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Study Guide To Edith Hamilton’s Mythology
1. The Greeks created their gods in whose image?
2. How did the Greek gods act?
3. The behavior of the Greek gods reflects the Greek attitude towards the beauty and perfection of _______.
4. The Greeks saw perfection in the ideal beauty of __________, and they used it as a model for their statues of the gods. .
5. Why did the Greeks create their myths, initially?
6. The myths conveyed developing religious ideas concerning ____________.
7. When a mortal committed a crime, broke an oath, or harmed a guest, they were seen to be ___________.
8. The Roman poet ________ wrote a lot about the myths, but presented them as silly stories that held no inner meaning.
9. Homer, an ancient Greek _________, provided a lot of important insight in his epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
10. Hesiod's _______________ is another main source, which asked questions about the origins of things.
11. Homeric hymns, written from the end of the ______________ century BC to the fifth or even fourth century BC, were
written to honor various gods.
12. Later Greek writers include ______________, a lyric poet whose poems contained references to mythology, and the
tragic playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
Short Answer Questions - Part One: The Gods, and The Two Great Gods of Earth
1. The main gods, or ______________, lived on Mount Olympus.
2. These gods were the children of the ____________, who were the children of heaven and earth.
3. Zeus and the other gods took over when Zeus dethroned ____________ and seized his power.
4. The Romans believed in the Olympian gods, giving them different ___________.
5. _________ was the king of the gods and ruler of Olympus.
6. _________ was the goddess of marriage and women.
7. ______________ was the god of the sea and brother of Zeus.
8. ____________ was the other brother of Zeus and ruler of the underworld, where mortals went when they died.
9. _______________ was the goddess of wisdom, and protector of cities and civilization.
10. Apollo (also known as Apollo to the Romans) and _________ were the children of Zeus and Leto.
11. ____________ was the god of light, archery, music, culture, healing, and prophecy.
12. ____________ was the goddess of love, who was said to have been born from the foam of the sea.
Short Answer Questions - Part One: How the World and Mankind Were Created, and The Earliest Heroes
1. According to the Greeks, in the beginning there was only __________.
2. Out of this came Night and Death, then Light, followed by Earth (_________) and Heaven (Uranus, or Uranus).
3. The Titan called Cronus fought his father and took his power. Fearing that his children would do the same when they
grew up, what did he do to each newborn baby?
4. When Zeus was born, what did Cronus' wife Rhea do?
5. Zeus imprisoned the Titans and forced _______ to hold up the sky.
6. There are _______ different versions of the story of the creation of man.
7. In one version of the story of the creation of man, the gods created different races of men based on _________.
8. Another story tells that Zeus was angry with early men and sent what to destroy them?
9. Whose family survived Zeus' anger?
10. To punish men, Zeus sent them ___________.
11. How is the creation myth of the Greeks peculiar?
12. Why were the gods worshiped?
Short Answer Questions – Part Two: Stories of Love and Adventure
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How Does Psyche compare in beauty with her sisters?
What plan does Venus have for Psyche?
What happens when Cupid meets Psyche?
How does “the mildest of winds” help Psyche?
5 How do her sisters create doubts about Psyche’s future husband?
6 How does this myth end?
7 How does the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe explain the deep red color of the mulberry bush?
8 How does the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice explain the sweetness of the nightingale’s song?
9 How does the myth of Ceyx and Alcyone explain the idea of Halcyon days?
10How does the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea illustrate the power of love?
11Why does Pygmalion decide to remain a bachelor?
12Under what circumstances does he fall in love?
13How does Pygmalion act after this?
14Who helps Pygmalion in his desire to have the woman he loves?
15How does this story end?
16What is the Golden Fleece?
17Who is Pelias? Why is he worried about a “One-sandaled” stranger?
18Why does Jason seek the Golden Fleece? Who helps him in his quest?
19What are three adventures he has along the way?
20How does the King of Colchis treat Jason when he arrives? What test does he put Jason through?
21How does Medea figure in these events?
22What happens to Pelias after Jason returns with the Golden Fleece? What does jason do to Medea at the end?
Short Answer Questions – Part Three: The Great Heroes before the Trojan War - Perseus, Theseus, Hercules and Atalanta
1. Perseus was the son of Zeus and whom?
2. Perseus was famous for killing ___________, a Gorgon whose gaze could turn a man to stone.
3. On Perseus' return, he flew over _____________ where the maiden Andromeda was being sacrificed to a sea-monster
to appease the anger of the sea-god and his nymphs.
4. Theseus was the son of ____________, king of Athens, but he was brought up in a city in southern Greece.
5. Theseus saved Athens from the cruelty of _______________, who demanded a tribute of seven maidens and seven
young men every nine years to feed to the Minotaur.
6. Theseus became a good and just king of _________ and took part in many more adventures, such as the Calydonian
Boar hunt and the fight between Centaurs and Lapiths.
7. Theseus was honored by the Athenians as a protector of _____________ and a great king of their city.
8. Hercules was the son of Zeus and whom?
9. Why did Hercules kill his wife and children?
10. Hercules undertook ______________ seemingly impossible tasks for King Eurystheus of Mycenae in order to punish
and purify himself for the murder of his family.
