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Quiz about Apples of Literature History and Myth
Quiz about Apples of Literature History and Myth

Apples of Literature, History and Myth Quiz


Judging from the frequent use of the apple in phrase, fable, myth and literature, this tree fruit holds a significant symbolic value for people of various cultures. Here is a sampling of apple references in literature, have a bite!

A multiple-choice quiz by thejazzkickazz. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
128,572
Updated
Apr 09 23
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
2504
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
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Question 1 of 10
1. Let's begin with a true or false question. The apple is specifically mentioned in the biblical story of Adam and Eve contained in the early chapters of Genesis.


Question 2 of 10
2. Greek myth is certainly rife with stories including the lovely apple. Perhaps the most well-known is the story about the 'Apple of Discord'. The goddess of discord, jealous that she had not been invited to an important wedding, decided to have a little fun at the expense of the unwitting Paris of Troy. Paris was required to decide which goddess was the most beautiful amongst three choices, a certain recipe for disaster! At whose wedding did Paris' fateful choice take place? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. In Greek myth, which of these characters lost a running race based on her lust for three golden apples? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. In the Tales of the Arabian Knights there is a story about a certain Prince Ahmed. Early in the story Ahmed finds an artificial apple that contains what special property that is bestowed upon any who breath its fumes? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. One of my favorite apple-related stories is the one involving Isaac Newton and the apple tree. Legend has it that, while sitting under an apple tree at his family home in Lincolnshire, an apple plopped down on his head, immediately inspiring his formulation of the Universal Law of Gravitation. Surprisingly, this wonderful story may have never seen the light of day had it not been for which of the following authors? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Thoreau wrote, 'The owner of the axe, as he released his hold on it, said that it was the apple of his eye; but I returned it sharper than I received it.' in his 'Walden'. Thoreau was not the first to employ this popular phrase (apple of one's eye.) It appears in Shakespeare and a number of times in the Bible, among other places. Which is the first Bible book of the King James' Version to contain the phrase? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Which of these greats wrote the poem called 'Mending Wall', containing a reference to his non-voracious apple trees? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. During the earlier half of the 19th century a man called Johnny Appleseed is said to have travelled the American 'west' (now the midwest) planting apple seeds and tending orchards. Was Johnny Appleseed a real person of history?


Question 9 of 10
9. Which of these places of literature/myth is also known as the 'Isle of Apples'? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Several historians have ascertained that a newspaperman named John Fitzgerald was the first to publicly employ the term 'The Big Apple' in reference to which storied American city? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Let's begin with a true or false question. The apple is specifically mentioned in the biblical story of Adam and Eve contained in the early chapters of Genesis.

Answer: False

Despite frequent mention of the apple in conjunction with this popular biblical story of 'original sin', the specific fruit is not cited in Genesis. Rather, Eve picks a 'fruit' from the 'tree of knowledge of good and evil'. For all we know, it could have been a banana...and in fact, this is what many practitioners of Islam believe, as it is suggested in the Koran. Apparently the apple became the fruit of choice in Christendom only after it served as the frequent subject of artistic renderings of the Genesis story.
2. Greek myth is certainly rife with stories including the lovely apple. Perhaps the most well-known is the story about the 'Apple of Discord'. The goddess of discord, jealous that she had not been invited to an important wedding, decided to have a little fun at the expense of the unwitting Paris of Troy. Paris was required to decide which goddess was the most beautiful amongst three choices, a certain recipe for disaster! At whose wedding did Paris' fateful choice take place?

Answer: Thetis and Peleus

Eris, the goddess of discord, produced a golden apple at the wedding, to which she was not invited, suggesting that it be bestowed upon the fairest of the goddesses. Among Athena, Hera and Aphrodite, Paris chose the latter and thus doomed the city of Troy to its later fate. One of the Greek heroes of the Trojan War, Achilles, was born of the union between Thetis and Peleus...sealing this wedding day as one of the climactic moments of the Greek mythos.
3. In Greek myth, which of these characters lost a running race based on her lust for three golden apples?

Answer: Atalanta

Atalanta was daughter of King Schoenus, a fair beauty and an excellent huntress, having participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. Being the swiftest maiden in the world, her hand was promised to the first suitor who could defeat her in a running race.

