Who's Your Hero Now? (Part I)
Why did King Pelias send Jason on a quest for the golden fleece?
To get rid of this dangerous stranger, Pelias agreed to abdicate the throne only if Jason brought him the Golden Fleece from the faraway land of Colchis, thought to be an impossible task. He was sure that Jason would never return and that he would remain king of Iolcus forever.
What her Jason and his buddies on the quest called? Why?
The Argonauts; after their ship
Who did Oedipus defeat upon his arrival at Thebes? How?
He beat the Sphinx by answering her riddle.
Why is Atalanta hesitant to marry?
Because an Oracle warned her against it.
Who did Oedipus end up marrying and having kids with?
His mother (Queen Jocasta)
Why did Oedipus, as a young adult, leave his home and father?
When Oedipus grew to manhood, a prophet warned him that he would kill his father and marry his mother.
Not knowing that he had been adopted, and that his real parents were Jocasta and Laius, Oedipus left the country to avoid committing such crimes.
There are different stories about how Atalanta and her husband offended the gods. What was their punishment and what was Atalanta turned into?
Atalanta and her husband, overcome with passion, made love in a shrine of the goddess Cybele (or of Zeus), for which they were turned into lions.
In his fight with the Hydra, how did Heracles manage to prevent the Hydra from growing new heads?
He called Iolaüs, his charioteer, to bring a burning brand so he could cauterize the neck to prevent new heads from growing back after Heracles cut off each head.
Why did Oedipus' parents abandon him? How did they do it?
The Oracle at Delphi prophesied to King Laius and Queen Jocasta that Laius's son would kill him.
When Oedipus is born to Laius and Jocasta, Laius orders him killed, and Oedipus is left on a mountain to die.
Who helps Jason during his tasks for the Golden Fleece? Why?
Medea; she is in love with him.
How and why did Atalanta's father try to kill her? Who ended up raising her?
At birth, her father abandoned her; he said he wanted sons, not daughters. But the man who took her to be left to die did not kill her, and instead went to Mount Parthenion (Parthenium) and put her down near a spring.
She was saved and suckled by a she-bear who protected her until she was found by a group of hunters. These hunters raised Atalanta. She soon learned to hunt like a bear and became a skilled huntress.
What did Oedipus do to himself as a punishment for his wrongdoings?
Cursing his fate that had doomed him to do what he had meant not to do, he blinded himself, as he could not bear to see the children he had fathered with Jocasta, his wife and mother.
Oedipus, in disgrace, left his country, and, as a blind beggar, wandered in the countryside.
Different versions of the story present different ways that Theseus overcomes the Minotaur--what are the two ways that he's presented as killing the Minotaur?
Strangling and stabbing in the neck
Why was Pelias, the king of Iolcus, worried about a "one-sandaled" stranger?
Pelias is worried about the one-sandaled stranger because the usurper Pelias had been told by an oracle that he would die at the hands of kinsmen, and that he should beware of anyone whom he saw shod with only a single sandal.
Who helped Theseus escape the Labyrinth and why? How did they help?
The love Ariadne felt for Theseus drove her to aid him in escaping the Labyrinth, despite the fact that her own father had imprisoned him there and he would have to kill her half-brother to leave.
She fell in love with the Athenian hero Theseus and, with a thread or glittering jewels, helped him escape the Labyrinth after he slew the Minotaur, a beast half bull and half man that Minos kept in the Labyrinth.
For Theseus, what is the test that his father, Aegeus, had for proof that Theseus was his son?
Aegeus had placed a sword and a pair of shoes in a hollow below a great stone. He told his wife that when the boy was strong enough to get the items, he should come with them to Athens. Theseus did this, and Aegeus recognized Theseus as his son.
Why did Theseus go to Crete to face the Minotaur?
Athens was forced to pay an annual tribute of seven maidens and seven youths to King Minos of Crete to feed the Minotaur, half man, half bull, that inhabited the labyrinthine palace of Minos at Knossos. Theseus, determined to end Minoan dominance, volunteered to be one of the sacrificial youths.
Who does Perseus defeat and how?
Medusa; Athena gives Perseus her mirror shield to use so he can look through the shield at Medusa instead of directly upon her. Perseus slays Medusa, and returns her head, still retaining its power, back to Athena.
Why did Perseus' grandfather try to prevent his daughter from having a child?
Perseus' grandfather, Acrisius, the king of Argos, was warned by an oracle that he would be killed by his grandson. Acrisius locked his daughter Danae in a dungeon to prevent her bearing a child.
Who managed to marry Atalanta and how?
Meilanion; Aphrodite had given him three golden apples, and during the race he dropped them one after the other. Their beauty charmed Atalanta so much that she could not abstain from gathering them. Thus she was conquered, and became the wife of Meilanion.
Heracles is described as a very different hero from Theseus, who more embodied the qualities that Athenians preferred. How is Heracles described in a way that makes him not the preferred hero of Athens?
Heracles is described as displaying a “noticeable lack of intelligence or wisdom.”
In his final labor, what did Heracles have to retrieve from Hades?
Eurystheos demanded that he travel to the Underworld and bring back the monstrous three-headed guard dog Kerberos.
Name ONE of the 3 tests the king of Colchis puts Jason through.
The first task assigned to Jason was to yoke a pair of fire-breathing oxen, and then control them long enough to plow an entire field.
Jason’s next task was to plant the seeds of a dragon. When the dragon’s teeth were sown in the ground, Earthborn soldiers erupted from the soil.
For the final task, AEetes challenged Jason to kill the sleepless dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece.
After marrying Jocasta, the queen, the city of Thebes starts having a plague of problems again. Oedipus sends his brother-in-law Creon to the Oracle at Delphi to find out what to do. What does Creon say that the Oracle has said must be done?
Creon turns up with the answer, and says that the city will not be free until the murderer of Laius is found and driven out of the city. Only then will the plague end.
How did Perseus save Andromeda and why?
Upon seeing Andromeda bound to the rock, Perseus falls in love with her, and he secures Cepheus' promise of her hand in marriage if he can save her. Perseus kills the monster with the magical sword he had used against Medusa, saving Andromeda.