Women in Greek Mythology III: the Hapless Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This woman started it {all;} hers was the face that launched a thousand ships. But although she was the catalyst of the greatest cycle of all Greek mythology, her prominent role was due not to skill, nor to cleverness, nor to strength of character or will, but rather to her physical appearance alone -- the effect she had on men. Nor was she able to wield her beauty to her own {advantage;} she was a passive instrument of fate. Who was she?

Answer: Helen

Aphrodite had promised handsome Paris that he could have the most beautiful woman in the world as his {wife;} she didn't care at all that Helen was already married to Menelaus, nor that every prominent Greek king in the world had sworn to aid Menelaus should anyone ever attempt to abduct her ...

2. This woman's claim to fame is having been chained to a rock to be eaten by a sea-monster. Who was she?

Answer: Andromeda

Perseus rescued her, and felt entitled to take her for a wife. Discovering that her father -- who had been the one to chain her to that rock -- had already betrothed her to her own uncle, Perseus turned the dirty old man to stone with the gorgon's head. (The wrong answers are three of the four Charities.)

3. This woman's claim to fame is having been cloistered in an underground cell most of her youth, then shoved in a box and thrown in the ocean after being seduced by a god disguised as a beam of light or a shower of gold. Not the most exciting, nor romantic, existence in Greek mythology. Who was she?

Answer: Danae

Danae was the daughter of Acrisius, who had heard an oracle that his grandson would kill him. He therefore locked his daughter away from the attentions of men, but randy old Zeus found a way in. The product of Danae's union with the god was Perseus; when Acrisius heard the boy playing he threw mother and son in the ocean in a box. With such a mother, it's no wonder Perseus found Andromeda so exciting!

4. This nymph loved self-obsessed Narcissus, but was subject to a curse that prevented her from telling him so directly. He ignored her, and she wasted away to *almost* nothing. Who was she?

Answer: Echo

Echo had engaged Hera in conversation to prevent the goddess from catching Zeus in flagrante seducto with a lover. Hera cursed Echo so that she could no longer speak normally, but rather could only repeat what another person said to her. Later, when Echo met Narcissus, he would not lift his gaze from his own reflection in a pool of water, and thought that Echo's repetitions of his own expressions of self-directed admiration and devotion were actual replies from his reflection.

He therefore cast himself into the pool to join the beautiful being who loved him, and there drowned. Echo pined away in her grief, until only her voice remained, forever repeating the words of others.

5. This woman's claim to fame is to have gotten married, only to discover that her new husband was not only the killer of her first husband, but also her own son. Who was she?

Answer: Jocasta

Jocasta was happily married to Laius, king of Thebes. When it was prophecied that Laius would die at his son's hands, the lad was taken out to be killed, probably with a rod piercing his feet (the name Oedipus means something like 'swollen foot'), but he survived, as is usual in these matters.

The boy Oedipus was ultimately raised by the king and queen of Corinth. Later, when the boy had likewise heard the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, he left Corinth, believing his foster parents to be his true ones.

In his travels, he met Laius at a place where three roads met, and after being treated poorly, slew Laius and his men. Still later, he freed Thebes from the scourge of the sphynx by solving her famous riddle, and met Jocasta, the city's reigning queen. Jocasta possessed a magic necklace which made her appear young and beautiful, so Oedipus married her and became king.

This unnatural state of affairs caused a supernatural plague, the miasma of which could only be cleansed away by solving the mystery of Laius' murder at the hands of his {son;} when the truth came out, Jocasta hanged herself and Oedipus put out his own eyes.

6. This woman's claim to fame is to have been sacrificed to Artemis, at the hands of her own father, in the hope of receiving the blessing of the gods in an endeavor to fetch back a runaway bride. Who was she?

Answer: Iphigenia

Agamemnon had killed a stag sacred to {Artemis;} Artemis therefore sent unfavorable weather, preventing the Akhaean host from sailing for Ilium to fetch back Helen of Sparta, who had absconded with Paris, catalyzing the Trojan War. Agamemnon tricked his daughter into accompanying him to Aulis, on the pretext that Achilles would marry her there.

