Q 01/05

In Norse mythology, what kind of birds are Huginn and Muninn, who perch on Odin's shoulders?

A) Eagles

B) Ravens

C) Falcons

D) Owls

Answer · why

B) Ravens

They fly across the world each day and report back what they have seen; their names mean roughly 'thought' and 'memory'.

Q 02/05

What creature did Theseus slay in the labyrinth of Crete?

A) Hydra

B) Sphinx

C) Chimera

D) Minotaur

Answer · why

D) Minotaur

Theseus found his way back out of the labyrinth by following a thread given to him by Ariadne, daughter of King Minos.

Q 03/05

According to Greek myth, what was released when Pandora opened her box (actually a jar)?

A) All the world's evils

B) The four seasons

C) The Olympian gods

D) Magical creatures

Answer · why

A) All the world's evils

The container was a pithos, a large storage jar; the 'box' comes from a sixteenth-century mistranslation. Only Hope stayed inside.

Q 04/05

Which Greek musician lost Eurydice a second time by looking back on the way out of the underworld?

A) Arion

B) Orpheus

C) Linus

D) Amphion

Answer · why

B) Orpheus

His music had charmed the rulers of the dead into releasing her, on the one condition that he not look back until both were in daylight.

Q 05/05

What was the name of the Trojan prince whose elopement with Helen sparked the Trojan War?

A) Hector

B) Priam

C) Aeneas

D) Paris

Answer · why

D) Paris

Also called Alexander, he later shot the arrow that killed the greatest of the Greek warriors.