Q 01/05

Which English word for a kind of pretender comes from the ancient Greek term for a stage actor?

A) Charlatan

B) Sycophant

C) Hypocrite

D) Impostor

Answer · why

C) Hypocrite

Hypocrite comes from hypokrites, the Greek technical term for a stage actor. The orator Demosthenes ridiculed a rival who had once been an actor as a ...

Q 02/05

Which Latin phrase for a contrived plot rescue recalls the crane that lowered gods onto the ancient Greek stage?

A) Deus ex machina

B) In medias res

C) Dramatis personae

D) Ex nihilo

Answer · why

A) Deus ex machina

Deus ex machina means 'god from the machine', after the crane that swung actors playing gods above the stage. Around half of the surviving tragedies o...

Q 03/05

Which Greek tragedian, a veteran of Marathon, was killed in legend by a tortoise that an eagle dropped on him?

A) Sophocles

B) Euripides

C) Agathon

D) Aeschylus

Answer · why

D) Aeschylus

Aeschylus died at Gela in Sicily, and the Roman writer Valerius Maximus says the eagle mistook his head for a rock to crack the shell on. His epitaph ...

Q 04/05

Which Greek god, whose wooden statue was paraded to the theatre, was honoured by the drama festivals of Athens?

A) Apollo

B) Dionysus

C) Hermes

D) Hephaestus

Answer · why

B) Dionysus

Dionysus, god of wine, gave his name to the City Dionysia, where three tragedians competed each year. Among Athenian festivals only the Panathenaia ra...

Q 05/05

What did every actor in ancient Greek tragedy wear so that one performer could play several different roles?

A) Masks

B) Veils

C) Hoods

D) Face paint

Answer · why

A) Masks

Masks let a performer reappear as several characters. None survive, because they were made of perishable stiffened linen, leather, wood or cork and we...