Scholastic Bowl MS Myth Bonuses

Cassandra

This princess in Greek mythology had the gift of being able to see the future, but was cursed so that people would never believe her prophecies.

Apollo

Cassandra received the ability to see the future from this Greek god of light and prophecy, who was the twin brother of Artemis. He cursed her after she turned down his romantic advances.

Troy

Cassandra was a princess from this city. She foresaw its fall to Agamemnon’s Greek army.

werewolf

In European folklore, these creatures could conceal themselves as people for most of the month, but transformed into howling predators during the full moon.

wendigos

In North American Ojibwe lore, these skeletal creatures fed on human flesh. In some stories, they could infect humans and force them to become cannibals.

Ghouls

In Arabian stories, these demons dwelt in graveyards and consumed the bodies of the dead. In other stories, these hoof-footed, evil jinns lured travelers to their deaths in the desert, like the similar sila.

Osiris

Name this green-skinned, Egyptian god of the dead who became the lord of the underworld when he was brought back to life after Set killed him.

Horus

Osiris’s son was this falcon-headed Egyptian god of justice and power. This god avenged his father’s murder by killing his uncle, Set.

Hathor

Osiris’s daughter-in-law was this wife of Horus and the goddess of love and fertility. She was depicted with a headdress resembling two cow horns flanking a Sun disk.

eye

Odin traded one of these body parts to be able to drink magical water that would give him wisdom.

Mimir

Odin gave his eye to this god so that he could drink the water of wisdom. After this god was decapitated, Odin magically kept his head alive as a source of advice.

runes

Seeking even more wisdom, Odin hung himself from the world-tree Yggdrasil [IGG-drah-zil] with his spear to gain knowledge of these symbols, which were used for writing and fortune telling.

moon

Like later Greek gods, the Titans represented elements of the natural world. The Titaness Selene was the embodiment of this natural satellite of Earth, which dominates the night sky.

Leto

This Titaness was the mother of the archer twins Apollo and Artemis. When the queen Niobe mocked this Titaness for only having two children, Apollo and Artemis killed all of Niobe’s children.

Hecate

This Titaness was the Greek goddess of witchcraft. She was the handmaiden of Persephone and the goddess of ghosts.

Canopic Jars

Name these containers that held the lungs, stomach, liver, and intestines of a mummified person.

mouth

After mummification, the deceased would undergo a ritual called the “Opening of” this body part, which was believed to allow the person to eat and drink in the afterlife.

heart

After mummification, the soul of the deceased would be judged by Anubis by having this bodily organ weighed against the Feather of Ma’at to determine whether they could enter the afterlife.

females

The Tridevi are often described as being similar to the Trimurti, except that all three deities have this quality. Lakshmi is a deity with this quality, which sets her apart from her husband,

Saraswati

This member of the Tridevi is the goddess of wisdom and the wife of Brahma. She is often depicted with four arms, and carries a veena, a type of lute, to represent her love of music.

Kali

The third member of the Tridevi, Parvati, is also known by this name in her aspect as the goddess of destruction. This blue-skinned goddess slays demons and other evil spirits.

Thor

Name this bad-tempered lightning god for whom the Sons of Ivaldi created the hammer Mjolnir [mee-YOLL-neer]. During Ragnar¨ok, the Norse apocalypse, this god and the great serpent Jormungandr [YOR-mun-gon-dur] will kill each other in battle.

Freyja

This queen of the Vanir, the Norse nature gods, owned a magical cloak made of falcon feathers which she could use to fly. She claimed half the souls of dead warriors for her mead-hall, F´olkvangr.

Frigg

This Norse goddess used her mystical spinning wheel to create the clouds. This wife of Odin is the goddess of both family life and clairvoyance.

Nemean lion

The first labor was to kill this animal from Nemea, whose golden fur was impenetrable to arrows. After strangling this creature, Heracles used one of its own claws to skin its pelt, which he used as armor.

Hippolyta

For his ninth labor, Heracles traveled to Themyscira [them-mes-skee-rah] to get the belt of this queen of the Amazons.

Cerberus

In his final labor, Heracles had to capture this three-headed beast that guards the gates of Hades.

Hawaii

Name this set of islands, an American state whose native religion considers sites like Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea to be sacred.

Hula

This traditional dance in Hawaii is often accompanied by chant or song and was used for storytelling and rituals. Before performing, dancers may make offerings to Laka, a patron of this dance.

Pele

This Goddess of volcanoes brought fire to the Hawaiian islands and lives in Mount Kilauea. During a sled race, she started a fight with the snow Goddess Poli’ahu [poh-lee-ah-hoo] due to jealousy.

Leda

Zeus seduced this woman while in the form of a swan. This woman had four children with Zeus, including Helen of Troy.

Perseus

Zeus took the form of gold coins falling from the sky to seduce the princess Dana¨e. Afterwards, Dana¨e gave birth to this hero, who freed Andromeda and killed Medusa.

fire and ice

Two

Earth

In Greek myth, the first being known as Gaia emerged from light and created the rest of the universe. Gaia is a personification of this planet, where you are currently located.

Ra

In some versions of the Egyptian creation myth, the creation of the universe was attributed to Atum, who is closely associated with this other deity. This sun deity is also known for divulging his secret name to Isis after being bitten by a snake.

Oddessyus

The end of the Trojan war was facilitated by the Trojan Horse, which was an idea given to this hero by Athena. Other notable actions of his include tricking a cyclops by introducing himself as "Nobody".

Achilles

The strongest hero in the Trojan War was this near-invincible warrior whose only weak spot was a point on his heel. He attained this near invulnerability after being dipped in the River Styx by his mother.

Paris

The Trojan War began after the kidnapping of Helen by this hero. He is the person who slew Achilles by shooting him in the heel with an arrow, and was a son of King Priam, along with Hector.

Hera

You were told to do the 12 labors by Apollo after killing your family in a fit of madness inspired by this goddess. She is better known for being the vengeful wife of Zeus, and for punishing mortals he has affairs with.

a river

For your fifth labor, you are told to clean the Augean stables in a single day, which you do by changing the course of two of these natural features. Tiberius is the god of one of these features in Rome.

dragons

 For your eleventh labor, you are told to retrieve the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, which are guarded by Ladon, which is one of these creatures. Cadmus sows a body part of one of these creatures into the ground to create the Spartoi warriors.

King Arthur

Excalibur was wielded by this King, who was the son of Uther Pendragon and Igraine. He is better known for leading the Knights of the Round Table.

a lake

In one story, King Arthur orders Griflet to dispose of the sword by throwing it into one of these places. In other versions of the myth, a Lady of one of these places gives Excalibur to Arthur after he breaks the Sword in the Stone.

a Chimera

 In the Mabinogion, Arthur's sword is described as having a design of two of these creatures on the hilt. In Greek mythology, these creatures are part lion, part goat, and part snake, and one was notably slain by Bellerophon while riding Pegasus.

Arthemis

 A hunter named Actaeon attempted to spy on this maiden goddess, and was subsequently turned into a stag and killed by his own dogs. She is also the sister of Apollo.

birds

After being blinded by Hera for agreeing with Zeus, Tiresias gained the ability to understand these animals. "Stymphalian" examples of these animals were chased away by Hercules from a swamp.

Demeter

When Tantalus attempts to feed his son to the gods, only this deity eats the food, consuming Pelops's shoulder. This deity also enlists Hecate in a quest to find her daughter who was kidnapped by Hades.

Egyptian

The Duat is the realm of the dead in the belief system of these people. Notable deities of these people include Isis and Horus, and they often held annual celebrations for the flooding of the Nile river.

Anubis

Once a dead soul overcame several challenges in the Duat, they could meet this jackal headed deity who would weigh their heart against the feather of Ma'at.