11. Atalanta was raised by ____________ and became a great huntress.
12. To what did Atalanta challenge all her suitors?
Short Answer Questions - Part Four. The Trojan War, and The Fall of Troy
1. When a Trojan prince called Paris was asked to judge a beauty contest between three goddesses, who bribed him with
the offer of the most beautiful woman in the world?
2. To whom was Helen married?
3. The abduction of Helen began a _____ year war between Greece and Troy, with many heroes on both sides.
4. How was Achilles killed by Paris?
5. The Greeks finally won the war with __________.
6. Who was the only Trojan prince to escape?
7. The story of The Trojan War was ______________ important and popular myths of the Greeks, and one which every
educated Greek and Roman would have been familiar with.
8. What was the fatal flaw of most Greek heroes?
9. Achilles could not stand the slight to his honor that Agamemnon brought about by ______________.
10. Why was refusing someone a burial a serious affront to the gods?
11. The heroes of the Trojan War, also called __________ heroes, were slightly different from the older mythological
heroes such as Hercules, Perseus and Theseus.
12. Earlier heroes were superhuman individuals, who fought alone against monsters and strange creatures, while the
Trojan heroes fought whom?
Short Answer Questions - Part Four. The Adventures of Odysseus
1. Odysseus' journey home to Ithaca took him ______ years, and he faced many fierce monsters and dangerous people
along the way.
2. When Odysseus blinded the Cyclops, he angered whom?
3. Odysseus and his men faced man eating monsters and strange magic, losing how many ships on their journey?
4. On Circe's island the men were turned into what?
5. Odysseus rescued the men before visiting the dead prophet ________________ in the underworld.
6. After killing some of the Sun-god's ______________, all of Odysseus' men were punished by drowning in a storm.
7. Odysseus alone survived and washed up on the shore of the island of ______________, where a sea-nymph who kept
him captive for years.
8. Odysseus' adventures were told in the _________ poem The Odyssey.
9. Who composed the Odyssey?
10. Modern scholarship usually dates The Odyssey to around the ______ century BC.
11. The Odyssey was in many ways a celebration of what it meant to be ___________.
12. It was a moral tale that taught proper behavior toward whom?
Short Answer Questions – Part Five: The Great Families of Mythology
1. Who belonged to the famous House of Atreus?
2. Why was it called an ill-fated home?
Tantalus and Niobe
3. Upon whom do most writers blame the misfortunes of the descendants of Tantalus? Why?
4. What was Niobe's fate as the result of her defying the gods?
Agamemnon and His Children
5. What is the first story of Agamemnon's death?
6. Later, what was the story?
7. When Agamemnon returned after the victory at Troy, what was the memory the elders of the city had?
8. What had the queen done in the absence of Agamemnon?
9. Whom did the King bring back with him?
10. What did Cassandra reveal of the past? Of the future?
11. Who slew the king? What did Apollo tell Orestes about revenge?
12. What were the words spoken by Orestes never before spoken by any of the House of Atreus?
Iphigenia among the Taurians
13. Where had Iphegenia been taken by the gods from the alter of sacrifice? How did Artemis protect her?
14. What had the Delphic priestess told Orestes to do? Who helped him?
15. What plan did Iphegenia have for their escape? Who secured her plan?
Chapter 18 – The Royal House of Thebes
Cadmus and His Children
1. How was the site of Thebes determined?
2. How did he get people to build the city?
3. What was the fate of Cadmus and his wife Harmonia?
Oedipus
4. Why was Oedipus sent away to die as a baby?
5. How did Laius' death occur, according to rumor?
6. Why did Oedipus become the hero, King, and marry Jocasta?
7. How was the plague to be stayed?
8. Did the blind prophet finally answer Oedipus' request?
9. Who revealed the story to him?
10. What did the shepherd tell?
11. What happened to Jocasta and Oedipus?
Antigone
12. Who became regent of Thebes?
13. Who took care of Oedipus when he was exiled? Who were the sons who fought for the crown?
14. Where did Oedipus die?
15. What did the prophet tell Creon? How was the matter settled? What resulted?
16. What was Creon's edict?
17. Who buried Polyneices?
The Seven Against Thebes
18. What did Adrastus and the mothers of the unburied dead plead to King Theseus of Athens?
19. How did he decide?
20. When the sons of the seven champions of the buried dead finally took vengeance, what was left of
Thebes?
21. Why were the sons called Epigoni?
Chapter 19 – The Royal House of Athens
Cecrops
1. Describe the first King of Athens?
2. How did Athena become protector of Athens?
3. How did Poseidon and the men take revenge over the women's voting for Athena?
Procne and Philomela
4. What fate befell Philomela at the hands of Tereus?
5. What did Philomela do?
6. Who did Procne retaliate?
7. How did Procne and Philomela escape? What happened to Tereus?
Procris and Cephalus
8. What was the purpose of Cephalus' test for Procris?
9. When he rashly accused her, what did she do?
10. What was Procris' fate after they were again united?
Orithyia and Boreas
11. Who was in love with Orithyia, Procris' sister?
12. How did he capture her? Who were their sons?
Creusa and Ion
13. Who carried off Procris and Orithyua's sister Creusa?
14. Where did Creusa bear and leave her son?
15. Whom did she later marry?
16. When the two went to seek a son, what resulted?
17. How was he identified? What confirmed it?