View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Orithyia was carried away against her will by whom?

2. One of the earliest kings was _______________, who ruled at the time Demeter brought agriculture to earth.

3. Aeneas visited the underworld briefly before sailing to a spot near the River __________ on the Italian coast.

4. Where were the murdering women punished?

5. The House of Thebes was in many ways as unlucky as the House of Atreus, but their troubles seemed ________.

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Midas rewarded by Bacchus? Is this what many people would choose? Why or why not?

2. How did Odysseus' adventures make him a hero?

3. What are four ways in which the House of Thebes was like the House of Atreus?

4. How are the lessons learned from these stories relevant today?

5. How is Aeneas' story unique?

6. Why might someone want a cornucopia?

7. Why were there many plays written about this family?

8. How is Odysseus set apart from other heroes? What does this say about the Greeks at this time?

9. How did the bad luck of the House of Atreus begin? Why did it continue?

10. How is Aeneas tied to the great Roman Republic?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dionysus and Demeter had two of the most important cults.

Part 1) Describe each of these gods and their roles in Greek mythology. How did they help man explain the ways in which the world works? How did this make these two gods so important?

Part 2) Why did these gods suffer more in their mythology than other gods? What does this reveal about the Greeks and their beliefs about man and the gods? How is this suffering both good and bad?

Part 3) Do the world's major religions today have gods that suffer? If so, explain this suffering. If not, why not? What does this suffering, or lack thereof, reveal about these religious believers?

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

Greeks had a low opinion of women.

Part 1) Support the statement "Greeks had a low opinion of women" with information from this book. Why might the Greeks have had such a low opinion of women? How might this have affected the lives of women in ancient Greece?

Part 2) How do other world religions today view women? How does this view of women compare to that of the Greeks? What might be the reasons for any similarities and/or differences in this view of women?

Part 3) Has the view of women changed greatly over the centuries? If so, how? If not, why not? What can be done to continue to encourage equality between the sexes?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,628 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample