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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. The Romans believed in the Olympian gods, giving them different ___________.

2. Persephone was enchanted by Orpheus' music, and Hades agreed to release Eurydice, on what condition?

3. These gods were the children of the ____________, who were the children of heaven and earth.

4. Why was Venus jealous of Psyche?

5. Who was Medea?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Greek mythology come to exist? What was its purpose?

2. How did Hercules purify himself? Do you see this as being necessary? Why or why not?

3. What lesson can be learned about the power of the gods from these stories? Is this lesson still relevant today? Why or why not?

4. What is the lesson that is to be learned in the story of Phaeton? How is this an important lesson?

5. Choose another one of the love stories. How does this story show the kindness the gods are capable of feeling?

6. Choose another love story from this section. How does this story show control or the lack of control?

7. How did Zeus become the king of the gods?

8. Why were the Greek gods worshiped? How does this reason compare to the reasons one might worship a god today?

9. Overall, what were the initial roles of the Greek and Roman gods? How might this have been beneficial for mankind?

10. Should Greek mythology be understood as a bible of sorts? Why or why not?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

According to the Greeks, in the beginning their was only chaos.

Part 1) Describe the main stories of creation and the birth of man, according to Greek mythology. How do these stories compare to each other? What might be the reasons for differences between these stories?

Part 2) How do these stories compare to the creation stories found in world religions today? What might be the reason for any similarities? Are you surprised by these similarities? Why or why not?

Part 3) What are your beliefs regarding the creation of the universe and the birth of man? From where do your beliefs come? How has your culture influenced your beliefs regarding creation? How important is one's culture to one's beliefs? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

There are two families discussed in this book who suffer greatly.

Part 1) Who are these two families? How did they become so unlucky? Were they deserving of this bad luck? Why or why not? Could this luck have been avoided? If so, how? If not, why not? Could anyone in these families have stopped the passing along of bad luck? If so, how? If not, why not?

Part 2) What do these stories say about those who act poorly and offend the gods? What do these stories also say about the gods themselves? In our own culture, do we believe that bad luck can be passed down through a family? Why or why not?

Part 3) Do you believe in luck? Why or why not? How did you come to have this belief? How does this belief influence your daily decisions and actions? Might your belief regarding luck ever change? If so, how? If not, why not?

Essay Topic 3

There are several love stories that are a part of Greek mythology.

Part 1) Summarize two of these love stories. What is the purpose of each of these love stories? What do these stories say about love? How does this reflect the ancient Greek's view of love?

Part 2) How are love stories an important part of other cultures? How is love a universal part of life? How does it differ from one culture to the next? Why is it such an important part of the spectrum of human emotion?

Part 3) To you, what does it mean to love? How important is love to one's quality of life? Explain. How have you witnessed love in your own life? How has this affected you? How might it influence your behavior towards others?

(see the answer keys)

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