The Wife's Giving Me Grief Trivia Quiz

Answer: A Harpy

Perhaps the best advice to this man would be to increase his weekly shopping bill, as the Harpy is known in Greek mythology as a food thief. The name "Harpy" means "that which snatches". Harpies feature in the story of Jason's search for the Golden Fleece.

Here, Jason and his Argonauts chased these female creatures away from Phineas, who was tormented at mealtimes by these creatures sent by Zeus as punishment for using his prophetic powers to reveal too much.

Answer: A Banshee

The best advice to give this man is perhaps to purchase some ear-plugs. This window-shattering noise is known as keening and is in the Banshee's nature. She can be seen as preparing the man for the loss of a loved one - a very considerate wife, you may say.

Another useful piece of advice may be to spend more money on washing powder, as the Banshee often has blood-stained clothes.

Answer: Lamia

The best advice here would be to not have kids! Lamia is known for her horrible habit of murdering children and sucking their blood. The bitterness from Lamia was a result of the actions of Hera, who kidnapped and murdered Lamia's children after learning about the affair she had with her husband, Zeus.

Answer: The Batibat

The advice here, oddly, would be for the man to bite his thumb and wiggle his toes. If he ever wakes up and the Batibat is trying to suffocate him by sitting on his chest, these actions will allow him to escape.

The Batibat is a forest creature from Philippine folklore and is often disguised as a tree, but its human form is as a large, fat woman.

Answer: A Selkie

The best advice here would be to let her go. There are many more fish (and Selkies) in the sea. Selkies are found in Irish and Scottish folklore and are usually portrayed as beautiful female figures. Although many fishermen, like this man, may be attracted to the Selkie, the water creature is unlikely to return the love, but instead stay with the man until she can find the sealskin which the man took.

After this, the Selkie will be able to return to the sea.

Answer: A Werewolf

Your advice here *would have been* to just walk away, but Bisclavret is a bit hot-headed and bit the nose off of his wife whilst in his werewolf form.

This tale comes from a 12th century French poem. Bisclavret, the Baron of Brittany, would disappear for three days a week, during which time he would become a ferocious werewolf. In order to return to his human form, Bisclavret needed his human clothes, and when his wife realised this, she took advantage and tried to trap her husband in his monstrous form.

Answer: Cailleach

The best advice here would be to buy a big woolly jumper, as the Cailleach will not tolerate warmth. The Cailleach is so against the warmth of summer that she once stole the Summer Maiden and kept her captive until one of her compassionate sons freed the Summer Maiden.

It is said that the Cailleach roams Scotland and, by banging her staff on the ground, causes the frosty conditions typical of the country.

Answer: The Aswang

The best advice here would be to get a divorce. This female demon is deceitful - she is a shape-shifter and can appear as many animals - and she is evil - murdering children and eating their hearts.

As alluded to in the question, the Aswang can fit in well during the day, but her appearance by night is somewhat different, with torn, blood-stained clothes, sharp nails, and leathery bat-wings.

Answer: A Kitsune

The advice here would be to only continue with the relationship if the man is willing to live a lie, as he is not really married to a beautiful young woman, but a fox spirit, who may be over 1,000 years old! The spirit will be at least 100 years old, as any Kitsune younger than that is unable to assume human form. Kitsunes vary in personality, some are kind, some are mischievous, but none are as evil as some of the other monsters encountered so far.

Answer: A Siren

The advice here would be for the man not to worry about those who are attracted to his wife - for most will die in a shipwreck before reaching her - but to perhaps worry about the fact that she enjoys doing this.

The Sirens are three bird-women who lure sailors to their rocky shores by singing enchanting songs. As time went by, sailors learnt of the dangers of the Sirens and would often plug their ears whilst sailing past their island. However, on Odysseus' journey following the Trojan war, he wanted to know what the song sounded like, and ordered his men to tie him down so that he could listen to their song without jumping overboard and swimming towards them.