Osiris

 If the soul passed the test of Anubis and the feather, they would be let into Aaru, which is a field ruled by this deity. This "Foremost of the Westerners" was chopped up into 13 pieces by his brother.

eels

Tuvaluan mythology attributes the creation of the atolls to a flounder and this other kind of fish. These long fish have types including the conger and the moray.

Pele

This Polynesian goddess has her worship mainly centered around Hawaii. This goddess of fire is also revered by practitioners as the creator of the Hawaiian Islands.

volcanoes

Pele is also known as the goddess of these natural features. Hawaiian examples of these features include Kīlauea.

Prometheus

In Greek myth, this titan created the first humans from mud and water. He is better known for giving fire to humans, for which he was chained to a rock by Zeus and has his entrails eaten by an eagle daily.

Gilgamesh

In Babylonian myth, the goddess Aruru created Enkidu as a partner for this hero. After fighting with Enkidu, this hero travels to a forest and slays a being known as Humbaba.

elephants

The Hindu god Ganesha was made out of clay before being beheaded and having his head replaced by that of this animal. A white one of these animals represents royalty in parts of Southeast Asia.

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Name this position which is said to be "jinxed" because its holders, such as Quirinus Quirrell, are never able to last more than one year.

Harry Potter

Professors of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts teach this title wizard of a J.K. Rowling series who kills Voldemort in its seventh book.

Snape

The position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts is coveted by this other character in the Harry Potter series. This character is the title "Half-Blood Prince" of the series' sixth book, in which he kills Dumbledore at its end.

Zeus

After hearing that a son borne by Metis would overthrow him, this King of the Greek gods consumed her.

Perseus

King Acrisius heard from the Oracle that a child of his daughter, Danaë, would eventually overthrow him, and thus locked her up. However, Zeus turned into a shower of gold, and had a son with her, who was this hero.

Thebes

After hearing that he was supposed to be killed by his son, King Laius sent a shepherd to abandon Oedipus on a mountainside. Oedipus was spared by the shepherd, and ended up in this city, where he solved the riddle of the Sphinx. It was legendarily founded by Cadmus.

Olmecs

The earliest known Mesoamerican civilization was this Mexican civilization that built seventeen colossal stone heads.

human sacrafice

Some Mesoamerican cultures, like the Aztec and Maya, practiced this ritual to appease gods such as Tlaloc. In some cultures, the loser of a ballgame would be subject to this ritual.

Obsidian

Aztec warriors often carried knives made of this hard black volcanic glass. You may be more familiar with this substance from its appearance in Minecraft, where it is the primary component of Nether portals.

wolves

Loki is notable for fathering several monsters with Angrboda, including one of these canine predators. Two of these creatures named Geri and Freki follow Odin around, and Fenrir is another example of these creatures.

Baldr

 During the Lokasenna, Loki brags about being the cause for the death of this deity. This deity's mother, Frigg, took oaths from every object on the planet and made them promise not to hurt her son, except for mistletoe. This deity was then killed by a mistletoe spear thrown by his brother.

fish

While attempting to escape from the gods, Loki turns into one of these animals. In an Irish myth, eating one of these animals bestows all the world's knowledge.

flight

Pegasus is notable for having this specific trait. Bellerophon legendarily attempted to abuse this trait of Pegasus to get to Mount Olympus, leading to his death by falling to the ground. A description is acceptable.

gold

Pegasus was tamed by Bellerophon after being given a bridle made of this substance. One legendary king was cursed to turn everything he touched into this substance.

the Muses

he Hippocrene was a spring created by Pegasus which was sacred to these goddesses. There were typically nine of these goddesses, and they represented things like the arts, literature, and history.

wind

During the Kurukshetra War, Hanuman, the son of a god of this phenomenon, watches the battle and blows a conch. Boreas and Zephyrus are deities of this phenomenon in Greek mythology.

chariots

Hanuman was sitting on one of these vehicles driven by Krishna while watching the Kurukshetra War. In the Hippodrome, spectators could watch these horse-drawn vehicles race.

the Sun

In one story, Hanuman attempts to eat this entity, thinking that it is a mango. Hou-Yi legendarily used a bow and arrows to shoot down eight versions of this entity in Chinese mythology.

Jason

The Argonauts were led by this hero, who eventually married the sorceress Medea.

Atlanta

This was the only female member of the Argonauts. In another story, she lost a footrace after her future husband threw some golden apples on the ground.

the Golden Fleece

The Argonauts went on a quest to retrieve this object, which was made from the wool of the winged ram Chrysomallos.

Tyr

Name this one-handed Norse god of war.

Fenrir

Tyr lost his hand trying to bind this creature, who bit his hand off. At Ragnar¨ok, this enormous wolf will swallow Odin whole.

Loki

 In the Prose Edda, this god of mischief is described as the father of Fenrir, the Midgard Serpent J¨ormungandr [YOHR-mun-gon-dur], and Hel herself.

Babylon

Name this ancient city that served as capital for Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar in two different empires named for it.

Hanging Gardens of Bayblon

Nebuchadnezzar ordered the creation of this Babylonian structure, the only one of the seven ancient Wonders of the World whose location and existence hasn’t been completely confirmed. This structure may have featured stacked terraces of plants and wildlife.

Euphrates

Babylon was located along the banks of this river that, along with its companion the Tigris River, was the source of water for much of Mesopotamia.

Argos

Name this ship, whose crew sailed to Colchis to help their leader fulfill a quest and take the throne of Pelias.

Jason

The Argo was captained by this Greek hero, who was helped by the sorceress Medea in his quest.

The Golden Fleece

To retake the throne that Pelias had stolen from him, Jason led the Argonauts on a quest to obtain this object from Colchis.

King Arthur

 Name this legendary king from the British Isles, who became king after pulling a sword from a stone. This man married Queen Guinevere and gathered his knights at the Round Table.

Morgan le fay

The mysterious and supernatural Green Knight who challenges Sir Gawain in the poem does so on the orders of this witch, Arthur’s sister, a diabolical sorceress who wants to frighten Queen Guinevere to death.

Pearl

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is usually believed to be the work of an unknown poet who also wrote this religious poem. This poem, based on the vulgate Bible of the time, is named for a precious gem “of great price” that has been lost by this poem’s narrator.

Maya

Name this civilization whose god Itzamma created their long-running calendar, and whose mythological origins are detailed in the Popul Vuh.

the Sun and Moon

In the Popul Vuh, the Hero Twins defeated the lords of Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, in a ballgame match; the twins then became these two astronomical objects.

maize

The Popul Vuh also contains the story of creation in which, after several failed attempts, the gods finally manage to create humanity out of this grain that grows abundantly in the Americas.

the Earth and Sky

 Two

Anubis

Another common subject of pyramid paintings is this jackal-headed god, who weighs the hearts of the dead against the feather of Ma’at.

Pharaohs

These people, considered to be descendants of Ra, are sometimes depicted wearing the double crown, called the pschent [p’skent]; other times, these people are shown wearing an ornate blue and gold headcloth called the nemes [NEH-mehs].

Anansi

Name this long-legged mythical trickster and keeper of stories in Caribbean and early African-American folklore. This mythical figure originated in the myths of the Akan people in modern Ghana.

spider

Though he is usually depicted as a humanoid trickster, Anansi often appears as one of these eight-legged creatures.

Br’er Rabbit

As a trickster, Anansi is often associated in American culture with this hare, the protagonist of many Uncle Remus stories.

elephant

According to legend, Gautama’s birth was foretold by his mother’s dream that a white one of these animals with six tusks and holding a lotus in its trunk entered her right side.

Middle Way

Gautama lived his early life as a spoiled prince, then became an ascetic beggar, and finally preached this practice, the principle of living moderately.