The Classics Trivia

1. The Iliad is generally telling a story about which war(s)?

From Quiz The 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey'

Answer: The Trojan War

The Peloponnesian War was fought between two Greek City States, Athens and Sparta. The Trojan War lasted for more than 10 years. The story told in the 'Iliad' covers only a brief period.

From Quiz The Epic of Gilgamesh

Answer: Uruk

Gilgamesh was the King of Uruk. In the early stages of his rule, he was known as an evil tyrant. He was feared by his people and he would take advantage of their fear in several ways. Gilgamesh was known to sound the alarm just to watch the townspeople panic. He would also take boys from their families and enlist them in his army from a young age.

From Quiz Homer's writings and Plato's philosophy

Answer: Tiresias

Tiresias also appears in Sophocles' work including 'Antigone' and 'Oedipus the King'.

From Quiz Sayest Thou What?

Answer: Romeo

Romeo and Juliet - a pair of dills if ever they were. I believe they both were suffering from suppressed suicidal tendencies, which, unfortunately by the end of this play by Shakespeare, were no longer suppressed.

From Quiz Chretien de Troyes' "Lancelot"

Answer: This story does not say.

Lancelot was a king's son. King Arthur had four nephews: the sons of his sister Morgause, Gawain being the eldest and most famous. In later versions, sometimes Lancelot is the foster-son of the otherworldly Lady of the Lake.

From Quiz The Histories of Herodotus

Answer: geography of Egypt

Chapters 1-4 are an introduction. Chapters 5-34 deal with Egyptian geography. Chapters 35-98 deal with Egyptian customs. Chapters 99-146 deal with Egyptian history as told by Egyptians. Chapters 147-182 deal with Egyptian history as told by foreigners.

From Quiz Herodotus's Histories, Ch.1 1-5

Answer: Phoenicians

1.1 "Those of the Persians who have knowledge of their stories declare that the Phoenicians first began the quarrel."

From Quiz The Republic

Answer: Justice

By designing a just city, Socrates hopes to understand the nature of a just man. He analogizes the various classes in the city to various faculties of man.

From Quiz Really Bad Classical Poetry

Answer: Throw him out with pitchforks

"Mentula" in Latin means "Little Dick." Was this the poet's real name, or a name that Catullus made up for him? In any case, it seems the guy abandoned his career in literature for a very successful career in business.

From Quiz A Miscellany of Latin & Ancient Greek Literature

Answer: Seneca

Seneca (born 4 BC, died AD 65) was a Roman Stoic philosopher as well as tutor to the emperor Nero. "On the Constancy of the Wise Man" is just a study on a stoic wise man and his values.

From Quiz Latin Literature

Answer: Life of Cnaeus Julius Agricola

It is in 'De Vita et Moribus Iulii Agricolae' ('Life of Cnaeus Julius Agricola'), written in about 98 AD, that Tacitus (55-120 AD) gives a description of Britain, where his father-in-law was governor for seven years, from 77 or 78 AD.

From Quiz Judith (poem translated by Mary Savelli)

Answer: The Latin Vulgate

The King James and Geneva translations were not yet in existence when "Judith" was composed. "The Septuagint" was, but the poem appears to have been based on "Judith" as it appears in St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate. Jerome used an Aramaic text and another Latin translation to compile his version. "Judith" is included in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles but not in Protestant and Jewish Bibles.

From Quiz Classic Epics Through Time

Answer: Roland

It was written in around 1100. Saracens was the term used by europeans to describe Muslims during the medieval era; Roncesvalles, located in the Pyrenees, is where the ambush took place.

From Quiz The Song of Roland

Answer: Saracens

In the poem, the battle is against the Saracens. In actuality, this poem was based on a confrontation between the Franks and the Basques that occurred in 778. In that year, a portion of Charlemagne's army fought a battle to the death at the pass at Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees mountains. All members of this rearguard of Charlemagne's grand army were killed by the Basque fighters.

From Quiz Ancient Literature

Answer: Aesop

Aesop's Fables. Demosthenes is best known as an orator.

From Quiz The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Answer: Uruk

From Quiz Latin Literature Trivia

Answer: his conflicting emotions of love and hate

'Odi et amo' literally means 'I hate and I love'.

