Exciting Greek Myths, Gods, and Heroes Quiz

Answer: Cronus

Cronus was the son of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth), and the youngest of the 12 Titans. He was persuaded by his mother to castrate his father with a harpe (a type of sword), which separated Heaven from Earth.

Cronus was not widely worshiped, but he was associated with land and agriculture. Although he was the youngest, he ruled over the other twelve titans. He married his sister Rhena and fathered the gods: Zeus, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon.

When Cronus was warned that one of his children would overthrow him, he swallowed his children Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Cronus' wife, Rhena, saved her youngest son Zeus, by tricking Cronus into swallowing a stone wrapped in baby clothes. She hid Zeus in Crete until he was grown enough to wage war on his father.

Zeus overpowered Cronus and forced him to vomit his siblings. After Zeus overpowered all the titans and he set up a new kingdom with the gods on Mt. Olympus.


Information was found from the Theoi Project, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith, Encyclopedia Britannica, and greekmyths-greekmythology.com.

Answer: He controlled lightning, thunder, rain, and winds.

Zeus was the weather god. His main powers were controlling lightning, thunder, rain, and winds. His personal weapon for fighting was a lightning bolt. As the chief god, he was prayed to the most because he could give advice or command the other gods on behalf of a request.

Zeus' siblings were considered the main gods and had rule over the basics. Hera (also Zeus' wife) ruled over the heavens, marriage, and childbirth. Poseidon was the god of the seas. Demeter controlled the harvests. Hestia ruled over the fire and the family. Hades ruled over death and the underworld.

Helios (sometimes referred to as a titan and a god) controlled the Sun. That power was later shared with Zeus' son Apollos.

Information was found from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith, Encyclopedia Mythica, and greekmyths-greekmythology.com

Answer: Persephone

Persephone was the goddess of spring. She was playing in a flowery meadow with her friends when she was seized by Hades, the god of the Underworld.

Persephone's mother Demeter (the goddess of the harvest), searched for her daughter and found out Zeus had plotted with his brother Hades to kidnap Persephone. Hades could not find a bride in the underworld and had been captivated by her beauty. Demeter was furious and refused to let anything grow on earth until her daughter returned.

Zeus compromised because Persephone had eaten fruit in the Underworld. Persephone would live in the Underworld for a season as Hades' bride every year and return for a season on earth to live with her mother. When she lived in the Underworld with her husband, her mother refused to make anything grow and it was called winter. When she returned it was spring again.

Information was found from the Theoi Project (theoi.com),the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith, and greekmyths-greekmythology.com.

Answer: True

Aphrodite comes from the Greek word "aphros" which means "foam". She was born in white foam, after the Greek Titan, Cronus, severed the genitals of Uranus (Heaven), and threw them into the ocean.

Due to her origins, sailors often worshipped Aphrodite as the goddess of the sea and safe seafaring. She was also regarded as a goddess of war because she had a relationship with Ares, the god of war.

Aphrodite's main power was as the goddess of love. She is recognized for her son, the god Cupid.

Information was found from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith.

Answer: Her vow of celibacy was broken.

Medusa's original beauty was so great, it paralyzed her admirers. Her beauty was so great she made gods jealous, including Athena, the goddess she served. Athena made Medusa swear to celibacy and she could have no relations.

Poseidon, the god of the sea, was captivated by Medusa's beauty even though she refused him. One night in the temple, he attacked her. Athena was furious that Medusa lost her virginity and made her a monster. She turned Medusa's hair into snakes and put a curse that would turn men into stone if they looked directly at her.

Perseus was aided by Athena to kill Medusa. He used a polish shield to fight Medusa and behead her without looking directly into her face. Later he used her head to turn his enemies into stone.

Information was found from the Theoi project (theoi.com), vice.com ("A Rape Victim Turned Monster"), and Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith.

Answer: Pegasus

Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor were born from the sea foam that arose from Medusa's remains, after Perseus tossed her into the sea. According to Greek mythology, Pegasus was born as a winged horse, because his father Poseidon had tricked Medusa as a horse when he attacked her.

Parentless, Pegasus was taken by the goddess Athena to Mount Helicon, where he was raised by Muses. Pegasus was beautiful in appearance and helpful in nature.

Pegasus became a help to heroes on their missions and helped Zeus on Mt. Olympus. For his bravery and selflessness, Zeus rewarded the horse with a constellation in the sky when he died.

Information was found from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith, Encyclopedia Britannica, and greekmyths-greekmythology.com

Answer: a ball of string

King Minos of Crete angered the gods Zeus and Poseidon when he would not make a sacrifice to ask for wisdom after he became king. Poseidon asked Aphrodite to make King Minos' wife fall in love with a bull, and consequently, she had a child. The child was half man and half bull; it became known as the Minotaur. King Minos was horrified and put the child in a giant maze known as a labyrinth.

