Greek Myth Announced Quiz 2
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- Argive plain
- Fertile area in the Peloponnesus; site of Mycenae, Argos, Tiryns.
- Perseus
- Son of Danaë and Zeus; important local hero of the Argolid.
- Tiryns
- City in the Argolid; built of enormous stones, which, according to myth, were set in place by the Cyclopes.
- Io
- Ancestress of many civilizations; tormented by Hera after having attracted the attention of Zeus.
- Danaüs
- Progeny of Io; brought his fifty daughters to Argos to try to prevent their being married to the fifty sons of his brother Aegyptus.
- Danaïds
- The fifty daughters of Danaüs; brought to Argos by their father to try to prevent their being married to the fifty sons of his brother Aegyptus.
- Acrisius
- Progeny of Io; tried to forestall the prophecy that he would be killed by his grandson, Perseus.
- Danaë
- Daughter of Acrisius and mother of Perseus by Zeus via the "golden shower."
- Polydectes
- King of the island of Seriphos, where the box containing Danaë and Perseus was brought ashore by Zeus; tried ignominiously to seduce Danaë.
- Gorgons
- Ancient apotropaic hags; Medusa acquires their characterestics and is the most famous of the Gorgons.
- Medusa
- Most famous of the Gorgons, whose stare turned men into stone; killed by Perseus.
- Graeae
- "Gray-women"; old witches whom Perseus needed to consult on his quest to kill Medusa. Shared one eye and one tooth between the three.
- Andromeda
- Daughter of Cassiopeä and Cepheus of Joppa; rescued from Ceto by Perseus and given to him as his bride.
- Cassiopeä
- Vain Queen mother of Andromeda whose boast that her daughter was more lovely than the Nereids brought the wrath of Poseidon up their city of Joppa.
- Heracles
- Great strongman hero of the Greeks; son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena.
- Alcmena
- Daughter of Electryon and mother of Heracles.
- Eurystheus
- Son of Sthenelus; cousin of Heracles, for whom the hero had to perform the twelve labors.
- Amphitryon
- Son of Alcaeus; husband of Alcmena, the mother of Heracles.
- Megara
- Daughter of Creon of Thebes, and first wife of Heracles; killed by him in a fit of madness brought on by Hera.
- Ceryneian deer
- One of the twelve labors; which led to a quarrel with Artemis and Apollo.
- Pholus
- A parergon of Heracles; a centaur accidentally killed by one of Heracles's poisoned arrows.
- Admetus
- Needed to find someone to die in his place; his wife Alcestis volunteered.
- Alcestis
- Devoted wife of Admetus; willingly dies in his place.
- Hippolyta
- One of the twelve labors; her breastplate was demanded by Eurystheus's daughter.
- Geryon
- One of the twelve labors; his red cattle was demanded by Eurystheus; during the course of which, Heracles set up the Pilars of Heracles.
- Cacus
- A parergon of Heracles; monster who tried to steal some of the cattle Heracles had taken from Greyon.
- Apples of the Hesperides
- One of the twelve labors; apples of the nymphs of the west demanded by Eurystheus; during the course of which, Heracles battled Antaeus, overcame Busiris, and outwitted Atlas.
- Antaeus
- A parergon of Heracles; giant wrestler who drew his strength from contact with the earth; overcome by Heracles, who crushed him while holding him in the air.
- Busiris
- A parergon of Heracles; king in Egypt who tried to sacrifice Heracles, but who was himself killed.
- Iolê
- Daughter of Eurytus and sought by Heracles; brings about his death when Deianira sees her in a train of captive women.
- Omphalê
- Queen of Lydia whom Heracles served as "punishment" for having killed Iphitus in violation of Xenia.
- Cercopes
- Highwaymen defeated by Heracles.
- Acheloüs
- River god and competitor for Deianira; defeated by Heracles.
- Deianira
- Sister of Meleager and second wife of Heracles; mistakenly brought about his death when deceived by the dying Nessus.
- Heraclids
- Sons of Heracles; thought to be the ancestors of the Dorians by the ancient Greeks.
- Theseus
- Son of Aethra and Aegeus/Poseidon; national hero of the Athenians.
- Cecrops
- First king in Athens; brought civilization to the Athenian people; depicted as half-man, half-snake.
- Erichthonius
- Half-man, half-snake product of the spilled semen of Hephaestus; and early king of Athens;
- Cephalus
- Son of Hersê, a daughter of Cecrops, and Hermes; his marriage with Procris was fraught with suspicion and ended in disaster.
- Procris
- Daughter of Erechtheus, and early king of Athens, and wife of Cephalus; her marriage with Cephalus was fraught with suspicion and ended in disaster.