The man who accomplished this feat was a brilliantly handsome chap named Hippomenes who, with the assistance of Aphrodite and her gift of three golden apples, was able to defeat Atalanta in a race by dropping the golden fruit in her path. Incidentally, I am an advocate for a return to this sort of competition in lieu of marriage proposals.
4. In the Tales of the Arabian Knights there is a story about a certain Prince Ahmed. Early in the story Ahmed finds an artificial apple that contains what special property that is bestowed upon any who breath its fumes?

Answer: Universal cure-all

Ahmed's father, the Sultan of the Indies, has a dilemma; his sons are all in love with their cousin who has been placed under the Sultan's care. The Sultan requests that his sons each travel far and wide, and he who brings back the most magnificent object will receive the lovely girl's hand in marriage. Ahmed discovers an apple with panacea-like qualities in Samarkand, but does not win the girl's hand.

It seems that the gifts of the three sons are equal in magnificence, and the girl's fate is decided by an arrow shooting competition (which Ahmed loses.) No matter...Ahmed finds a much better wife, the beautiful fairy Paribanou and later becomes the new Sultan.
5. One of my favorite apple-related stories is the one involving Isaac Newton and the apple tree. Legend has it that, while sitting under an apple tree at his family home in Lincolnshire, an apple plopped down on his head, immediately inspiring his formulation of the Universal Law of Gravitation. Surprisingly, this wonderful story may have never seen the light of day had it not been for which of the following authors?

Answer: Voltaire

According to most Newton experts, the apple story is mostly true...the apple indeed fell, inspiring Newton's gravitational law, but not directly on his head. And unlike Archimedes running nude from his bathtub crying 'Eureka!', Newton did not make a spectacle of himself after his apple epiphany. Rather, it took the sardonic wit of Voltaire to expose the apple story to the general public. Voltaire would have done anything to prop up the reputation of Newton against his rival mathematician Leibniz (the inspiration for Voltaire's Dr. Pangloss from 'Candide') and the apple story proved charming enough to assist in that endeavor.
6. Thoreau wrote, 'The owner of the axe, as he released his hold on it, said that it was the apple of his eye; but I returned it sharper than I received it.' in his 'Walden'. Thoreau was not the first to employ this popular phrase (apple of one's eye.) It appears in Shakespeare and a number of times in the Bible, among other places. Which is the first Bible book of the King James' Version to contain the phrase?

Answer: Deuteronomy

The following verse may be found in Deuteronomy, chapter 32: 'He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He kept him as the apple of his eye.' The 'him' in this case refers to the children of Israel, the 'chosen people'; the 'He' is, of course, God.
7. Which of these greats wrote the poem called 'Mending Wall', containing a reference to his non-voracious apple trees?

Answer: Robert Frost

Here's an excerpt: 'My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, "Good fences make good neighbors."' There are different interpretations of the meaning behind this poem. Is he referring to neighbors or simply the relationship between any two people? Perhaps he means two nations?
8. During the earlier half of the 19th century a man called Johnny Appleseed is said to have travelled the American 'west' (now the midwest) planting apple seeds and tending orchards. Was Johnny Appleseed a real person of history?

Answer: Yes

Indeed, Johnny Appleseed was born John Chapman in Leominster, Massachusetts. He spent nearly 50 years walking, often barefoot, through the American midwest planting hundreds of acres of apple trees during his travels. His exploits were so much discussed that naturally he became a figure of both history and fable, and remains so today.
9. Which of these places of literature/myth is also known as the 'Isle of Apples'?

Answer: Avalon

Medieval chronicler of Arthurian legend, Geoffrey of Monmouth listed 'Insuls Avallonis' (Isle of Apples) as the final resting place of King Arthur. This reference is from his 'History of the Kings of Britain', completed around 1135 A.D.
10. Several historians have ascertained that a newspaperman named John Fitzgerald was the first to publicly employ the term 'The Big Apple' in reference to which storied American city?

Answer: New York City

In 1924 Fitzgerald referred to the various horse racetracks in New York as 'The Big Apple', a name that seemed to have stuck within the popular jargon. There are several other possible sources for the use of 'apple' to describe New York City, and indeed inevitable sexual references are part of the story...bordellos and bedrooms, naturally. I'll leave it to you to dig up the dirt! Thank you for trying this quiz, please give my other quizzes a try if you enjoyed this one.
Source: Author thejazzkickazz

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