Q 01/05

The Mermaid Parade, a costumed art parade founded in 1983, is held in which New York seaside neighbourhood?

A) Rockaway Beach

B) Coney Island

C) City Island

D) Sheepshead Bay

Answer · why

B) Coney Island

Coney Island. Each parade crowns a King Neptune and a Queen Mermaid, and it ends with a march to the beach to declare the ocean open for the summer sw...

Q 02/05

The Lorelei, a siren said to lure boatmen onto the rocks with her singing, haunts which German river?

A) Danube

B) Elbe

C) Rhine

D) Moselle

Answer · why

C) Rhine

Rhine. The Lorelei is a real rock near St. Goar whose striking echo may have fed the legend, which is best known from Heinrich Heine's 1824 poem, late...

Q 03/05

What did Christopher Columbus most likely see when he reported three 'sirenas' off Hispaniola in 1493?

A) Manatees

B) Dolphins

C) Seals

D) Sea turtles

Answer · why

A) Manatees

Manatees. Columbus noted in his journal that the three 'mermaids' were not half as beautiful as they are painted, with rather masculine faces.

Q 04/05

The sirens of early Greek myth were originally depicted as women joined to what kind of creature?

A) Birds

B) Fish

C) Snakes

D) Horses

Answer · why

A) Birds

Birds. The sirens swapped wings and claws for fish tails only in the Middle Ages, which is why French and Spanish still call a mermaid a 'sirène' or '...

Q 05/05

In the Odyssey, how does Odysseus manage to hear the sirens' song and survive?

A) He plugs his ears with wax

B) He has himself tied to the mast

C) He wears a blindfold

D) He sails past at night

Answer · why

B) He has himself tied to the mast

He has himself tied to the mast on Circe's advice, while his crew row with wax in their ears. When he signals to be set free, they bind him tighter.