- Laelaps
- The magical dog who always caught what it was chasing; given as a gift to Procris by Minos, king of Crete; ended in a paradoxical pursuit with the magical fox that could never be caught.
- Procnê
- Daughter of Pandion, and early king of Athens, and wife of Tereus; killed her own son Itys to avenge Tereus' rape and mutilation of her sister Philomela.
- Philomela
- Daughter of Pandion, an early king of Athens, and sister of Procnê; she was raped and mutilated by Tereus, Procnê's husband.
- Tereus
- King of Thessaly; given Procnê as his wife by Pandion; his rape and mutilation of her sister Philomela led to the death of his son Itys by Procnê.
- Itys
- Son of Tereus and Procnê; killed by his mother in revenge for Tereus' rape and mutilation of Philomela, Procnê's sister.
- Erechtheus
- An early king of Athens; best known for his children: Procris, Orithyia, and Cecrops II, the latter of whom is the grandfather of Aegeus, father of Theseus.
- Aegeus
- Son of Pandion II and father of Theseus; sonless, he traveled to Delphi; stopping in Troezen on the way back, he impregnated Aethra, daughter of the king, their son was Theseus.
- Aethra
- Mother of Theseus and daughter of Pittheus, the King of Troezen, who, understanding the meaning of Delphi's obscure oracle to Aegeus, connived to have her impregnated by him.
- Procrustes
- Villain overcome by Theseus on his way from Troezen to Athens; murdered his victims by putting them on a bed that never fit.
- Amazonomachy
- Battle of the Athenians and the invading Amazons; battle provoked by Theseus' abduction of their Queen Antiopê; later comes to symbolize Athens's victory over the Persians.
- Hippolytus
- Son of Theseus by Antiopê, Queen of the Amazons; falsely accused by Phaedra, Theseus' new wife, of having attempted to rape her, he is killed by Poseidon, who answers Theseus' prayer.
- Phaedra
- Wife of Theseus and stepmother to Hippolytus; inflicted with a shameful lust for Hippolytus and rebuffed by him, she kills herself, leaving behind a letter falsely accusing Hippolytus of having tried to rape her.
- Bellerophon
- Parallel to the Hippolytus false-accusation motif; having rebuffed the wife of the king at Corinth, the king tries to kill him.
- Pirithoüs
- King in Thessaly, opponent of Theseus who, like Enkidu and Gilgamesh, becomes his companion in a number of adventures.
- Lapiths
- Thessalian people, whose king Pirithoüs, is a companion of Theseus; involved in a famous battle against the Centaurs that erupts at a wedding: the "Battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths" (aka the Centauromachy).
- Centaurs
- Race of half-man half-horse creatures; offspring of Ixion; mostly dangerous and wild, some are good.
- Pisistratus
- Democratic tyrant of late 6th century Athens; responsible for promoting the myths of Theseus and identifying them with democratic ideology.
- Europa
- Daughter of Agenor, taken away by Zeus who disguised himself as a bull; becomes queen of Crete.
- Minos
- Son of Europa and Zeus; king of Crete during its mythic zenith; leads his forces successfully against Athens.
- Pasiphaë
- Wife of Minos, afflicted with a lust for the bull sent by Poseidon.
- Minotaur
- Half-man, half-bull monster born from the union between Pasiphaë and Poseidon's bull; locked in the Labyrinth and eventually killed by Theseus.
- Labyrinth
- Inescapable underground maze on Crete built by Daedalus to house the Minotaur.
- Nisus
- King of Megara betrayed by his daughter to Minos, who was attacking his city.
- Scylla
- Daughter of Nisus, king of Megara, who betrayed him to Minos who was attacking the city; when betrayed by Minos in turn, she became the clipper bird (Ciris).
- Icarus
- Rash son of Daedalus who died when the wax that held his wings together melted.
- Cocalus
- King of Camicus in Sicily, where Minos had pursued Daedalus.
- Boeotia
- "Cowland"; area in Greece to the northwest of Attic; its principal city of Thebes is richly productive in myth.
- Sparti
- "Sown-men"; so-called because they sprang from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus; reputed ancestors of important aristocratic clans in Thebes.
- Antiopê
- Mother by Zeus of Amphion and Sethus; pursued by Nycteus her father, Lycus, her uncle.
- Dircê
- Wife of Lycus; tormented Antiopê, mother of Amphion and Zethus, until she herself was put to death by the twins.
- Laius
- Son of Labdacus and father of Oedipus; tried to avert the prophecy that he would be killed by his son, but in so trying, fulfilled it.
