PRACTICE QUESTIONS, VERIFIED
CORRECT ANSWERS AND
COMPREHENSIVE CLASSICAL
CIVILIZATION STUDY GUIDE
Danaids - CORRECT ANSWER -Fifty daughters of Danaus punished in
Tartarus for killing all of their husbands (except one); punished by having
to carry water in a sieve Io - CORRECT ANSWER -Woman Zeus lusted for;
Zeus turned her into a cow when Hera got suspicious; ancestor of Perseus
Semele - CORRECT ANSWER -Woman Zeus lusted for; Zeus granted her
wish of seeing himself in his true form, which incinerated her; mother of
Dionysus (Zeus sewed him to his thigh after she perished)
Ganymede - CORRECT ANSWER -Trojan prince admired by Zeus; abducted
(by Zeus in eagle form) to be "cup-bearer" of the gods
Europa - CORRECT ANSWER -Woman Zeus lusted for; turned into a white
bull to seduce her
Rape of Persephone - CORRECT ANSWER -Zeus allowed Hades to abduct
Persephone from her mother Demeter; Hades lets her return after feeding
,her pomegranate seeds (she has to stay in the underworld half the year);
Demeter gets sad during that time and winter occurs
Slaying of Python - CORRECT ANSWER -Guarded the omphalos at Delphi;
chthonic enemy of Apollo; Apollo slew it
Daphne - CORRECT ANSWER -Apollo was shot by Eros' (Cupid's) arrow;
lusted for Daphne; eventually was turned into a laurel tree
Phaethon - CORRECT ANSWER -Son of Helios; drove the Sun's chariot and
almost burned the Earth; Zeus had to shoot down the chariot and kill him
Marsyas - CORRECT ANSWER -Challenged Apollo to a music competition;
lost and was flayed alive
Hyacinth - CORRECT ANSWER -Lover of Apollo; the western wind was
jealous of their love and pushed Apollo's discus to kill Hyacinth; Apollo did
not let Hades take him, made him into a flower instead
Callisto - CORRECT ANSWER -Nymph of Artemis who was impregnated by
Zeus (disguised as Artemis herself); Hera turned her into a bear, which was
turned into Ursa Major (the big dipper constellation)
Niobe - CORRECT ANSWER -Boasted to Leto of her seven sons and
daughters; Leto had Apollo and Artemis kill all of her children; turned into
a rock
, Acaeton - CORRECT ANSWER -Hunter trained by Chiron; saw Artemis
bathing naked in the woods; turned into a stag (male deer) and his hunting
wolves ripped him apart
Atalanta - CORRECT ANSWER -Married to Meleager; helped kill the
Calydonain Bull
Arachne - CORRECT ANSWER -Challenged Athena to a weaving contest; her
boastfulness had her turned into a spider
Aphrodite - CORRECT ANSWER -Goddess of love; born out of sea foam from
Ouranos' genitals
Adonis - CORRECT ANSWER -Loved by Aphrodite and Persephone; killed by
a wild boar sent by Artemis, who was jealous of his hunting skill;
Aphrodite's tears made the anemone flower
Pentheus - CORRECT ANSWER -King of Thebes; outlawed the worship of
Dionysus; was torn apart by women (caused by Dionysus)
Pyramus and Thisbe - CORRECT ANSWER -(Romeo and Juliet); She goes to
meet him, sees a bloody lion, flees and drops her veil; He goes to meet her,
sees her veil and kills himself; She comes back, sees him, and kills herself;
how mulberry bush got its red color (blood)
Hermaphroditus - CORRECT ANSWER -Hermes + Aphrodite; female figure
with male genitalia