Think you’ve got your head wrapped around Persephone, Demeter, and Hades? Put your knowledge to
the test. Good luck — the Stickman is counting on you!
Q. 1. What is Persephone the goddess of?
a. Spring
b. Winter
c. Tears
d. Pomegranates
Q. 2. How does Persephone end up in the underworld?
a. Zeus introduces Hades and Persephone at a party, and the two instantly fall in love and move in together.
b. Persephone asks Zephyrus, the god of the west wind, to fly her there.
c. Her mom, Demeter, sends her there.
d. Zeus tells Hades he can marry Persephone, and Hades kidnaps her one day.
Q. 3. What Demeter (Ceres) the goddess of?
a. Agriculture
b. The underworld
c. Motherhood
d. Marriage
Q. 4. How does Demeter figure out what has happened to her daughter?
a. Zeus spills the beans.
b. Her BFF, Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, tells her.
c. She asks Helios, the sun god, because he sees everything from his place in the sky.
d. Charon, the ferryman of the underworld, tells her.
Q. 5. How does Demeter react when she finds out what has happened to Persephone?
a. She throws a bridal shower for her daughter.
b. She vows not to let anything grow on earth.
c. She makes all of earth's crops grow healthier and more bountifully than they've ever grown before.
d. She and Artemis storm the underworld.
Q. 6. How does Zeus try to save the world from a famine and starvation?
a. He makes Psyche the new goddess of the harvest.
b. He sends Hermes down to the underworld to order Hades to let Persephone go.
c. He sends ambrosia and nectar to the mortals.
d. He asks Dionysus to throw a big party for the mortals with food and wine.
Q. 7. How does Hades trick Persephone into coming back to the underworld?
a. He tells her that the dead people miss her so much that they are weeping.
b. He gives her a box of jewels that makes her forget everything when she opens it.
c. Before he releases her (on Zeus's orders), gets her to eat some pomegranate seeds.
d. He has his dog Cerberus give her his best sad puppy-dog face.
Q. 8. What are the consequences of eating something in the underworld?
a. If you eat there, you can never leave the underworld.
b. You turn into a pomegranate tree.
c. You go blind, but gain wisdom.
d. You get amnesia, but become really happy.
Q. 8. What are the consequences of eating something in the underworld?
a. If you eat there, you can never leave the underworld.
b. You turn into a pomegranate tree.
c. You go blind, but gain wisdom.
d. You get amnesia, but become really happy.
Q. 9. What deal does Zeus' mother, Rhea, strike with Hades?
a. If Demeter promises to make things grow in the underworld, Hades will return Persephone to Demeter.
b. Persephone must stay in the underworld forevermore, but Hades will give her all of his jewels and riches.
c. Zeus will find Hades a new wife, and Persephone can return to the land of the living.
d. Persephone must stay in the underworld for part of the year, but can return to her mother for the rest of the year.
Q. 10. How does Demeter feel about the deal that Rhea strikes with Hades?
a. She reluctantly agrees, but vows to not let anything grow on earth while Persephone is in the underworld.
b. She throws a big party at her temple, which Dionysus crashes.
c. She refuses to agree to the terms.
d. She calms down and decides that Hades is a good son-in-law after all.
Q. 11. What is an etiological myth?
a. A myth about food.
b. A story about gods who transform into animals sometimes.
c. A story that explains the origin of something (like natural events, names, traditions, or plants and animals).
d. A myth about the gods' love affairs.
Q. 12. What does this myth explain?
a. The origins of the underworld
b. The feud between Zeus and Hades
c. Why the earth has seasons
d. Why we have storms
Q. 13. Who is Hades?
a. The lord of the underworld and the god of the dead
b. The god of agriculture
c. The king of the gods
d. The dog that guards Mount Olympus
Q. 14. Why did people used to call Persephone "Despoina," which translates to "the mistress"?
a. Because she was Hermes' mistress
b. Because she hated her name and punished anybody who uttered it
c. Because they were afraid to say her real name
d. Because she is the daughter of Demeter
Q. 15. What were the Eleusinian Mysteries?
a. A series of robberies on Mount Olympus
b. Zeus' favorite bedtime tales
c. A string of mysterious occurrences in the underworld
d. A religious celebration in ancient Greece
Q. 16. How many seeds are said to be in a pomegranate?
a. 613
b. 1157
c. 125
d. No two pomegranates are alike.
Q. 17. In Orthodox Christianity, what is the pomegranate associated with?
a. Martyrdom
b. Resurrection and eternal life, and also both Mary and Jesus
c. Royalty
d. Noah's ark