Vacation Destination: the Underworld! Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This Sumerian goddess of erotic love and fertility descended to the underworld to attend the burial rites of the Bull of Heaven, who had been killed by Gilgamesh. But her motives are doubted, and, as she passes the seven gates into the underworld, she is stripped of power until finally she arrives naked and powerless within the realm of the dead. There the Anna (seven judges) condemn her and she is stricken "dead" and hung from a hook. What is her name?

Answer: Inanna

She came upon the gate to the underworld dressed in a royal gown, along with a magical necklace, golden ring and measuring rod, which is uncommon attire for burial rites and better suited for the godly palaces. So the Bull of Heaven's wife, Ereshkigal, is suspicious and has the gatekeeper instruct her to remove an article of her attire at each of seven gates. Finally at the end, the trap is sprung.

But fellow gods intervene and she is revived and rescued, though only if another takes her place. So, in the end, Inanna hands her husband over to servants of Ereshkigal, after Inanna sees him dressed lavishly and resting, unconcerned about his wife's fate.

A woman's scorn is no laughing matter.

2. This Greek myth tells of a mortal girl born too beautiful. Her beauty makes even the goddess Aphrodite jealous, who decides that the girl should be cursed. The girl and Aphrodite's son, Eros, fall in love, at which Aphrodite is enraged. She instructs the girl to descend to the underworld and ask its queen for a portion of beauty to be placed in a box, to replace the beauty Aphrodite has lost from to the stress caused by the young girl. Who is the girl too beautiful for her own good?

Answer: Psyche

Psyche and Eros had accidentally scratched themselves with Eros' love-arrows, causing them to fall in love with each other. Aphrodite commands the girl to accomplish deadly tasks, but she succeeds in all with the aide of ants, a minor god, and an eagle.

Then Aphrodite demands that the box of beauty be brought from Persephone, queen of the underworld. Psyche climbs a tower to kill herself to gain entrance, but the tower gives her directions and she enters alive instead. She obtains the box, opens it to take a bit for herself, but it's a sleeping potion. Eros flies to her and wakes her.

The two then beg Zeus for permission to marry, which he grants. Psyche is then given an immortality potion and she and Aphrodite are forced to play nice.

3. A Hopi myth tells of a young boy from a village named Oraibi whose curiosity about Maski, the underworld, grew as he passed a graveyard each day on his way to pray to the sun. Finally he asks the sun to grant his prayer to visit Maski, and the sun appears to him in human form, giving him precise instructions so that he may journey to Maski and return safely. What is the name of this tale?

Answer: An Oraibi Boy's Visit to Maski, Home of the Dead

The boy had no clear motive for his desire to journey there, apart from curiosity. The sun directs the boy to a house, where he is to exit the northwest door and descend a stair. Additionally, the sun tells the boy to not, under any circumstance, aid or listen to the pleas of the dead that he would meet upon his journey.

The boy deviates by helping one of the dead and is trapped for a time. In the end, he is able to escape and return home safely, his curiosity satisfied.

4. In this Norse (Viking) myth, Odin the "All-father" and ruler of the gods descends upon his steed into an underworld called Hel. He revives a dead volva (Viking soothsayer) who proves very informative and prophetic. The information Odin is provided concerns Ragnorak, a future battle entailing natural disasters and a global deluge that determines the ultimate fate of Midgard, earth. What initiated Odin's journey?

Answer: Nightmares of the god Baldr

Baldr begins to have nightmares and Odin the All-father cannot glean their meanings. So he travels to Hel (or Helheim) where he finds and revives the volvo (soothsayer). Odin conceals his identity and true purpose and tells her of the nightmares. She begins to prophecy concerning the events of Ragnorak (the Vikings' Armageddon).

5. A Chinese myth of Daoist and Buddhist origin speaks of a certain government official who descends into "feng-du," the realm of the dead where numerous and varied levels of hell are housed. His decision to journey to such a place was made after years of a building curiosity concerning the nightly wailing and screaming that drift from feng-du into the land of the living. In the tale, what is his full title (rank and name)?

Answer: Governor Kwoh

He had built a large device that enabled him to be safely lowered 200 feet into the earth. There he discovered a lush valley and, while exploring, he stumbles upon large gates of iron, the entrance to feng-du. The Chinese god of war permits him entrance and serves as a tour guide of sorts through five levels of hell.

After the fifth level, a different god escorts him through the remaining levels and back to the surface safely.

6. In his best known epic poem, Virgil recounts the story of a hero who is instructed by the gods to flee from Troy to Italy during the Trojan War, as he was destined to become ancestor and first king of the Romans. During the flight he must descend to the realm of Hades to speak with his father. While there, he receives a grand prophetic vision of the future Roman Empire. What is his name?

