Ten Famous Lovers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Isolde of Ireland

This woeful tale took place in medieval times. After Tristan was banished, he married Iseult of Brittany because she had a similar name to Isolde (a likely story) but, unfortunately, he couldn't perform his conjugal duties. Then he fell ill and sent for Isolde to come and cure him. To herald her arrival and her undying love, he asked that the ship's sails be white. If not, black. Alackaday, his wicked wife told him the sails were black, and Tristan died of grief.

When Isolde arrived and discovered her lover was no more, she promptly died of a broken heart as well. Nobody knows who wrote this tragic tale, but its roots go far back into the mists of antiquity to the time of King Arthur.

It has been retold many times since in various legends and manuscripts in many countries.

Answer: Eurydice

This myth is believed to have originated during the era of Virgil (the classical Roman writer), but not necessarily written by him. It's notoriously difficult to ascribe any myth to the works of any one author in particular. Dr Freud Eggs would love the reference to Eurydice being bitten by a snake in this ripping yarn, but Orpheus, devoted husband and true love of Eurydice, was broken-hearted at her loss.

He travelled to the Underworld in an attempt to retrieve his wife, where his sorrowful, but beautiful, music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone.

They agreed to allow Eurydice to return with Orpheus, but only on the condition that she walk behind him until they reached the upper world, and under no circumstance must he look back at her until they had arrived there. Well, the silly donkey forgot, didn't he? He turned round to look dotingly at his true love, whereupon Eurydice vanished instantly from his sight - never to return.

Answer: Penelope and Odysseus

Written by the great ancient Greek writer Homer, this tale can by found in his work "Odyssey". Well, it was his authorship theoretically at any rate. Scholars still debate that one. Penelope was married to the King of Ithaca, Odysseus. Not long after their loving marriage began, he was called to war and disappeared without a word for twenty long years.

The faithful Penelope never gave up hope for his return and waited and waited and waited. In the duration, she rejected proposals from 108 suitors for her hand. Odysseus fended off advances as well, from a beautiful sorceress who offered him everlasting youth and love. On his return to Ithaca, Odysseus disguised himself (why I'll never know) and set off to find Penelope, whose patience was almost exhausted.

She had finally stated that if anyone could string Odysseus's bow and shoot an arrow through a specific target, she would accept his hand. Odysseus, still strangely disguised, won the competition, promptly killed all the other suitors (very poor form I think), revealed himself to his one true love, and all lived happily ever after.

Answer: Paolo

This was based on a true story of an upper class couple in the thirteenth century, who were contemporaries of the writer Dante Alighieri (1265-1361). So impressed was Dante by their tale that he dressed it up romantically, threw in a smattering of Lancelot and Guinevere to emphasis the romantic, but illicit nature of the relationship, and included it in a section of his "Divine Comedy". Poor Francesca was the daughter of Guido I of Polenta who was at war with the Malatesta family of Rimini.

The peace negotiations included Francesca being married to Giovanni, the Malatestan heir. Because Guido knew his daughter would refuse the unfortunate Giovanni on the grounds of his appearance, he secretly had Paolo stand in as proxy for Giovanni at the wedding instead. Francesca didn't discover this until the day after the wedding. Marriage by proxy was a fairly common occurrence for centuries in Europe, given the distances involved between many of the couples who were to be married to cement alliances. Sudden death was also a common event. Best to marry the girl (or boy) by proxy to cement the deal, and if either one dies before the consummation, well unfortunately that was just bad luck.

The alliance was the most important thing.

Answer: Mia Farrow

Following a short marriage to singer and movie star Frank Sinatra, Mia Farrow then married conductor and composer Andre Previn. This second marriage produced three biological children and three adopted children from Vietnam and Korea. On the amicable break-up of this union, Mia then took up with film director Woody Allen, the most unlikely romantic hero one could imagine. This relationship subsequently produced one biological child and two more adopted children, and both Mia and her children starred and featured in many of Allen's films, helping to increase his already well established fame.

Sadly however, a devastated Farrow went on to discover that Allen had been having a sexual relationship with one of the adopted daughters from her second marriage. He had also been sexually molesting his own adopted daughter, then aged seven. That case never proceeded to court because, though the judge stated there were probable causes, it was dropped to spare the child going through the trauma. Soon-Yi, the first child, later married the 62 year old Allen in 1997 when she was 27. Mia Farrow and Soon-Yi now no longer communicate, Allen is still groping away to his heart's content - and Mia Farrow, who has not been involved in any more romantic relationships, has adopted six more children. On a lighter but darker note perhaps to finish off this modern Greek tragedy, Frank Sinatra contacted Mia Farrow during the entire bitter debacle and offered to break Allen's legs for her. Certainly that makes a change from having a dozen roses delivered to indicate support.

Answer: Adam and Eve of Eden

Christians believe that Adam and Eve were the human race's original parents and down through them, based on the King James version of the bible, all other peoples of the world issued forth. Adam and Eve were living the ideal life in the Garden of Eden when they disobeyed God and were thrown out.

