Linen Rolls Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pyramus and Thisbe

William Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" is the inspiration for the film however Shakespeare himself based his play on the story of Pyramus and Thisbe as told by the Roman poet Ovid in his work "Metamorphoses".

In Ovid's version, they are neighbours forbidden to marry due to parental rivalry and restricted to whispering their love to each other through a crack in a communal wall. They arrange to meet under a mulberry tree. Thisbe arrives first, sees a lion and flees after dropping her veil. Pyramus finds the by now bloody and torn veil, assumes the worst and commits suicide. Thisbe returns to find Pyramus dead and in grief also commits suicide. Ovid's story is a version of an earlier origin myth.

Answer: Prometheus

Written by Mary Shelley, she subtitled her novel "The Modern Prometheus". She used several sources for the book including Ovid's "Metamorphoses" in which Prometheus created humans shaped from clay.

The Greek version of the myth is a bit different, although he still creates humans and then steals fire and gives it to mankind. His punishment is to be chained to a rock and have his liver pecked out by an eagle. Since he is immortal, the liver keeps regrowing.

Answer: Pygmalion

The film is an adaptation of a musical of the same name, itself based on the play "Pygmalion" written by George Bernard Shaw in 1913. The source of the story was the ancient Greek myth. In Ovid's version in "Metamorphoses", Pygmalion falls in love with one of his sculptures which then comes to life.

Answer: Iliad

By Marion Zimmer Bradley, this historical fantasy novel is a re-telling of Homer's "Iliad". It tells of the fall of Troy from the perspective of Kassandra, who was cursed with the gift of prophesy which, although always spoken accurately, was not believed.

Answer: The Rape of the Sabine Women

This Oscar-winning musical was based on the short story "The Sobbin' Women" by Stephen Vincent Benét. This itself was a parody of the Roman myth. In the myth, Rome had been establised by Romulus and his mostly male followers. They negotiated for wives from the surrounding Sabine tribe in order to estabish families.

When rejected, the Romans abducted a large number of women during a festival which sparked a war that was ultimately stopped by the Sabine women.

Answer: Medea

The story by Jesmyn Ward is narrated by a pregnant 15-year old Esch, who has a fascination with the ancient Greek mythological figure of Medea. Medea helped Jason (and the Argonauts) to retrieve the Golden Fleece in exchange for becoming his wife. After Jason abandons Medea for another, there are many variations on how the myth ends.

The one that tends to be remembered is the one where she kills two of their own children in revenge. The mythological themes of motherhood and violence are also echoed by Hurricane Katrina and the behaviour of the pitbull dog China.

Answer: Odyssey

Based on the 1997 American Civil War novel of the same name by Charles Frazier, this award-winning film has often been compared with Homer's "Odyssey". In interviews, the author has noted that there are certain parallels - the war-weary warrior facing challenges while on his way home, the woman at home beset with problems of her own - but he consciously avoided trying to follow the myth too closely.

Answer: Aeneid

Ursula K. Le Guin, better known for her speculative fiction such as in the "Earthsea" fantasy series, narrates the last six books of the "Aeneid" from the perspective of Lavinia. Throughout the book, the character Lavinia has conversations with Virgil, the Roman poet who wrote "Aeneid".

The first six books of the "Aeneid" tell of the travels of Aeneas (who also appears in Homer's "Odyssey") from Troy to Latium in Italy, the second six books record how he conquered the Latins. In the process, Virgil created a compelling founding myth.

Answer: Perseus

The film, a remake of the 1981 heroic fantasy adventure film of the same name, is loosely based on the ancient Greek mythological character of Perseus. In the myth Perseus was a son of Zeus and performed many heroic deeds including cutting off the head of Medusa, a Gorgon, and saving Andromeda from the whale-like sea monster Cetus.

The film borrows from Scandanavian folklore and uses a kraken in place of Cetus, although the film's kraken doesn't look much like a giant squid or octopus. Another introduction is the made-up character of Bebo, a mechanical owl made by Hephaestus, which was possibly a nod to R2D2 of the "Star Wars" film franchise.

Answer: Theseus and the Minotaur

Written by Suzanne Collins, she has been quoted as drawing her inspiration from Roman gladiators, reality TV series and the ancient Greek myth of Theseus.

In the myth, King Minos forces the city state of Athens to send a tribute of young people periodically to be killed by the Minotaur in Daedalus' labyrinth. Theseus volunteers to take one person's place, gets given a ball of thread by Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, so that he can find his way out of the maze, and kills the Minotaur. In the trilogy the narrator Katniss Everdeen in effect has the role of Theseus.