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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Gaia
Answer: Primordial Deities
Gaia, the Greek representation for Mother Earth, was the second of the four beings who spontaneously came into existence from the void. The others were Chaos, Tartarus and Eros.
Most of the Greek Gods descend from Gaia in some way. She first created the Gods Uranus (sky), then Ourea (mountains) and Pontus (sea) and then mated with Uranus, Pontus and Tartarus to produce a vast array of further Gods.
She played a significant role in the transfer of power between the consecutive generation of Gods as both the instigator of change and the protector of future leaders.
2. Uranus
Answer: Primordial Deities
Uranus was the God of the sky and the leader of the primordial Gods. With Gaia he produced 18 offspring: the twelve Titans, the three Cyclopes and the three Hecatoncheires.
Uranus banished some of these children, the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires, to the Tartarus (the abyss) in order to protect his power among the Gods. Gaia sought revenge for his actions and created a sickle with which her son Cronus castrated his father and usurped him as the leader of the Gods. Uranus's blood spawned more Gods and his discarded genitals developed into the goddess Aphrodite.
3. Erebus
Answer: Primordial Deities
Erebus was created by Chaos as the god of darkness. He combined with Tarturus to fill the chasm beneath the earth with darkness. He fathered Hemera (day) and Aether (brightness), the first offspring produced by the sexual coupling of Gods, with Nyx (night).
4. Cronus
Answer: Titans
Cronus (sometimes called Cronos) was the leader of the Titans. The Titans were the second generation of Greek Gods, following the primordial deities. They took over as rulers of the world when Cronus overthrew his father Uranus. This was achieved by castrating him with a sickle especially created for the job by his mother Gaia.
His desire to maintain his position as the leader of the Gods was such that he swallowed all of his children when told a prophecy (by his parents) that they were destined to dethrone him. The only child spared that fate was Zeus, whose birth was hidden from Cronus by Rhea.
5. Rhea
Answer: Titans
The Titaness Rhea was the mother of the Olympians Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon and Zeus with her husband and brother Cronus. She helped her youngest, Zeus, survive his father's vengeful actions towards his siblings by wrapping a stone in swaddling, and presenting it to Cronus, who swallowed the stone believing it to be the baby Olympian.
Rhea was particularly worshiped on the island of Crete, to where she had escaped in order to give birth to Zeus in secret.
6. Hyperion
Answer: Titans
Hyperion was a son of Gaia and Uranus who was given responsibility for the celestial realm. He mated with his sister Theia and produced the Gods Helios (personification of the sun), Selene (the moon) and Eos (the dawn).
7. Phoebe
Answer: Titans
Phoebe was one of the Titanesses produced from the coupling of Uranus and Gaia. With her brother Coeus she had two daughters Leto and Asteria. She was grandmother to Artemis, Hecate and Apollo to whom, according to some myths, she gifted the site on Mount Parnassus where the Oracle of Delphi was the priestess, on which would later be built the Temple of Apollo.
8. Zeus
Answer: Olympians
The Olympians were so called because they lived on and ruled from Mount Olympus. They were the sons and daughters of the Titans. Zeus was the last born of the Olympian Gods. He was born secretly and raised by Gaia so that he was protected from his father, Cronus, who had swallowed his other five children with Rhea. When Zeus had grown into a man, he forced his father to regurgitate his siblings. Soon after, a war between the Titans and the Olympians began. Zeus released the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires from Tartarus. Their combined might and Zeus's weapon, the thunderbolt, were enough to forge a victory for the Olympians and the Titans were cast into Tartarus for eternity.
Zeus was chosen as the leader of the Olympian Gods and established his rule for eternity by stealing a trick from his father and swallowing his pregnant wife Metis. This was to prevent the prophecy coming true that a son born of Metis would eventually overthrow him.
9. Athena
Answer: Olympians
Athena was the child in Metis's belly when Zeus swallowed her. According to legend she was born when Zeus was possessed of a raging pain in his head as he walked around Lake Triton. His howls of pain were heard across the Earth. Hermes, divining what the cause was, cracked open Zeus's skull and Athena broke free in full armour.
Athena is associated with wisdom, the arts and heroic endeavour, particularly as a warrior. The Parthenon in Athens is dedicated to her.
10. Poseidon
Answer: Olympians
Poseidon was the last of Cronus's children to be swallowed by his father and the first to be disgorged. Following the victory of the Olympians over the Titans, the brothers Hades, Poseidon and Zeus drew lots from a helmet to see who would reign over which domain. Hades won the underworld, Zeus the sky and Poseidon the sea.
Poseidon was somewhat of a quarrelsome and angry God. He fought with many Gods for ownership of cities throughout the land. One such contest was with Athena for the patronage of the city of Athens. Each was asked to provide a gift for the city. Poseidon created a well of sea water in the Acropolis, whereas Athena planted the first olive tree alongside it. When the Gods decided that Athena's gift was the greater and gave her the city, Poseidon sent a great flood to punish its people for their choice.
11. Artemis
Answer: Olympians
Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo, born to Leto and fathered by Zeus. She was the Goddess of childbirth, health and the hunt. When she was three years old, her father asked her what gifts she would like and she responded that she wished for eternal chastity, a silver bow with which to hunt and a single city to look after. Impressed with her restraint and reassured that she would never challenge his power, Zeus granted her wishes and gave her more than thirty cities to oversee.
12. Demeter
Answer: Olympians
Demeter was the first-born daughter of Rhea and Cronus. After her disengorgement from Cronus she became the Goddess of the harvest and the grain and ensured that the land was fertile. She had many children including one daughter by Zeus called Persephone (also known as Core). Hades, the God of the underworld, lusted after Persephone and when Zeus felt unable to deny his elder brother his pursuit of her, Hades abducted Persephone and took her to Tartarus to live with him.
Demeter, to this point a happy being, grew furious with what Hades had done and neglected the land in pursuit of her daughter, leading to famine. Fearing the death of all crops on Earth, Zeus sent Hermes to recover Persephone from the underworld but Hades refused because she had eaten pomegranate seeds while there, which bound her to him for eternity. Eventually Zeus struck a compromise with his brother and Demeter, allowing Persephone to live with Hades for part of the year and with Demeter the remaining time. It was said that this was the reason that the Greek soil produced few crops in certain months of the year.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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