Mythology
Respond to each of the following questions thoroughly. Reference the question, use characters’
names, and provide textual support when appropriate.
“Persephone” 11-13
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5.
Describe Persephone.
Describe how Hades captures Persephone and his reasons for taking her.
Identify Demeter including her position and powers.
Explain Demeter’s reaction/actions following her daughter’s kidnapping.
Explain Zeus’s solution to the situation created by Hades taking of Persephone and what
resulted from his resolution.
“Daedalus” 25-28
1. What are the multiple ways personification is used in paragraph 1? How does the
personification foreshadow later events?
2. Compare and contrast Daedalus and Talus. How do the similarities lead to Talus’s death?
3. Explain Daedalus’s “imprisonment” on Crete.
4. Explain Daedalus’s plan to escape the island and the steps he takes to implement the plan.
5. Explain the meaning of Daedalus’s second two quotes in the next to the last paragraph.
“Orpheus and Eurydice” 29-33
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6.
What was Orpheus’s talent?
What did Eurydice like to do in her spare time?
Who is Aristaeus? What does he do to Eurydice?
How does Eurydice die?
Why does Orpheus go to the underworld, and how does he get past Cerberus.
What condition did Persephone put on allowing Orpheus to take Eurydice to the surface?
“The Golden Fleece” 14-20
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7.
Describe Chiron’s job.
What strange oracle troubles Pelias?
What must Jason do in order to receive the throne?
Who goes with Jason on his journey?
What task must Jason perform for King Aeetes tin order to receive the Golden Fleece?
What decision must Medea make and what does she consider when making the decision?
What is the outcome of Jason’s quest?
“Echo and Narcissus” 34-37
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5.
Describe Echo. Explain her special talents.
Explain Hera’s punishment of Echo.
Describe Narcissus.
Describe the relationship between Echo and Narcissus.
Explain Echo’s character flaw. Explain Narcissus’s character flaw. How do these flaws
lead to the destruction of both?
6. How did the blind Seer’s prophecy define Narcissus’s character by the end of the story?
“Chariot of the Sun God: The Story of Phaeton and Helios” 21-24
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What was Phaeton troubled by, and how does Helios calm his fears?
What does Phaeton ask for, and what is Helios’s answer?
What happens during Phaeton’s flight?
How does Phaeton die?
“Judgment of Paris” 47-48
1. Describe the events that lead to Paris being promised “the most beautiful woman in the
world for his wife”.
2. Explain the obstacles that lay in the way of Paris receiving his prize.
3. Predict what will happen to fulfill Priam’s prophesy of “trouble…in store for him and his
people”.
“The Trojan War” 49-50”
1. List the following characters. Identify who each is. Explain each character’s significance
to the story.
Helen
Aphrodite
Paris
King Menelaus
Achilles
Trojan
Eros
Greeks
Athena
2. Explain why it is so difficult for the Greeks to beat the Trojans.
3. Explain the myth’s climax and resolution.
“Perseus” 38-41
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6.
What news did the oracle give to King Acrisius?
What does Danae do to anger her father?
How does King Acrisius protect himself from Perseus?
What wedding gift does Polydectes suggest to Perseus?
What happens to Polydectes when he sees Medussa’s head?
How is the prophecy fulfilled?
“Theseus and the Minotaur” 42-46
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4.
How was the secret that Theseus was only the son of a mortal revealed to him?
Describe what happens to Theseus as he travels to Athens to find his father.
Why does Medea feel threatened by Theseus, and what is her plan to destroy him?
What does Theseus insist on doing, and what will be his signal to his father be, if he is
victorious?
5. Who is Ariadne, and how does she help Theseus?
6. Why does King Aegeus throw himself into the sea?