Erebus Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ross Island

Named for James Clark Ross, whose expedition to the Antarctic was the first to discover the Ross Ice Shelf, Ross Island, and the volcano Mt Erebus in 1841.
The island is also the location of another volcano, Mt Terror, and two non-volcanic mountains. Ross was knighted on his return to England.

Answer: Bomb

The sailing ship HMS Erebus was constructed to withstand the firing of mortars (also known as bombs), and intended for bombarding the enemy from the sea. Such a ship was called a "bomb". Her strength made her ideal for use in polar waters where there was much surface ice.
A second HMS Erebus was a monitor built in the First World war, 1916.

Answer: Greek god of darkness and death

Perhaps you were thinking of Erasmus, Erato or eranthis.
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian.
The Nine Muses were: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomeni, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania and Calliope.
Eranthis (winter aconite) is a genus of eight species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family), native to southern Europe and east across Asia to Japan.

Answer: Crash of Air New Zealand flight 901.

Due to an administrative error in setting navigation parameters and total white-out conditions approaching Ross island, the tourist plane flew straight into Mount Erebus killing all on board.

Answer: Chaos

Erebus and his siblings were born out of the primeval chaos, personified as the first of the Greek gods. The children of Chaos were: Gaia (the Earth), Tartarus (the Underworld), Eros (desire), Nyx (the darkness of the night) and Erebus (the darkness of the Underworld).

Answer: A river in Iran

Mt Erebus lies in the Eastern Adirondacks, overlooking Lake George. Its summit at 2527 feet is wooded, and it has several lakes which are good for fishing.
Elepharmers is a rock band from Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy formed in 2009. In 2016 they released their album called "Erebus".
The Erebus Ensemble, formed in 2012, contains some of England's best young singers. They perform early English choral music and have been very popular at such events as the Beaminster Festival, The Clifton International Festival of Music, and the inaugural Bristol Proms.

Answer: Terror

HMS Terror was also a bomb ship, launched in 1813, in time to see service in the War of 1812. The two ships were involved in the Antarctic explorations led by James Clark Ross (later Sir) from 1839 to 1843 - the last exploration involving sailing ships - and the attempt to traverse the North West Passage, led by Sir John Franklin from 1845.
The names were revived in World War One for two monitors, shallow draft ships designed to give support to troops on shore.

Answer: At the bottom of Victoria Strait Canada.

Both the Erebus and the Terror were lost, crushed in the ice while trying to force the North-West Passage in 1846. Both ships were abandoned by their crews, who eventually perished in the Arctic waste. The sunken wreck was discovered in September 2014 after a long search. The wreck is now a Canadian National Heritage site.

Answer: Nyx

Yes, the Greek gods often did such incestuous things - not that there was much choice, apparently.
For their offspring see Question 14.

Answer: 1826

Small but very sturdy, HMS Erebus was of 372-ton displacement. It carried two mortars - justifying its class as a bomb ship - of 13 in. and 10 in. respectively. It also had ten conventional guns. Although it is hard to find any evidence, it seems highly likely that the armaments were removed when the ships was modified for the Antarctic expedition.

Answer: Steam engines fitted.

In addition to iron plating on their hulls, the Erebus and Terror had 25 horse-power steam engines fitted, obtained from the London and Greenwich Railway Company. They had 12 days supply of coal, and the screw-driven ships could travel at about 4 knots under the engines alone.

Although the overall length would have been slightly extended, this was to accommodate the modified rudder and propeller, rather than for streamlining.

Answer: 12,448 ft.

The point about summer is that it gets considerably higher in the winter, for obvious reasons.
2527 ft is the height of the non-volcanic Mt Erebus in the Adirondacks.
1345 meters is the height of Ben Nevis in Scotland.
8848 meters is Mt Everest.

Answer: Hooker

Joseph Hooker passed his medical exams in 1839 and was engaged as assistant surgeon on HMS Erebus. He was a close friend and supporter of Charles Darwin. He was also a friend of John Edward Davis (second master on the Terror) whom I had the honour of researching for an American descendant.

In Ross's book of the expedition a scene is described where Hooker and Davis sculpted a virgin out of ice.

Answer: Hypnos

From the union of Erebus and Nyx, various children were produced, including Aether (the upper sky), Hemera (day), Hypnos (sleep), the Moirai (the Fates), Geras (old age) and Thanatos (death).

Answer: To bring back an Emperor penguin's egg.

Apsley Cherry-Garrard was one of the three participants in this adventure (Wilson and Bowers, who later died with Scott, were the others), and wrote the famous book about the Scott expedition. In "The Worst Journey in the World" he relates how they discovered the nesting site of the Emperor penguins and succeeded in stealing two eggs. One broke, but the other was given to the British Museum when the Scott expedition ended. Years later Cherry-Garrard visited the British Museum to see what use had been made of the egg, and found it had lain ignored in a drawer.