Q 01/05

NASA's program to return astronauts to the Moon is named after which Greek goddess, the twin sister of Apollo?

A) Artemis

B) Selene

C) Demeter

D) Hestia

Answer · why

A) Artemis

Artemis was chosen because the program follows Apollo, the 1960s Moon landings named after her twin brother. NASA announced the name in 2019.

Q 02/05

Which planet, the hottest in the Solar System, is the only one named after a goddess rather than a god?

A) Mercury

B) Mars

C) Venus

D) Neptune

Answer · why

C) Venus

Venus takes its name from the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and all but three of the features mapped on its surface have female names too.

Q 03/05

Which Greek goddess, a loving mother in Disney's Hercules, sends snakes to kill the baby hero in the usual myth?

A) Rhea

B) Hera

C) Leto

D) Hestia

Answer · why

B) Hera

Hera was his stepmother and sworn enemy: Hercules was Zeus's son by the mortal Alcmene, and the infant is said to have strangled both snakes with his ...

Q 04/05

Roman poets such as Virgil addressed a goddess by the title Trivia because she was the guardian of which places?

A) Harbors

B) City gates

C) Bridges

D) Crossroads

Answer · why

D) Crossroads

Crossroads, especially where three roads met: Trivia comes from the Latin trivium, 'triple way'. The same root gave English the word 'trivial'.

Q 05/05

Which winged Greek goddess of victory is the subject of a headless marble statue atop the Louvre's main staircase?

A) Tyche

B) Hebe

C) Nike

D) Eos

Answer · why

C) Nike

Nike had already lost her head and arms when a French diplomat dug the statue up on the island of Samothrace in 1863. The sportswear brand borrowed he...