From Quiz The 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey'

Answer: Bronze Age

The epics are thought to have been written between 750 and 650 B.C. but the stories take place during the 12th century B.C., the Bronze Age.

From Quiz The Epic of Gilgamesh

Answer: Enkidu

Enkidu was molded from clay by the Gods. He roamed with animals until a woman taught him how to be civilized. In the city, he met Gilgamesh and they fought to see which was stronger. The fight was so evenly matched that they respected each other's strength and became friends.

From Quiz Homer's writings and Plato's philosophy

Answer: Eurycleia

The scar is from a boar hunt. Odysseus swears her to secrecy.

From Quiz Sayest Thou What?

Answer: Othello

The nerve of the man. Othello is one of Shakespeare's tragedies alright. The tragedy was that silly Desdemona didn't hike it out of there after being given clear evidence that Othello was a homicidal maniac prone to pathological bursts of jealousy.

From Quiz Chretien de Troyes' "Lancelot"

Answer: Kay lost her in a challenge from a strange knight.

For those who don't know the story, this may seem a bit complicated. A strange knight challenged King Arthur's knights, if they were not afraid, to send a champion outside the walls. If the champion won, he would release the many prisoners he was holding, and if he lost, the stranger would take the queen away. Kay made a production of leaving Arthur's service, where he was not appreciated, until the king and queen both promised to grant him any one thing he asked. When Kay demanded to be allowed to accept the stranger's challenge, Arthur had to let the queen go, or be forsworn. As everyone had known he would, Kay lost.

From Quiz The Histories of Herodotus

Answer: cranes

Book 2 Chapter 125 talks of the height of the pyramid being divided into stages. It then talks about machines made of timber on each stage which lifted the stones for the pyramid to the stage where they were needed.

From Quiz Herodotus's Histories, Ch.1 1-5

Answer: Argive woman, including Io, the Agrive princess, went to buy stuff from the merchants and were abducted.

1.1 "Phoenicians arrived then at this land of Argos, and had began to dispose of their ship's cargo. On the fifth or sixth day after they had arrived, when their goods had been almost all sold, there came down to the sea a great company of woman, and among them the daughter of the king; and her name... was Io the daughter of Inachos. These standing near the stern of the ship were buying wares that pleased them most, when suddenly the Phoenicians, passing the word from one to another, made a rush upon them; the greater part of the women escaped by flight, but Io and certain others were carried off. So they put them on board their ship, and immediately departed, sailing away to Egypt."

From Quiz The Epic of Gilgamesh

Answer: Enkidu

He was created by the gods as an answer to the people's prayers for help with Gilgamesh, who wasn't an all around good guy. Enkidu was part human and part animal and almost Gilgamesh's equal.

From Quiz Greek is for Geeks

Answer: If you know a concept, you are remembering it from a previous existence.

Plato's argument, as outlined in the "Phaedo," goes something like this: - You see two sticks of roughly equal length. - The two sticks remind you of the concept of equality. - But, the two sticks are not actually equal in length. There is some deficiency that prevents the sticks from being exactly Equal. - In order to think that the sticks are not exactly equal, you must have some prior concept of the Equal. - But, you have never perceived, through your senses, any two objects in your life which are exactly equal to each other. - So, you must have possessed knowledge of the Equal even before you were born. - Therefore, whenever you "learn" a concept in later life, you must really be just "remembering" it from a time before you were born. All learning is really recollection. Plato uses this argument to show that our souls exist beyond the scope of our earthly lives, so that, in the "Phaedo," Socrates can comfort his loving friends about his impending demise!

From Quiz The Republic

Answer: Thrasymachus

All four of the people above are involved in the dialogue with Socrates, but it is the fiery Thrasymachus who dares to challenge Socrates's logic and suggest that justice is whatever the ruler says it is, and no more.

From Quiz Really Bad Classical Poetry

Answer: Sabinus the mule-driver

For a modern analogy, think "trucker." In an age before song parodies, the rip-off mimics the sounds of Catullus' original almost exactly. No translation can do it justice. On the other hand, if you want to look up both poems, the original is Catullus 4 and the take-off is Vergil Catalepton X. Not actually BY Vergil, by the way...

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:46 AM

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