Years later, Minos demanded tributes of prisoners from his enemies and sent them to the labyrinth to face the Minotaur. The labyrinth was so complicated no one could ever find their way out alive.

Theseus fell in love with King Mino's daughter and declared to Minos that he would defeat the Minotaur. King Minos hoped this would kill off Theseus and his monster son; he knew that even if Theseus killed the Minotaur, he would never escape the labyrinth. King Minos did not plan on his daughter giving Theseus advice and helping Theseus with a ball of string.

Theseus tied the string to the entrance of the labyrinth and made a trail to the center. He battled the Minotaur and killed him, saving the Athenians that were prisoners. Then Theseus led the imprisoned Athenians out by following the string's trail to the entrance of the labyrinth.

Theseus rejoined the princess and planned to take her to his home. On the way back to Theseus' home, the Athenians made a stop and had a celebration of Theseus' victory leading them out of the maze. Ironically, during the celebration, the princess got left on the shore and Theseus forgot to make sure she was on the ship back to Athens.


Information was found from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith, greekmyths-greekmythology.com, and Encylopedia Britannica ("Minotaur").

Answer: Zeus

According to Greek mythology, Zeus created Pandora as a punishment for mankind. He wanted to punish mankind because Prometheus, a titan, stole fire and gave it to them to use.

Zeus ordered the gods to make Pandora attractive, but curious. Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and sculpting, created her perfect figure from clay. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, gave her beauty and femininity so that she would capture men's hearts. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, taught her to be skillful and crafty. Hermes, the god of tricks, made her deceitful, stubborn, and curious. Finally, Zeus created a box and had each of the gods place a "gift" inside.

Pandora was taken by Hermes to Prometheus's brother Epimetheus, to be his wife. Prometheus suspected something strange and warned Epimetheus not to accept anything from the gods. However, his brother could not resist Pandora's beauty and took her to be his wife.

Zeus gave Pandora the box as a wedding present and told her it contained gifts from the gods. Zeus knew Pandora was created to be curious and told her not to open the box of "gifts". Pandora struggled with Zeus' command and finally could not resist her curiosity.

Pandora opened the box and was horrified when illnesses and evil spirits came out. She managed to close it, keeping hope inside. Hope was not lost, which is why there is hope that those evils can be overcome.

Information was found from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith, greekmythology.com, and the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Answer: He distracted her with three golden apples in a foot race.

Atalanta was orphaned and raised by a mama bear. She grew up into a mighty huntress and athlete.

When the Calydonian Boar was ravaging villages, Atalanta was the first hunter that pierced the beast, and was awarded the boar's head.

Atalanta initially never wanted to marry. However, in a dare, she pledged that she would marry anyone that would outrun her; she speared anyone that lost to her in the foot races.

Hippomenes took on the race challenge. He was given three gold apples by Aphrodite. When he dropped the golden apples, Atalanta stopped to pick them up. The distraction kept her from running full speed and she lost the race. Atalanta kept her promise and they were married. Later their son, Parthenopaeus, became one of the heroes of Thebes.

In a strange turn of events, Atalanta and her husband had a romantic night in the temple of the goddess Cybele, and the angry goddess turned them into lions.

Information was found from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith.

Answer: His lover accidentally poisoned him.

Heracles was the half-human half-god son of Zeus. He defeated the Hydra, killed the Nemean Lion, captured the Erymanthian Boar, drove away the Stymphalian Birds from the town of Stymphalos, and several other feats. He helped win the war in Troy and assisted several other heroes with their deeds. He also helped many kings.

Heracles fought the centaur, Nessus, to save his lover Deianira. The centaur told Deianira before he died, that if she ever felt unloved, she could put his blood on Heracles' clothes and he would love her forever. The centaur knew his blood was poison.

Later when they were married, Deianira got jealous of one of Heracles' servants. During a feast, she took one of Heracles' shirts and put the centaur's blood on it. As soon as Hercules put the shirt on he started being burned from the poison. Since Heracles was the half son of Zeus, he did not die immediately and became very weak. Deianira realized she had been tricked and hanged herself.

Hercules climbed on a mountain and built his own funeral pyre. He laid himself out with a lion's skin and set the pyre on fire. Zeus and the other gods watched and wept.

Zeus could not bring himself to let his son die a mortal's death for all the deeds he had selflessly committed. He brought his chariot down and escorted Heracles' spirit up to Mt. Olympus where he gave him immortality and a place among the stars.

Information was found from the Perseus Project (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/bio.html), greekmythology.com, and the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith.