Final Jeopardy: Mythology (7-3-19)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (7/3/2019) in the category “Mythology” was:
In Homer there’s only one of these, from the Greek for “terrible”; later they became 3 scary sisters
New champ Charlie Jorgenson, a librarian from Loveland, CO, won a hefty $32,800 yeterday. In his second game, his opponents are: Dan Levy, a higher education administrator from Hartford, CT; and Cathy Doebler, a retired teacher from Belle, WV.
Round 1 Categories: The Golden Hoard – Singular Sports Teams – American Writers – There’s a Time & a Place for Everything – Get “Off” – My Lawn
Cathy found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Time & Place” under the $600 clue, with 7 clues to go after it. She just got out of the red and was starting from scratch again with $3,600 less than Charlie’s lead. She bet the $1,000 allowance and she was RIGHT.
1541, Lima: This conquistador is murdered at dinner in his palace. show
Charlie finished in the lead with $5,800. Dan was second with $3,600 and Cathy was last with $1,600.
Round 2 Categories: Done in by Their Own Creations – Geography – Bad-jectives – Italian Music Terms – The Long & the Short of Battle – An Actor & a Supporting Role
Charlie found the first Daily Double in “Done in” under the $1,200 clue, with a dozen clues left after it. He was in the lead with $11,800 at this point, $3,000 more than Dan in second place. He bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.
Horace Hunley pioneered this transport & during a test run of one during the Civil War perished along with his crew. show
Charlie found the last Daily Double in “Italian Music Terms” under the $2,000 clue, with just the “Battle” category left after it. In the lead with an even $20,000, he had $10,800 more than Dan in second place. He bet $5,000 and he was RIGHT.
Chopin taught this style of playing with linked notes, the opposite of staccato, which he called “a pigeon hunt” show
Charlie finished with a runaway $25,800. Dan was next with $8,400 and Cathy was in third place with $2,400.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
In classical literature, an unnamed Gorgo (singular of Gorgon, according to Etymology Online) “with her stare of horror” is mentioned first by Homer in “The Iliad.” Hesiod elaborated in the “Theogony” with three Gorgon sisters, daughters of Keto and Phorkys, primordial sea gods who had other rather ugly offspring as well. The Gorgon gals were Stheno (strength), Euryale (wide-leaping), and Medusa (ruler or queen). Because of the Perseus myth, Medusa is the most well-known. She was the only Gorgon sister who was mortal and that’s why Perseus was able to kill her. Her decapitated head retained that stare of horror that could turn anyone who looked upon it into stone so Perseus wisely kept it as a weapon. For more info on the Gorgons, there’s a good video on YouTube (a little over 11 mins.)
From 1996: MYTHOLOGY ($600) The winged horse Pegasus arose from the blood of this Gorgon when Perseus cut off her head
Cathy thought it might be the Muses. She bet and lost it all.
Dan came up with witches. That cost him $3,000, leaving him with $5,400.
Charlie went with the Furies. He lost his $1,800 bet and won the game with the remaining $24,000. His 2-day total is $56,800.
If you want to see how close Dan came to correctly pronouncing Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana, some folks on Forvo will help you out.
A triple stumper from each round:
AMERICAN WRITERS ($800) In a story by this sci-fi master, “I Sing the Body Electric!” is the title of a pamphlet for a robot grandmother
BAD-JECTIVES ($2000) Not “were” but this 4-letter word for dreadful comes before the name of an extinct wolf
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Small Countries”
This tiny island nation 700 miles northeast of Madagascar makes a great addition to a classic tongue twister. show
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What is more prestigious In myth: a gorgon or a muse or a satyr or an incubus?
My choice is incubus. Agree, Disagree, Don’t Care???
I don’t know what ‘prestige’ would even entail in evaluating mythological entities.
I feel like I watched too many Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear.
Cerberus and gorgons came to my mind because I remember reading about the lliad in high school. But glad Charlie won again. This should have been pretty easy and not a triple stumper. Wouldn’t you agree on this VJ?
Yes, Lou, I thought they would all get it. I mean, I pretty much lost interest in mythology many many years ago and don’t remember enough where I could even say I have a good handle on the subject. I got it right away and it was about 2:30 in the morning when I looked at the clue. So I pretty much figured if I could remember that Medusa was a Gorgon, they would surely know it.
LINK: 10 more clues from the game
Another one of those strange coincidences: Just took a break from practicing Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1, where I was specifically working on the legato fingering, to check this page and saw the third daily double.
I got the clue despite the etymological hint not helping at all. When I see “3” paired with “Greek Mythology”, Cerberus and Gorgons come to mind.
17 more games left until the Season Finale. Congrats to Charlie, a 2 day total of $56,800.