Greek Heroes & Quests

26 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.What tool helped Perseus behead Medusa safely?
- A. A bronze net
- B. A veil woven by Athena
- C. A helmet of invisibility only
- D. A polished bronze shield as a mirror
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A polished bronze shield as a mirror
Did you know? Perseus watched Medusa's reflection in Athena's polished shield to strike safely.
2.How did Penelope delay choosing a suitor for years?
- A. She claimed to await an oracle
- B. She held endless funeral games
- C. She hid in her chamber
- D. She wove a shroud by day and unwove it by night
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She wove a shroud by day and unwove it by night
Did you know? Penelope wove Laertes's shroud by day and secretly unraveled it each night.
3.How did Eurydice die on her wedding day?
- A. A sickness took her
- B. A snake bit her heel
- C. She drowned in a river
- D. She fell from a cliff
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A snake bit her heel
Did you know? Eurydice died of a snakebite fleeing the shepherd Aristaeus.
4.What trick finally let the Greeks enter Troy?
- A. A hollow wooden horse hid soldiers inside
- B. They forged a peace treaty
- C. They set the fields on fire
- D. They dug a tunnel beneath the walls
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A hollow wooden horse hid soldiers inside
Did you know? The Greeks left a wooden horse, and Troy's victory feast let the hidden soldiers out.
5.Which monster, half man and half bull, did Theseus slay in the labyrinth?
- A. The Cretan Bull
- B. The Minotaur
- C. The Chimera
- D. Typhon
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The Minotaur
Did you know? Theseus entered the labyrinth and killed the Minotaur.
6.What is the name of Odysseus's son?
- A. Telemachus
- B. Asopus
- C. Orestes
- D. Neoptolemus
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Telemachus
Did you know? Telemachus sails out searching for news of his father.
7.What one condition did Hades set for releasing Eurydice?
- A. He must never play again
- B. He must leave his lyre behind
- C. He must serve Hades a year
- D. Orpheus must not look back at her until they surface
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Orpheus must not look back at her until they surface
Did you know? Hades agreed to free Eurydice if Orpheus walked ahead without looking back.
8.Whose abduction by Paris started the Trojan War?
- A. Cassandra
- B. Helen of Sparta
- C. Clytemnestra
- D. Penelope
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Helen of Sparta
Did you know? Paris took Helen from her husband Menelaus, launching the Greek expedition.
9.What happens to anyone who looks directly at Medusa?
- A. They turn to stone
- B. They fall asleep
- C. They forget their name
- D. They go blind
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They turn to stone
Did you know? Medusa's gaze turned onlookers to stone.
10.What contest did Odysseus win that no suitor could?
- A. Stringing his great bow and shooting through twelve axe heads
- B. A riddle contest
- C. A wrestling match with the strongest suitor
- D. A footrace around the palace
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Stringing his great bow and shooting through twelve axe heads
Did you know? Only Odysseus could string his bow and fire an arrow through twelve axe rings.
11.What happened at the last step out of the underworld?
- A. Orpheus looked back and lost Eurydice forever
- B. Cerberus attacked them
- C. The path collapsed
- D. Charon demanded a second coin
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Orpheus looked back and lost Eurydice forever
Did you know? Doubting, Orpheus glanced back, and Eurydice faded back to the dead.
12.Why did Icarus fall into the sea?
- A. The sun melted the wax of his wings
- B. A storm dashed him on the rocks
- C. He let go of the kite string
- D. His wings were clipped by Minos
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The sun melted the wax of his wings
Did you know? Flying too high, Icarus ignored Daedalus's warning and the sun melted his wax wings.
13.How did Odysseus's crew survive the Sirens' song?
- A. Rowing past at double speed
- B. Wax in their ears while he was tied to the mast
- C. Prayers to Poseidon
- D. Covering the ship's hull in wool
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Wax in their ears while he was tied to the mast
Did you know? Odysseus plugged his crew's ears with wax and had himself lashed to the mast.
14.What did Ariadne give Theseus to escape the labyrinth?
- A. A ball of thread
- B. A magic sword
- C. An enchanted lamp
- D. A map of the maze
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A ball of thread
Did you know? Ariadne's thread let Theseus retrace his path out of the labyrinth.
15.What name did Odysseus give the Cyclops Polyphemus as his own?
- A. King
- B. Wanderer
- C. Ghost
- D. Nobody
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Nobody
Did you know? Odysseus called himself "Nobody," so the blinded Cyclops cried that "Nobody" hurt him.
16.Who actually picked the golden apples of the Hesperides for Heracles?
- A. Hermes
- B. The nymphs Hesperides
- C. Atlas
- D. Athena
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Atlas
Did you know? Heracles held the sky while Atlas fetched the apples, then tricked him into taking it back.
17.How did the Aegean Sea get its name?
- A. From Athena's foster father
- B. From a nymph loved by Poseidon
- C. From King Aegeus, who leapt in seeing black sails
- D. From the word for goat
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From King Aegeus, who leapt in seeing black sails
Did you know? Theseus forgot the white sail, and the grieving Aegeus gave the sea its name.
18.Who recognized Odysseus by the scar on his leg?
- A. His wife Penelope
- B. His son Telemachus
- C. His nurse Eurycleia
- D. The swineherd Eumaeus
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His nurse Eurycleia
Did you know? Eurycleia discovered the boar-hunt scar while washing Odysseus's feet.
19.What skill makes Orpheus the most famous musician of Greek myth?
- A. His drumming mimics thunder
- B. His singing summons storms
- C. His lyre playing moves beasts, trees and stones
- D. His flute lulls the winds
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His lyre playing moves beasts, trees and stones
Did you know? Orpheus's lyre could charm animals, trees and even rocks.
20.Which goddess tossed the golden apple inscribed "to the fairest"?
- A. Eris
- B. Hera
- C. Athena
- D. Nemesis
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Eris
Did you know? Eris, goddess of strife, uninvited to the wedding feast, threw the apple that sparked the judgment of Paris.
21.How did Heracles clean the Augean stables in a single day?
- A. He used a thousand slaves
- B. He diverted two rivers through them
- C. He trained birds to eat the filth
- D. He burned the dung
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He diverted two rivers through them
Did you know? Heracles rerouted the Alpheus and Peneus rivers to flush the stables.
22.Which princess did Perseus rescue from a sea monster?
- A. Helen
- B. Ariadne
- C. Cassiopeia
- D. Andromeda
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Andromeda
Did you know? Perseus freed Andromeda, chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the sea monster.
23.Which creature recognized Odysseus on his return before any human?
- A. The palace cat
- B. His horse
- C. A seagull
- D. His old dog Argos
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His old dog Argos
Did you know? Argos, lying on the dung heap, recognized his master and died content.
24.To whom did Paris award the golden apple?
- A. Aphrodite
- B. Hera
- C. Artemis
- D. Athena
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Aphrodite
Did you know? Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite, who promised him the most beautiful woman.
25.Which invulnerable lion was Heracles's first labor?
- A. The Cretan bull
- B. The Calydonian boar
- C. The lion of Troy
- D. The Nemean lion
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The Nemean lion
Did you know? Heracles strangled the Nemean lion and wore its skin as armor.
26.Who designed the labyrinth that housed the Minotaur?
- A. Icarus
- B. Hephaestus
- C. Minos himself
- D. Daedalus
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Daedalus
Did you know? Daedalus built the labyrinth at King Minos's command.

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