- Jocasta
- Wife of laius and mother/wife of Oedipus; kills herself when she learns truth of what has happened; called Epicastê by Homer.
- Oedipus
- "Swollen-foot"; son of Laius and Jocasta; raised in Corinth, he returns to Thebes where he unknowingly fulfills the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother.
- Adrastus
- King of Argos, and sole survivor of an Argive expedition against Thebes to put Polynices on the throne.
- Tydeus
- Exile from Calydon and one of the seven leaders against Thebes; was nearly made immortal by Athena, but Amphiaraüs thwarted it.
- Polynices
- Brother of Eteocles and son of Oedipus; died during the Argive expedition egainst Thebes to force his brother out.
- Amphiaraüs
- Prophet and one of the Argive leaders against Thebes; took part even though he knew he would die.
- Haemon
- Son of Creon; supported Antigonê's case against his father; killed himself when he realized she was dead.
- Epigoni
- The sons of the seven Argive "Seven Against Thebes"; successfully attacked Thebes and ousted the king Laodamas.
- Antigonê
- A daughter of Oedipus; defied Creon's order that the body of her brother Polynices remain unburied.
- Amphion
- One of AntiopÍ's twin sons; ruled in Thebes with his brother, Zethus; unlike Zethus, he was devoted to music
- Eriphyle
- Wife of Amphiaraüs, who orders him to participate in the Seven Against Thebes campaign.
- Eteocles
- One of Oedipus' sons; defended Thebes against a coalition of kings led by his brother, Polynices.
- Ismene
- Daughter of Oedipus; is reluctant to help her sister, AntigonÍ, to defy Creon's order and bury their brother, Polynices
- Zethus
- One of AntiopÍ's twin sons; ruled in Thebes with his brother, Amphion; unlike Amphion, he was a man of ranching and practical affairs.
- Thessaly
- Area of northern Greece; source of the myth of Jason and the Argonauts
- Iolcus
- Port city in Thessaly; home of Jason.
- Apollonius of Rhodes
- Third century B.C. author of the Argonautica; his poetry reflects the Hellenistic aesthetic of minute descriptions and complicated characters.
- Jason
- Son of Aeson, hero of the Argonautica.
- Athamas
- King of Athamas; nearly tricked by his wife NephelÍ into sacrificing his son Phrixus.
- Phrixus
- Son of Athamas nearly sacrificed by his father; taken to Colchis on the Black Sea by a golden ram that appeared at the last moment.
- Helle
- Daughter of Athamas; taken away on the back of a golden ram; she fell off into a sea which thereafter is called the "Hellespont."
- Hellespont
- "Sea of Helle"; so called because Helle, the daughter of Athamas, fell into this body of water after having been taken away by a golden ram.
- Colchis
- Distant town on the Black Sea; kingdom of Aeîtes, who had the golden fleece Jason seeks in the Argonautica.
- Tyro
- Mother of Pelias and Neleus by Poseidon and Aeson, the father of Jason, by Cretheus
- Pelias
- King in Iolcus who imprisons his half-brother Aeson and arranges to send Jason on the supposedly hopeless quest for the golden fleece; killed by his daughters who were tricked by Medea into cutting him up into pieces.
- Chiron
- Centaur on Mount Pelion who raised Jason
- Zetes
- One of the warriors on the voyage of the Argo; son of Boreas (the North Wind), he was able to fly and freed Phineus from the torment of the Harpies.
- Calaôs
- One of the warriors on the voyage of the Argo; son of Boreas (the North Wind), he was able to fly and freed Phineus from the torment of the Harpies
- Phineus
- King of Salmydessus and prophet; offended Zeus by being too generous with his prophecies; his torment by the Harpies was ended by Jason and his crew.
- Symplegades
- "Clashing Rocks" that barred access to the Black Sea; cleared by the Argonauts with the help of Athena.
- Apsyrtus
- Son of Aeîtes and brother of Medea; joined in the pursuit of Jason and Medea after the fleece had been filched; he was either killed by Jason, or chopped by into bits which were thrown overboard piece by piece to delay the pursuit of Aeîtes.
- Talus
- Bronze giant filled with ichor that guarded the island of Crete; overcome by Jason who drained him of the ichor.
- Aetolia
- Area in Greece to the north of the western opening of the Corinthian gulf; main city is Calydon.
- Calydon
- Main city in the area of Aetolia, home of King Oeneus and location of the famous boar hunt.
- Althaea
- Mother of Meleager; in a rage over his murder of her brothers, she threw the magic log which protected him into the fire, thus killing him.
