Q 01/05

Erasmus's mistranslation of the Greek word for a large storage jar gave which mythical woman her famous box?

A) Pandora

B) Medusa

C) Cassandra

D) Ariadne

Answer · why

A) Pandora

Pandora opened a pithos, a big jar, in the Greek myth; Erasmus wrote pyxis, a small box, in his Latin retelling. The slip stuck, and the jar has been ...

Q 02/05

Critics claimed that Erasmus laid the egg that which German reformer hatched, a charge he wittily dismissed?

A) Philip Melanchthon

B) Martin Bucer

C) Martin Luther

D) Thomas Müntzer

Answer · why

C) Martin Luther

Martin Luther had hatched 'a different bird entirely', Erasmus replied. He had mocked church abuses for years, but he never left the Catholic fold.

Q 03/05

After a lifetime of writing his books and letters in Latin, Erasmus reportedly spoke his last words in which language?

A) French

B) German

C) Greek

D) Dutch

Answer · why

D) Dutch

Dutch came back to him on his deathbed in 1536: after groaning prayers in Latin, he was heard to say 'Lieve God', dear God.

Q 04/05

Which website's volunteer editors received the Erasmus Prize in 2015 under the theme of digital culture?

A) Project Gutenberg

B) Wikipedia

C) Internet Archive

D) OpenStreetMap

Answer · why

B) Wikipedia

Wikipedia's community took the award, one of Europe's leading cultural honours, for spreading knowledge through an encyclopedia open to everybody. Thr...

Q 05/05

Which satire did Erasmus write in about a week, giving the speech to a goddess who boasts of her gifts?

A) The Ship of Fools

B) Letters of Obscure Men

C) The Praise of Folly

D) Gargantua and Pantagruel

Answer · why

C) The Praise of Folly

The Praise of Folly lets Folly herself take the pulpit and flatter lovers, princes, scholars and monks alike. Erasmus later said he almost regretted w...