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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. Cadmus married _____________, the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares.

2. After killing some of the Sun-god's ______________, all of Odysseus' men were punished by drowning in a storm.

3. Cadmus founded the city of ___________ by killing a dragon and sowing its teeth.

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

5. Chiron was a wise and noble ______________ who looked after and trained heroes.

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Compare one of these stories to a fairly tale or tall tale with which you are familiar.

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

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

5. How did the bad luck of the later generations reflect the bad luck of the earlier generations? What does this say about the tie between one generation and another?

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

7. Of these two families, which deserved their bad luck the least? Why?

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

9. How did visiting the underworld mark Aeneas as a special hero? What does this say about the Greek's view of the afterlife?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tragedy was often a part of Greek mythology.

Part 1) Describe four myths that one would consider tragic. What led to tragedy in each of these myths? How does the tragedy found in each myth compare to the tragedy found in the others?

Part 2) What is the purpose of this tragedy? What does it reveal about the Greeks? What lessons can still be learned from this tragedy today? Do tragedies such as this exist in contemporary literature? Why or why not?

Part 3) Do you believe that tragic tales are necessary for a culture? Why or why not? Is there a focus on tragedy in American literature? Why or why not? What does this say about Americans and their view of tragedy and loss?

Essay Topic 2

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 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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