At Aulis, he sacrificed her to appease Artemis, and the Akhaeans were ready to sail. According to some versions of the myth, Artemis took pity on the girl, and magically substituted a stag in her place, transporting Iphigenia to the land of the Taurians to become a priestess.

7. Which of the following women is chiefly famous for having been the victim of a particularly brutal rape, at the hands of her brother-in-law, King Tereus of Thrace?

Answer: Philomela

Tereus was married to Philomela's sister Procne, but desired Philomela more. He took her against her will, then cut out her tongue so she could not spread the tale. She wove the scene of her violation and mutilation into a tapestry, and smuggled it to her sister. Appalled, Procne took the revenge of slaying her own son by Tereus, Itys, and serving him to her husband in a meal. Tereus responded by offering violence to both {sisters;} the gods intervened, transforming Philomela, Procne, and Tereus into birds. If you follow Sophocles, Philomela became a swallow, Procne a nightengale, and Tereus a hoopoe; this tradition makes sense, because the swallow is considered "voiceless." However, if you follow Ovid, Philomela became the nightengale and Procne the swallow; this tradition is most widely known, because the medievals knew their Ovid but not their Sophocles and, indeed, to medieval Europeans a "Philomel" was a nightengale. (Of the wrong answers, Megara might be a fitting subject of this {quiz;} she was the first wife of Heracles, famous only for having been murdered by him in a fit of madness. Lavinia was the daughter of Titus Andronicus in the Shakespearean play of that name, and was raped and mutilated still more horribly than Philomela, in that her hands were cut off as well.

A similar cannibal revenge was wrought in that case.)

8. Many women in Greek mythology were seduced by gods in the form of animals. To my knowledge, this woman was the only one to become enamored of a bull who was NOT a god in disguise. Who was this debauched queen of Crete?

Answer: Pasiphae

Pasiphae was cursed by the gods with a depraved lust for a bull not due to any transgression of her own, but rather due to the impiety of her husband, King Minos. Minos had sworn 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 Pasiphae to conceive an unholy passion for the bull. Pasiphae, in a rational moment, ordered Daedelus 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. (Of the wrong answers, Galatea could be a subject of this {quiz;} loved by both Polyphemus and Acis, she chose Acis, whereupon the Cyclops Polyphemus squashed him with a rock.)

9. This woman, like many another, was a lover of Zeus. Jealous Hera teased her vanity, and convinced her to trick Zeus into swearing that he would grant her the 'boon' of showing himself to her in his 'full glory' of godhood. He did so, and the woman was consumed in an instant, for mortal flesh cannot endure the blinding glory that is a god undisguised. Who was this vain and foolish mortal?

Answer: Semele

Zeus could not save her, but he was able to save the unborn child from the ashes of her {womb;} he sewed the boy into his own thigh, and nine months later the god Dionysos was born.

10. This woman's name has lived for millennia, and will be remembered for so long as there exist humans who read and tell stories. For what greatness was her name preserved, while so many others have slid out of History's ken? For being murdered on her wedding night, by her heroic groom's abandoned lover. Who was this unfortunate princess of Corinth?

Answer: Glauce

Glauce was the daughter of Creon of Corinth (not to be confused with Creon of Thebes). Jason, wishing to ingratiate himself with Creon, offered to divorce strong-willed Medea and wed Glauce in her stead. Medea offered Glauce the wedding-present of a poisoned dress, which killed her painfully after she put it {on;} the dress even took her father's life as the horrified man attempted to save her. (Of the wrong answers, Helle could be a subject of this {quiz;} her fame consists in having been rescued from murder by a flying ram, only to fall from its back to her death into the Hellespont, which bears her name to this day.)

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 myth is full of strong women - but also of women who suffer helplessly at the hands of others. Ancient Greek culture was starkly misogynistic: even in the myths, strong women are the exception, not the rule. This quiz reminds us of that reality.

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