You HAVE to Play this Quiz!

Answer: Day and Night

If you don't know the answers, don't visit ancient Thebes. The Sphinx posed her riddles to travelers on the outskirts of the city, killing those who failed. In Greek, both "day" and "night" are feminine nouns, making it a bit easier. Oedipus is said to have answered the first riddle ("Man") correctly, and was allowed to enter Thebes. According to Sophocles, he'd have been better off if he'd been wrong.

Answer: Aphrodite

Each goddess tried to bribe the generally honest Prince Paris. Aphrodite's gift to Paris was the most beautiful mortal woman in the world - Helen of Sparta, who was already married to King Menelaus. Oops. The Trojan War followed.

Answer: Sir Thomas More

Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) would not say whether Henry VIII was the Supreme Head of the Church in England - but he would not say that Henry wasn't, either. He was arrested for treason anyway. At his trial, More refused to answer all questions touching the matter, relying on the legal maxim that "silence connotes consent." He was convicted on the perjured testimony of the Solicitor General, one Richard Rich, who claimed More had answered the question and had denied Henry's authority.

Answer: Say the word "shibboleth"

"Shibboleth" is a Hebrew word meaning grain-bearing stalk. The dialect spoken by the people of Gilead included a phoneme for the "sh" sound; the dialect of the Ephraimites did not. The test and its dire consequences are described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Judges. Today, "shibboleth" is used in English to mean a test or criterion to distinguish members of a cultural subgroup - without fatal connotations.

Answer: She sank

Late in the battle, Bonhomme Richard was on fire and her ensign (national flag) was shot away. Hauling down the ensign was a sign of surrender, provoking the British commander's questions. The two ships were grappelled together, which kept the Richard afloat. After Serapis surrendered, the Richard was abandoned: she indeed did sink but did not strike her colors.

Answer: He answered their questions

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) initially said he would refuse to appear, but later relented. He stated, apparently truthfully, that he had never been an actual member of the Communist Party. The day after his testimony, he returned to Europe. Brecht settled in East Berlin, where the Communist government gave him his own theater and acting company - but not a Party membership card. Meanwhile, Brecht maintained Austrian citizenship and received hard currency via Western bank accounts.

The "Hollywood Ten," who refused to testify, were neither so clever nor so fortunate.

Answer: Who killed the cherry tree?

Mason Weems' (1759-1825) book, "A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits of General George Washington" (1800) is more a collection of moral lessons than a bona fide biography. Supposedly ... the six-year-old Washington was given a hatchet, with which he nicked (but did not actually chop down) his father's favorite young cherry tree. When George admitted his guilt, his father supposedly exclaimed, "Such an act of heroism in my son is more worth than a thousand trees, though blossomed with silver, and their fruits of purest gold." Oh my.

Weems wrote that George also chopped down his mother's beanpoles - but doesn't record her reaction.

Answer: "Nuts."

Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe was surrounded but refused to surrender. McAuliffe almost never used profanity. He dictated: "To the German Commander - Nuts - The American Commander." The answer was typed out and given to Colonel Joseph Harper for delivery under a flag of truce.

The German officer who read it did not understand the colloquialism. Harper explained, "In plain English? Go to hell." McAuliffe's troops held the town, stalling the German offensive.

Answer: lice

There's little surviving information about the blind bard's life, but many scholars believe Homer did die on the island of Ios. The quizzing fisherman are almost certainly fictional, but the story has been repeated often enough over the centuries.

Answer: "Jeopardy!"

In the late 1950s, producers boosted quiz show ratings by giving popular contestants the answers in advance. Merv Griffin wanted to create a new television quiz show, but was deterred by the odium of the genre. His wife suggested that the contestants (and the audience) be given the "right" answers, and try to figure out the questions. Griffin's reverse-quiz show debuted as "Jeopardy!" in 1964.