Hard Understanding mythology Quiz / Test | Mythology & Legends

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which of these descriptions is not covered by 'mythology' but by 'legend'?

Answer: Exaggerated exploits of an historical figure

Although the boundaries may not be exact, mythologies tend to be based further back in history and have a supernatural feel to them. This compares to legends, which are usually focused on (more recent) historical figures, about whom stories may change and become exaggerated with time.

In ancient times, science was not available to explain many natural phenomena, so the Greeks had Zeus's lightning bolts, for instance, to explain lightning.

2. The durability of myths is linked to the development of writing, which has ensured the survival of the stories over centuries. Which of these peoples have been credited with being the first to use writing?

Answer: Mesopotamians

The Mesopotamians developed early forms of writing and the Babylonian mythic creation story as told in "Enuma Elish" was found in ancient clay tablets discovered in the 19th century.

Of course, the other civilisations had their own writing systems but written records for Mesopotamia are the oldest.

3. According to mythic theory, one of the first steps in the formation of any myth by early civilisations has been attributed to 'animism', which is best described as which of the following?

Answer: Everything, including inanimate objects, has a soul

An essential part of the development of mythology has been the belief that objects have a soul. Over time, this changed and the soul of some objects were given independence and identity. When good things happened (eg. rain for crops), such objects became 'good' and were worthy of attention; conversely, 'bad' objects could not be overlooked as the bad souls or spirits needed to be appeased or controlled so the bad things did not recur (eg. floods, total eclipse).

4. According to mythic theory, which of the following would follow animism?

Answer: Polytheism

Once a fetish was no longer considered to be the source of power or control (it no longer kept earthquakes away etc), civilisations moved the souls from the fetish and gave them form - not surprisingly human, or very human-like. These grew in power and became gods.

At the same time, it was a natural extension (particularly when they were imagined to look like us) to assume they had feelings like us, and would behave like us, but usually in idealised ways.

5. Once in place, a myth never changed.

Answer: False

What people nowadays sometimes overlook is that myths were ever changing. Cultures absorbed other cultures' myths and spread their own myths, while at the same time changing them as well to suit their needs.

When you move away from the 'always correct' answers such as Zeus being the god of the Greek gods, you may discover that there was one before him that Zeus overthrew. The roles the gods had were often wide and varying to reflect the different ways they were worshipped or viewed over time.

6. From different cultural mythologies and sources we often see common themes or even very similar stories. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to tell whether one story was merely the adaptation of another, or whether both were similar by coincidence. The tale of Ut-napishtim from "The Epic of Gilgamesh" closely resembles which of these stories from the Bible?

Answer: Noah and his ark

Early civilisations were situated near rivers and as such floods were always a potential threat to the inhabitants. Floods would feature in many stories from these peoples.

The tale of Ut-napishtim involves Ea, a sympathetic god, who warns Ut-Napishtim about a great flood the gods plan to unleash. Gathering his family, workmen and animals aboard a boat, they survive the flood. The boat ends up on Mount Nisir, from which Ut-Napishtim sends in succession three birds. When the third one, a raven, does not return, they know the land is dry once more.

See http://www.religioustolerance.org/noah_com.htm

7. An aspect of Egypt's religious belief was that immortality was obtainable but that your life had to be judged worthy enough for a continued existence in the 'afterlife'. In other words, religion was strongly connected to moral behaviour. In order to be judged worthy, the 'Book of the Dead' states that what should be measured what against what?

Answer: Your heart against the Feather of Truth

In order to be judged worthy for the afterlife, your heart needed to be lighter than the Feather of Truth.

The fluidity of myth is very evident in ancient Egypt thanks in part to each pharaoh's personal beliefs and the changes they made to myth and reality to suit their own needs. This is exemplified too by the existence of several different creation stories.

8. Roman mythology shares many similarities with that of the Greeks due mainly to the influence of the expanding Roman empire absorbing local stories and using them for their own. Which of these Roman gods is considered original, with no Greek influence?

Answer: Janus

Janus, still honoured as 'January', was the Roman god of doorways, and beginnings and endings. Juno, as queen of the gods, was equivalent to Hera; Mars to Ares (war) and Merucry to Hermes (messenger).

This is a strong example of mythic spread and adaptation by a particular people due to geographic expansion, yet the importance of an 'original' Roman god can still be seen.

9. Viking raids south towards Ireland and other countries influenced not only British-based mythologies but its language. How many days of the week (in English) are named after Norse deities?

Answer: 4

Using the more common Anglicised names for these deities: Tuesday comes from Tyr, Wednesday from Odin (Woden and other spellings), Thursday from Thor and Friday from Frigga.

The sun and moon named Sunday and Monday, respectively. Saturday is the only day of the week named after a Roman deity (Saturn).

10. Chinese mythology is complicated by its long history, the geographical size of the country, and cross-mixing with internal religions and philosophies, and external factors such as Hinduism and Buddhism. One famous myth concerns a Buddhist monk travelling to India to collect religious texts: the story is told in which famous piece of Chinese literature?

Answer: Journey to the West

This story was famously made into a television series by the Japanese in the late 1970s. In English-speaking countries, it was released as 'Monkey' or 'Monkey Magic', and concerned the monk's travel with his companions, Monkey, a pig spirit and a water spirit.

Chinese myth is considered very organised and bureaucratic, a reflection of the Chinese culture - it even has a god of exams!

Source: Author chunpq

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Understanding mythology Trivia Quiz

Looking at some of the theories and influences of mythologies.

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