- Meleager
- Son of Oeneus and Althaea of Calydon; killed the boar that was ravaging his land, but violated the code of the hunt by giving its skin to Atalanta whom he wished to seduce; eventually this brought about his death
- Atalanta
- Speedy athlete who took part in the boar hunt at Calydon; eventually married to Melanion who overcame her in a foot race; punished for their lusty consummation of the marriage in the precinct of Zeus by being turned into lions.
- Atreus
- Son of Pelops and father of Agamemnon and Menulaüs; quarrels with brother Thyestes over who rules in Mycenae
- Pelops
- Son of Tantalus, and victor of Oenomaüs in the chariot race; father of Atreus and Thyestes.
- Oenomaüs
- King of Pisa and father of Hippodamia; defeated and killed in chariot race against Pelops.
- Hippodamia
- Daughter of Oenomaüs of Pisa; prize of the famed chariot race won by Pelops with the help of Myrtilus, Oenomaüs's aid.
- Thyestes
- A son of Pelops; quarrels with brother Atreus over the kingship in Mycenae; tricked into eating his own sons by Atreus at the Banquet of Thyestes
- Aegisthus
- Avenger son of Thyestes by his daughter Pelopia.
- Menelaüs
- Son of Atreus and brother of Agamemnon; rules in Sparta after being awarded Helen by Tyndareüs; one of the generals in the Trojan War
- Agamemnon
- Son of Atreus and brother of Menelaüs; rules in Mycenae; leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War
- Tyndareüs
- King of Sparta, husband of Leda and father of Clytemnestra, and Castor, and step-father of Helen and Polydeuces (Pollux).
- Leda
- Mother by Zeus and Tyndareüs of Helen, Clytemnestra, and Castor and Polydeuces (Pollux).
- Polydeuces
- Son of Leda and Zeus; brother of Castor, the other Dioscuri.
- Castor
- Son of Leda and Tyndareüs; brother of Polydeuces; the other Dioscuri.
- Helen
- Daughter of Zeus and Leda; married to Menelaüs and taken to Troy by Paris.
- Clytemnestra
- Daughter of Tyndareüs and Leda; married to Agamemnon.
- Peleus
- King of Phthia and father of Achilles
- Ajax
- Son of Telamon of Salamis (unless qualified by "the Lesser," "Ajax" always refers to Ajax the Greater); one of the most formidable Greek warriors in the Trojan War.
- Hecabê
- Wife of Priam, King of Troy; sometimes called Hecuba.
- Aulis
- Bay in Thessaly where the Greek forces mustered for the Trojan War; they were pinned down by contrary winds sent by Artemis there until Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter.
- Telemachus
- Son of Odysseus of Ithaca; used by Palamedes to expose Odysseus's feigned insanity.
- Palamedes
- Greek warrior noted for cleverness; credited with having created the alphabet among other things; exposed Odysseus's feigned madness to avoid the Trojan War.
- Calchas
- Prophet of the Greeks during the Trojan War.
- Philoctetes
- Warrior abandoned by the Greeks on Lemnos.
- Chryseïs
- Agamemnon's war prize demanded back by Apollo for Chryses, his priest and father of the girl.
- Briseïs
- Achilles's war prize demanded by Agamemnon to compensate for his loss of Chryseïs; this is the prozimate cause of Achilles's wrath.
- Andromachê
- Wife of Hector; her pathos-filled speech in which she tried to persuade Hector to remain in the city wall is one of the most famous passages in all literature.
- Penthesilea
- Leader of a force of Amazons on behalf of the Trojans; killed by Achilles.
- Neoptolemus
- Son of Achilles; kills a son of Priam in front of his father's eyes.
- Laocoön
- Trojan priest of Poseidon who tries to warn the Trojans against the Trojan Horse.
- Polyxena
- Youngest daughter of Priam; sacrificed after the war to the ghost of Achilles.
- Orestes
- Avenging son of Agamemnon; tried and acquitted of the murder of his mother in Athens before the first Court of the Areopagus.
- Electra
- Faithful daughter of Agamemnon; assists her brother Orestes to exact revenge in Mycenae.
- Furies
- Ancient pursuer of those who spill familial blood; chase Orestes to Athens, where they are finally disabled.
- Eumenides
- "Kindly One"; new name for the Furies after being tamed by Athena.
- Who wrote "Oedipus Rex"
- Sophocles
- Who wrote "Oedipus"
- Seneca
- Who wrote "Alcestis"
- Euripides
- Who wrote "Hippolytus"
- Euripides
- Who wrote "Medea"
- Euripides
- Who wrote "Trojan Women"
- Euripides
- Who wrote "Agamemnon"
- Aeschylus