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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 teeth turned into ______, who fought until five remained?

2. Pomona was a nymph of orchards who was loved by whom?

3. This bad luck began with Tantalus, who served up his own son at a banquet for the gods, perhaps to do what?

4. Pelops then refused to honor his bribe and killed Myrtilus, who _____________.

5. Aeneas obeyed immediately, and the heartbroken Queen ______________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the purpose of many of these stories?

2. What is the moral message of this family's stories?

3. How is Aeneas' story unique?

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

5. What are two important lessons taught in the Odyssey?

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

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

8. How are some of the stars explained in this section?

9. Summarize two stories found in this section. How do they explain the qualities of a hero?

10. What are the purposes of myths, based on these stories?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

The Greek gods were based on the perfect man.

Part 1) What did the Greeks consider a perfect man? Why might they have thought this? How did the gods reflect this attitude regarding man? How did this, in turn affect man?

Part 2) Choose two Greek gods or goddesses. What human qualities do they have? How do these gods or goddesses affect humans? How might one relate to these gods or goddesses?

Part 3) What are two world religions of today? Describe their god or gods. How do these gods compare to the Greek gods? What might this reveal about the people who worship this god or these gods today?

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)

This section contains 1,730 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample