Psyche - the Second Curious Woman Quiz | Humanities

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Psyche was a beautiful young maiden and the youngest of three sisters. To whom were these three sisters born?

Answer: A king and a queen

The kingdom of the king and queen seems to be unknown, as several sources give different locations, but all agree that they were, in fact, a king and a queen.

It is said that the two older sisters had a certain charm about them, but were fairly common-looking. The youngest, Psyche, was so beautiful that many would travel to see her.

*Note: Although some consider this story to be more Roman than Greek, I have used Greek names throughout.*

2. The beauty of Psyche was so great that many compared her to, and even considered her more beautiful than, Aphrodite - Greek goddess of love and beauty. This angered Aphrodite, who sent Eros to deal with her mortal rival. Aphrodite was Eros' mother, but who was his father?

Answer: Ares

Eros was son of Aphrodite and Ares.

Aphrodite's birth is the cause of some dispute - some say that she was born from the foam caused by the blood which flowed from the scrotum of Zeus, others say it was the blood of Uranus, and some claim that she was born to Zeus and the goddess, Dione. The name "Aphrodite" translates roughly as, "born from the froth/foam".

Although bearing the child of Ares, Aphrodite was the wife of Hephaestus - Greek god of fire - who received the goddess of love from Zeus as a gift for his craftsmanship.

3. Eros intended to strike the sleeping Psyche with one of his arrows and cause her to fall in love with someone who was unworthy of her beauty. What actually happened?

Answer: Eros accidentally stuck himself with the arrow

Eros snuck into where Psyche was sleeping, turning himself invisible so nobody would see him. As he stood above Psyche he admired her beauty and *almost* pitied her. However, on the orders of his mother he drew his arrow and intended to simply scratch her shoulder. Psyche was alarmed and woke suddenly, surprising Eros, who accidentally scratched himself. Eros therefore fell completely in love with Psyche.

4. Aphrodite intervened and prevented Psyche from finding a suitable husband. Psyche's parents consulted Apollo, who told them to send their daughter to the top of the mountain, where she would meet her husband. From the mountain, where was Psyche taken?

Answer: To a luxurious palace

A swift wind blew Psyche from the top of the mountain, taking her to a meadow. She fell asleep on the journey and when she awoke she saw the incredible palace, decorated with golden pillars and fountains spouting crystal clear water. She remained here for several days, being waited on by a host of servants.

5. Shortly after Psyche arrived at her new home, her sisters visited. They, through their jealousy, began to put fear in the mind of Psyche, who, although meeting her husband, had never physically seen him. What did the two sisters tell Psyche were the intentions of her new husband?

Answer: To eat her, as he was a serpent

As mentioned in the question, the two sisters were incredibly bitter that their younger sister was living in such luxury. They told Psyche that outside of the palace, everyone knew that her husband was a horrible serpent who was feeding her only to make a meal of her!

The sisters advised Psyche that she should wait until her husband was asleep and sneak in with a lamp so as to view his true identity. They also told her to carry a sharp knife so that she could cut his throat if he was, in fact, a terrible serpent. These actions would be a betrayal of Psyche's husband's request to not be seen by his bride - a request which Psyche had promised to honour.

6. In a mixture of fear and curiosity, Psyche betrayed her husband's wishes to remain anonymous and snuck into his room to view his true identity. Her husband saw her spying and so fled, leaving Psyche heartbroken. Who/what was her husband?

Answer: Eros

It is believed, understandably so, that Eros kept from revealing his true identity so that Aphrodite would not find out and take him from the one he loved.

Another detail in this myth which is debated is the source of the love of Psyche for Eros. Some accept that she fell in love with him through his kind actions to her even when she did not know his identity, whilst others say the love was purely physical and was born from when she first saw Eros in the flesh.

At this point Psyche was carrying Eros' child.

7. Eventually, Psyche conceded and begged Aphrodite to let her see Eros. What task, a task eventually aided by the service of an army of ants, did Aphrodite first set for Psyche to complete?

Answer: Sorting grain

On her travels, Psyche had wondered into the temple of Demeter - Greek goddess of grain and fertility. It was Demeter who convinced Psyche to visit Aphrodite.

Despite bestowing her wisdom on Psyche, Demeter failed to teach Psyche any skills which could help her in this task of sorting the huge pile of wheat, barley, millet, beans, and lentils which lay in front of her.

Eros, still in love with Psyche, possessed a nearby ant. This ant began to help sort the grain into neat piles. Hundreds of other ants followed his lead and the task was soon complete. However, in disbelief that Psyche had completed the task by herself, Aphrodite set further tasks.

8. The second task set by Aphrodite for Psyche was to cross a raging river and retrieve a golden fleece from the sheep that lived there. In the face of such danger from the raging river and violent rams, who chose to help Psyche in this task?

Answer: A river god

Psyche was determined to succeed in this task and was about to brave the raging river before the river god stepped in. The river god, whose name is not mentioned, advised her to wait until night before she attempted to obtain the golden fleece. At night, the violent rams slept and the river calmed, allowing Psyche to cross.

The determined wife again received no approbation from Aphrodite, who knew that she had not acted alone.

9. On her third task, Psyche's curiosity got the better of her. Aphrodite had told her to obtain the beauty of a certain goddess in a box and to return it to her. Psyche acquired the box, but went against the many warnings to not look inside it and so became trapped. From which goddess did Aphrodite ask Psyche to obtain beauty from?

Answer: Persephone

To attain the beauty, Psyche had to visit the underworld. This is because Persephone had to spend half of her time in the underworld as the bride of Hades due to her eating a pomegranate during her time there.

Aphrodite told Psyche to say that the beauty was for her sick son, whom she was aiding, so that Persephone would not refuse.

After passing Cerberus and crossing the river Styx, Psyche's curiosity got the best of her and she looked in the box. Expecting beauty, Psyche actually beheld a prison in which she was to be trapped.

10. A woman with the best intentions, Psyche's only fault was her curiosity. Surely she deserved to get her husband back in the end. Did Psyche experience a happy ending?

Answer: Yes

Zeus was able to win the consent of Aphrodite and sent his messenger, Hermes, to retrieve Psyche. As well as freeing her from her prison, Hermes gave her a cup of ambrosia, saying, "drink this, Psyche, and be immortal; nor shall Eros ever break away from the knot in which he is tied."

Psyche and Eros later had a daughterm who was named Pleasure.

Source: Author doublemm

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor CellarDoor before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Psyche - the Second Curious Woman Quiz

As a follow-up to my quiz on Pandora, this quiz looks at another mythological woman known for her curiosity and how it almost led to her downfall. This woman is Psyche.

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