The consequences of their act of disobedience were that Adam then had to earn his living by the sweat of his brow tilling the soil, and Eve had to have painful deliveries giving birth to children. At least one part of that story is definitely still applicable today.

Answer: Mickey and Minnie Mouse

In the cartoon "Plane Crazy" drawn in 1928, and in an attempt to emulate Charles Lindbergh, Mickey built his own plane, and, with Minnie by his side, took off for a trial run. Carried away by the excitement of his achievement, Mickey then constantly tried to kiss the annoyed Minnie, even attempting to use force, the dirty rat.

When Minnie refused, he tossed her out of the plane and then did a loop underneath her and caught her back in the plane as she fell. Such was her outrage at this treatment, Minnie immediately parachuted out of the plane, using her bloomers as a parachute. Oh I say Minnie, that's positively indecent! A silent version of this cartoon was created by Walt Disney and shown to a small audience on May 15, 1928, but not released because the audience appeared unimpressed. Perhaps this was because of the bloomers? A second cartoon "Galloping Gaucho" was also made that year, but not released until 1929.

It would be "Steamboat Willie", the third Mickey Mouse cartoon made, and in which Mickey talked for the first time, released in November, 1928, that set Mickey off on his road to fame. So, although "Plane Crazy" wasn't released to the public, it was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon actually shown to an audience. And Minnie has been by his side ever since.

Answer: Her uncle had Abelard castrated

In the year 1115, at the height of his fame, and nominated as canon, Abelard accepted the prestigious and powerful position of Chair of Notre Dame. There he met the young teenager Heloise, who was living on the premises in the care of her uncle, Canon Fulbert. Because of her great scholarly knowledge of language, history, philosophy, art, literature, archeology and Ancient Greek and Roman cultures, Abelard agreed to take the girl on as his student. Their attraction was immediate, and, following his seduction of her, the pair commenced an ardent and secret love affair. When she gave birth to his son, Abelard married Heloise secretly to appease the girl's uncle. However when Fulbert, to protect his niece's name, publicly announced the wedding, Heloise herself denied that it had taken place, mistakenly believing she was protecting Abelard's career. Fulbert then became increasingly violent towards the girl and Abelard had her moved to a convent to protect her. Tragically then, Fulbert, believing Abelard had abandoned the girl, had Abelard castrated.

Heloise, not knowing what event had befallen Abelard, subsequently took her vows as a nun, believing Abelard had indeed abandoned her, while poor Abelard became a monk in more ways than one. After some time they resumed a correspondence in what would be a long, scholarly and intelligent, but also loving and passionate, series of famous letters. Knowing he could never satisfy her again physically, Abelard then told Heloise that he had never really loved her. Heloise accepted this and her heart broke, but not wishing to break all contact with the man she truly loved, their correspondence recommenced, this time concentrating on the scholastic alone and on the great philosophical debates of the age. On Abelard's death in 1142, his remains were given into the care of Heloise, who lived another 22 years. When she eventually died in 1164, Heloise was interred beside Abelard, and today they both lie in a popularly visited tomb in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Answer: The Ghost Who Walks

Traumatised beyond all measure by the death of his father, the Ghost Who Walks, also known as the Phantom, swore an oath on his father's skull (I tremble to think what happened to the rest of the body, what with it being in Africa and all) to always fight crime and evil, as would his descendants after him. That was the first Phantom. It was the 21st Phantom who fell in love with, and eventually married, Diana Palmer, the love of his life.

Created by Lee Falk, who also created the character "Mandrake the Magician", the Phantom first appeared in the press in 1936 and was still running in 2011. He was the first comic strip hero to wear a ghastly skin tight costume (in the heat of Africa - I ask you), and whenever he punched a villain, his special signet ring in the shape of a skull, always left an imprint of that skull on the villain's obligingly large jaw. The Phantom rode a horse called Hero, surprisingly never eaten by lions, and owned a pet wolf called Devil. After marrying Diana, in spite of her mother's total resistance to the match, the couple lived in Africa and had two children. The happy family lived in a rather grim abode called the Skull Cave, an establishment not even remotely visually appealing. No wonder Mrs Palmer objected so strongly.

Answer: Hero and Leander

Hero lived at the end of the Hellespont in a tower in Sestos, where she carried out her priestess duties for Aphrodite. Leander lived across the strait at Abydos and was passionately in love with her. Every night, he plunged into the waters and, in a frantic but romantic dog paddle, swam across the waves to be with his lady love. One night, Hero eventually gave way to Leander's urgent whispered words of passion, and the two became lovers. So far, so good. Alas, alas, came one dark and stormy night in the middle of winter, and, as Leander battled his way across the waves for his nightly visit, a strong gust of wind blew out the lamp at the top of Hero's tower, the lamp she lit every evening to guide him across the strait. Leander lost his way in the waters and drowned.

Hero, as all good Greek heroines do, screamed in despair and hurled herself off her tower onto the cruel rocks below, where she too died. And the moral of this story? Never fall in love with a man who doesn't own a boat.