Epsilon is for Eos Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eos

Eos, rosy-fingered in a saffron robe, would rise early to bring the light upon the mortal men. Helios (the Sun) was her brother, and Selene (the moon) was her sister.

Enyalius was a minor god of war, probably one of Ares' sons. Elpis was the personification of hope. When Pandora opened her box, all sorts of catastrophes came out and only Elpis remained. Ephialtes was the name of two different giant creatures. One Ephialtes was a Giant shot in the eye by Heracles and by Apollo, the other Ephialtes tried to storm Olympus by putting three mountains one on top of the other.

Answer: Eros

Psyche was a mortal princess, one of the most beautiful women on earth. As many men infatuated with her beauty omitted their prayers to Aphrodite and instead venerated Psyche, Aphrodite wanted revenge. She sent out her son Eros with the mission to make Psyche fall madly in love with the most hideous creature ever seen. Alas, Eros accidentally wounded himself with one of his infatuating arrows and fell in love with Psyche.

To complete his mission, Eros had Psyche transported to a secluded villa, where he would visit her at night - pretending to be too ugly to behold. But when Eros fell asleep, Psyche lighted a torch and found out the truth. After several difficult tasks imposed by Aphrodite, Psyche was finally allowed wedding Eros, and thus became divine.

Erebus was the main god of darkness. Eurotas was a Laconian king, having as sole heir his daughter Sparta. Eurypyle was one of the Amazon queens, best known for her fight against the city of Babylon.

Answer: Eurydice

Orpheus was one of the most gifted musicians and poets. This son of a mortal king (Oeagrus of Thracia) and one of the Muses (Calliope) enthralled all living creatures with his music. Once a forest followed him, dancing upon the tunes Orpheus performed on his lyre. Orpheus fell in love with the beautiful Eurydice. But a venomous snake was eager to taste Eurydice's beautiful ankles, and so Eurydice died. Orpheus (while still alive) followed Eurydice into the Underworld, and his mourning music so moved Hades that Orpheus' wish was granted: Eurydice was allowed to follow Orpheus back into the world of the living, on one condition, that Orpheus should never look behind before having fully left the Underworld. So Orpheus and Eurydice travelled back from the Kingdom of Death. Alas, when Orpheus almost reached the exit, he looked over his shoulder to ascertain his beloved wife was still following. Inevitably Eurydice died (once again) and should remain in the Underworld forever.

Orpheus and Eurydice have inspired many opera composers, from Monteverdi to von Gluck.

Euryale was one of the Gorgones: three sisters of the must ugly appearance (with slithering snakes in stead of hair). Euryale and her sister Stheno were immortal, while the third sister Medusa was mortal. Epione ("the soothing") was wife of Asclepios and mother of Panacea and Hygieia, thus involved in medicine. Europa was a Phoenician princess, abducted and seduced by Zeus disguised as a bull. Europa bore to Zeus the Cretan King Minos.

Answer: Echo

Zeus was a real philanderer. Hera, his wife and the goddess of marriage, was of course furious at Zeus for his frequent affairs. But Zeus had an accomplice: the nymph Echo used to distract Hera by telling fascinating but very long stories whenever Zeus wandered off to follow his base instincts. At last Hera understood what Echo had in mind, and she punished Echo with a fitting curse: henceforth Echo could only repeat the last words another creature spoke out loud.
Echo then met Narcissus, a beautiful hunter separated from his party. When Narcissus called out for help, Echo answered by repeating his last words. The strange dialogue ensuing convinced Narcissus that his mirror image was in love with him. Upon finding his reflection in a pool, he bent over to kiss his "lover" - with the inevitable outcome that Narcissus drowned.

Eleos was an ancient goddess, personification of mercy. Erginus was a Boeotian king, constantly at war with the city of Thebes. Eucleia was the personification of a good reputation.

Answer: Eris

Thetis and Peleus gave a big wedding banquet, to which most of the gods were invited. But at Zeus' advice, Eris (the goddess of Discord) was scrapped from the invitation lists. Although uninvited, Eris did appear, and throw a golden apple with the inscription "Kallisti" ("For the Fairest"). As various goddesses were present, an awful dispute followed between Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. The Trojan prince Paris was chosen as an arbiter. His judgment was influenced by the bribe offered by Aphrodite: the hand (and other body parts) of the most beautiful mortal woman, Helen. Alas, Helen was married to Menelaos the Greek - and so started the war between Greece and Troy.

Eunomia was the goddess of good legislation. Elephenor was king of Euboea and one of the Greeks present in the Trojan war. Enyo was Ares' sister. She destroyed cities as a pastime.

Answer: Eteocles

The story starts with Oedipus, son of Laius and Iocaste, the royal family of Thebes. Because an oracle predicted that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother, Laius ordered that the infant Oedipus be abandoned in the woods. But the shepherd who was chosen to execute this order pitied the child, and offered it to the king of Corinth. During his wandering years, Oedipus quarreled with a noble traveller and killed him - not realising the victim was Laius. On answering the Sphinx' riddle, Oedipus was rewarded the hand of queen Iocaste.