Answer: Aeneas

Aeneas is first found in Homer's "Iliad" but his story is retold and expanded upon by Virgil (whom scholars say intended to legitimize the Julian nobility that ruled Rome at the time). Aeneas was saved by his mother Venus from battle with Diomedes of Argos and again from Achilles.

After his eventual death, Aeneas' mother begged Jupiter (Zeus) to make her son immortal, which was granted. Aeneas was reborn a god, and named Indiges (also called Jupiter Indiges, and Prater Indiges, which refers to Aeneas being a god indigenous to Roman tradition).

7. A myth from the Chinese Buddhist traditions tells of a disciple of Buddha who wishes to rescue his mother, Lady Leek Stem, from the torments of the underworld, Naraka. Lady Leek Stem had been given money by her son to give to begging monks. She failed to do so, and lied to her son about it. After she died she reincarnated within the realm of Naraka (in Buddhism, humans are not sent to hell, rather they reincarnate there). The son reaches a level of enlightenment that allows him to know of his mother's fate, so he journeys into Naraka and rescues her. What is his name?

Answer: Radish

After the son becomes holy enough to learn of his mother's fate, he is renamed Mulian. Mulian visits Naraka, where he encounters fifty demons barring the way. Luckily, the loyal son possesses a magical wand given to him by Buddha that allows the user to cause his enemies to disappear. Finally, he finds his mother nailed to a bed.

Despite the warning of Yama (king of Naraka and judge of the dead) that none could change the fate of sinners, Mulian tries to rescue his mother anyway. When he learns that the only one with the power is Buddha himself, he pleads with Buddha.

After the right prayers supplications his mother is released.

8. This Medieval European story recounts Dante's journey to the Inferno (hell), and later to Purgatory and Heaven. During the journey within the Inferno, Dante passes through several regions, or rings, that divide the underworld into sections based on relative sin and type of punishment. In the final ring, Dante encounters Lucifer in all his horror. What is the name of Dante's guide?

Answer: Virgil

Virgil first accompanies Dante outside the gate of hell, in a dark forest, saving Dante from being attacked by a panther. Virgil is quite knowledgeable about the regions of the Inferno and how to pass from one to the next, as he is a resident of the first ring called Limbo, which houses the unbaptized but otherwise good. Also within Limbo are found Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and a man whose identity as Homer is alluded to. Under the ninth ring is found Lucifer, the three headed beast, chewing one man in each mouth for eternity: Judas Iscariot (betrayer of Jesus), Brutus (betrayer and murderer of Julius Caesar) and Cassius (conspirator with Brutus).

9. Egyptian mythology tells of the god Osiris, who was in ancient days the king of Egypt. Osiris' brother, Set, was jealous of the respect garnered by Osiris, so Set transformed into a vicious monster and killed Osiris, chopping up and spreading his body far and wide. Osiris' wife and sister, Isis, mourned greatly, and, with the help of her sister (Set's wife) she collected Osiris' body and revived him, so they could bear a child. After this Osiris descended into the underworld to become what?

Answer: Lord of the underworld

After Osiris was revived by his sister/wife, they bore a child, Horus. Then Osiris descended to become the Lord of the underworld. When Horus was grown there was much debate as to who was the rightful king: Osiris' brother and murderer, Set, or Horus, the only son of Osiris.

The two competed in a couple of challenges to decide who would be king, but both ended in Set trying to kill Horus. Finally, the gods wrote to Osiris and asked him for advice. Osiris advised that no one who murdered to become king should be king, and since Horus had killed no one, he was the better candidate.

The gods agreed and placed Horus on the throne.

10. The legends of King Arthur are infused with both early Christian and Celtic traditions. A perfect example is the poem "The Spoils of Annwn," which tells of Arthur descending to the realm of the dead, Annwn, to procure a mystical cauldron that brings treasure and miracles to its possessor. Entering Annwn from Avalon (Isle of faeries), Arthur and his knights must break into the fortress of the faeries to steal the cauldron. Who is the leader of the faeries, and the guardian of portals into Annwn?

Answer: Gwyn ap Nudd

Gwyn ap Nudd is the King of the faeries, Lord of Annwn and lost souls, and guardian of portals into Annwn (which include Avalon, the island connected with Morgan le Fay, Arthur's half-sister). Arthur and his knights steal into the realm of the dead, a land characterized not by shade and dreariness as are most underworlds, but by pleasure and beauty.

There they infiltrate Gwyn's mound fortress built atop Gwyn's sacred mountain, Tor. They reach the cauldron(which in other legends has the power to revive dead warriors) and escape with it. On another note, Avalon is where Excalibur was forged, and where Morgan le Fay rules as queen of the faeries.

In one tale, after a battle, Arthur is brought back from near death upon the Isle, thanks to the healing magic of the faerie-women who dwell there.

Source: Author Lorvanwa

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

Throughout history, cultures around the world have developed myths that include a journey to the underworld.

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