Q 01/05

A large central nasal opening in the skull of which animal may have inspired Cyclops legends?

A) Rhinoceros

B) Elephant

C) Cave bear

D) Hippopotamus

Answer · why

B) Elephant

Elephant skulls have a wide central hole for the trunk that can pass for a single giant eye socket. Palaeontologist Othenio Abel suggested the link in...

Q 02/05

Which false name did Odysseus give Polyphemus so the Cyclops's cries for help made no sense?

A) Stranger

B) Wanderer

C) Nobody

D) Beggar

Answer · why

C) Nobody

Nobody, or Outis in Greek, was the trick: when the blinded giant cried that Nobody was hurting him, his neighbours shrugged and went home.

Q 03/05

The Navy coal carrier USS Cyclops, which vanished without trace in 1918, is often linked to which region?

A) Cape Horn

B) Skeleton Coast

C) Devil's Sea

D) Bermuda Triangle

Answer · why

D) Bermuda Triangle

Bermuda Triangle lore claims the vessel, though a heavy ore cargo, engine trouble and bad weather are likelier culprits. Two of its sister colliers la...

Q 04/05

To the ancient Greeks, the name Cyclops, from the words kyklos and ops, meant which of these?

A) Burning eye

B) Evil eye

C) Watchful eye

D) Round eye

Answer · why

D) Round eye

Round eye is the literal sense: kyklos means circle and ops means eye. Hesiod says the giants got the name from the single circular eye set in the mid...

Q 05/05

Odysseus escaped the cave of the blinded Cyclops Polyphemus by clinging to which part of a ram?

A) Its horns

B) Its belly

C) Its back

D) Its tail

Answer · why

B) Its belly

Its belly was the one place the blind giant never checked: he stroked each animal's back as it left the cave. Odysseus hid in the fleece under the big...