Oedipus and Iocaste had two sons and two daughters. After Oedipus learned the truth about his deeds, he went in exile, and the brothers Eteocles and Polynices were to succeed each other every year as king of Thebes. But when it was Eteocles' turn to step down, he refused, and Polynices waged war upon Thebes. The two brethren killed each other, and uncle Creon granted Eteocles a state funeral. However, Polynices was refused a burial or mourning. The ensuing tragedy tells how Antigone, the eldest sister, buried Polynices herself and then was convicted to die entombed in the same grave.

Epopeus was king of Lesbos. When he had incest with his daughter Nyctimene, Athena transformed the daughter into an owl. Echemus, king of Arcadia, bravely defended Mycenae against invading Heracleidae. Eurytus was a common name in Greek myth. One of the many characters named Eurytus bragged about his shooting contests, but lost his life in an archery match against Apollo.

Answer: Erato

Zeus and Mnemosyne were the parents to nine Muses, dedicated to Apollo. Of the nine muses, two were occupied with sciences: Clio (history) and Urania (astronomy, geography). But the other were all involved in some kind of performing art. Melpomene (tragedy) and Thalia (comedy) were responsible for the theatre, Terpsichore directed dancing, Polyhymnia protected composers of hymns. Finally there were three Muses dedicated to various forms of poetry: Calliope for epic poetry, Euterpe for lyric poetry and Erato for love poetry. Mind you, many muses worked together to inspire great artists. For instance, a good tragedy (Melpomene) had a choir singing (Euterpe or Polyhymnia) and dancing (Terpischore), and the subject was usually set in past eras (Clio) and/or distant lands (Urania).

Eupraxia was the personification of well behaving. Empusa was the Greek precursor to modern vampires: she feasted on the blood and flesh of sleeping travellers. And Epiphron was the personification of shrewd thinking ahead. Maybe chess players should try to invoke Epiphron.

Answer: Endymion

There are several myths about Endymion, but all agree that he was outdoors at night for his profession (either shepherd or astronomer). Selene (the moon) was so struck by his beauty that she demanded that Endymion fall asleep, so she could admire his beauty undisturbed all night long. Selene did not only behold the beautiful youngster, but also held him in embrace - and the couple was blessed with no less than fifty daughters.

Enceladus was a Giant slain by Athena, when she clubbed him with Mount Etna. Ouch! Eurus was the god of the east wind or the northeast wind, either of which was rather unfavorable. Eurytion is a name signifying "widely honoured", and so there are several minor Greek mythical characters bearing this name. To mention but one of them: a centaur named Eurytion tried to kidnap the daughter of Perithous at her wedding feast.

Answer: Electra

One of the most famous mortal families in Greek myth was the royal family of Argos. Agamemnon, he who would lead the Greek troops during the Trojan war, was married to Clytemnestra. The royal couple had four children: Electra, Orestes, Chrysothemis and Iphigenia. When Agamemnon decided to sail against Troy, every wind ceased blowing, and Agamemnon decided to sacrifice his youngest daughter (Iphigenia) to obtain favourable winds. After the war, Agamemnon returned with Casssandra, a prisoner of war who had bore him twin sons. And while Agamemnon was abroad, Clytemnestra had met a new lover (Aegisthus). These were ample reasons for Clytemnestra to enact revenge by killing Agamemnon and Cassandra. But Orestes and Electra responded with the principle "an eye for an eye". Hence exit Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, both killed by Clytemnestra's children.

Ersa was the goddess of dew, one of the fifty daughters of Endymion and Selene. Euporie was the goddess of wealth. And Eusebeia was the personification of the pious devotion of the different gods.

Answer: Hermes

What does this H do in an E quiz? Well, this series is based upon the Greek alphabet, and all these have a name that starts in Greek with the aspired letter Epsilon.

Hermes is best known as the messenger of the Olympic gods. As such, he was a keen traveller (and the wings on his sandals and helmet helped him to move swiftly). In a society where travel was very dangerous, most travellers were either merchants (on their way to buy and sell goods) or thieves (eager to "liberate" the merchants from their cumbersome profits). The most prolific traveller among gods, of course, soon became the protector of both these groups of mortals on route.

Hecate was the goddess of crossroads, magic and light. Her Roman counterpart Trivia is arguably the one you should pray to for good results on this site.

Hesperos was the personification of the Evening Star and thus protector of the evening.

Hermes and Aphrodite had a son who fell in love with the nymph Salmacis. When these two fiercely embraced each other, they merged into one single creature presenting male and female traits (including the genitals). This androgynous deity was called Hermaphroditus, after the two parents of the male involved.