honor' their victims). (Of the wrong answers, Minthe could also appear as a subject of this quiz.

She was likewise beloved of Hades, but jealous Persephone transformed her into the herb mint, so that she would forever be trodden upon.)

Source: Author xaosdog

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor CellarDoor before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Greek mythology is full of strong women -- but also of women who are pawns in other players' games. The subjects of this quiz were not permitted to control even their own bodily forms: all were TRANSFORMED to new shapes by others.

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