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Achilles on Scyros Trivia Quiz

The tale of the Iliadic Achilles is common knowledge but the events on Scyros told in Statius' "Achilleid" are less well-known.

A multiple-choice quiz by genovia12. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
genovia12

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
287,196

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
823

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. The plan of concealing Achilles on the island of Scyros is fomented by whom? Hint

Peleus

Patroclus

Chiron

Thetis

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Question 2 of 10

2. Achilles' concealment is to prevent him from being drafted into what significant event? Hint

The Battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths

The Trojan War

Gigantomachy

The Battle of Marathon

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Question 3 of 10

3. What form does Achilles' disguise take whilst on Scyros? Hint

A girl

A young priest

A foreign warrior-king

A lost traveller

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Question 4 of 10

4. Achilles rapes Deidamia in a sacred grove.

True

False

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Question 5 of 10

5. Who becomes Deidamia's confidante in her pregnancy? Hint

Thetis

Her mother

Her nurse

Her sister

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Question 6 of 10

6. The Greeks, gathered at Aulis prior to the departure for Troy, seek and wait for Achilles. The location of his concealment is eventually revealed to them. How does this occur? Hint

A potent rumour reaches them through the arrival of a messenger

Mercury, sent by Zeus, reveals the trick

Through the prophet Calchas, inspired by Apollo

A new fleet of ships appears bearing news of Achilles' whereabouts

7. The bestowal of which object as a gift to Lycomedes and his household rouses Achilles from his womanly disguise into manliness, enacting his transcendence from a period of liminality into the great warrior he is destined to be? Hint

Sword

Helmet

Spear

Shield

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Question 8 of 10

8. What is the name of the child born from Achilles' and Deidamia's union? Hint

Neoptolemus

Tyndeus

Ajax

Telemachus

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Question 9 of 10

9. Achilles, having seen the shield, recognises his manly destiny and is revealed to Lycomedes' household, along with his child Neoptolemus. Achilles' and Deidamia are denoted as married and converse prior to his departure for Troy. The "Achilleid" then breaks off unfinished in Book 2 as the Greeks sail away from Scyros. What is the final word of Book 2? Hint

Pater

Deidamia

Achilles

Mater

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Question 10 of 10

10. Statius wrote under which Roman Emperor? Hint

Domitian

Titus

Nero

Vespasian

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The plan of concealing Achilles on the island of Scyros is fomented by whom?

Answer: Thetis

Thetis the sea-nymph was Achilles' divine mother. Peleus was his mortal father. Chiron tutored Achilles in Thessaly and in Statius' "Achilleid", Patroclus accompanies the boy.

2. Achilles' concealment is to prevent him from being drafted into what significant event?

Answer: The Trojan War

Being hidden on the island of Scyros prevented Achilles from maturing into the manly warrior which he was destined to become and this state in itself was also destined to engender the fall of Troy in the context of the famous 'wrath of Achilles.'

3. What form does Achilles' disguise take whilst on Scyros?

Answer: A girl

Thetis' machinations attempt to persuade Achilles to take on a womanish disguise. The real deciding factor however is the appearance of Deidamia, Lycomedes' daughter, on the shores of Scyros and the potential of the consummation of a first love.

4. Achilles rapes Deidamia in a sacred grove.

Answer: True

The rape scene can be viewed as a subversion of Euripides' "Bacchae" as there the male, Pentheus, is overwhelmed by the force of the feminine rites. Achilles reverses this.

5. Who becomes Deidamia's confidante in her pregnancy?

Answer: Her nurse

Deidamia somehow manages to keep the secret of her pregnancy from her father, something which Statius' text is silent on.

6. The Greeks, gathered at Aulis prior to the departure for Troy, seek and wait for Achilles. The location of his concealment is eventually revealed to them. How does this occur?

Answer: Through the prophet Calchas, inspired by Apollo

When Calchas has revealed that the sought location is Scyros, Odysseus and Diomedes are chosen to travel there to urge Achilles to Troy.

Answer: Shield

The bestowal of armour to a hero is a typical device of ancient epic, although it here occurs in a subverted context where the hero is parading as a woman. Achilles' reaction to the shield, of frenzy and of blushing, encapsulates this ambiguity of gender interactions.

8. What is the name of the child born from Achilles' and Deidamia's union?

Answer: Neoptolemus

Neoptolemus, also known as Pyrrhus, makes an appearance in Book Two of the "Aeneid" in which he beheads King Priam of Troy. The typical epic feature of the fluidity of the maturation process is employed so that Pyrrhus can be made to fight at Troy as a fully developed warrior.

Answer: Mater

It is apt that Thetis, whose efforts to shield her son from his fated death at Troy have motivated the events of the "Achilleid", is evoked in the final word of mater- mother.

10. Statius wrote under which Roman Emperor?

Answer: Domitian

Statius' poem in the "Achilleid" is highly laudatory on the subject of Domitian, describing the poem as a mere prelude to an even greater epic on Domitian's many accomplishments.

Source: Author genovia12

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