Who's Your Daddy? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Odin

Heimdall has the unusual distinction of being born from nine mothers with Odin as his father. Not only does he have spectacular sight and hearing, but he possesses foreknowledge too. He lives in Himinbjörg, or the Sky Cliffs, which is situated at the top of the Bifröst.

At the advent of Ragnarök, Heimdall will sound the Resounding Horn, Gjallarhorn, to warn of the arrival of the frost giants. The various gods and creatures will kill each other and the land will descend into the water. The world will then be reborn and Baldur, who was killed as a result of Loki's deception, will return from the underworld. Two mortals will survive and creation will take place all over again.

Answer: Poseidon

It is true, Pegasus and Bellerephon were half-brothers. Well, probably. Bellerephon was the son of either Glaucus or the god of the Sea, Poseidon, depending on which myth you prescribe to. Pegasus was born of the Gorgon Medusa as Perseus decapitated her. One version of the mythology states that Pegasus was born from the blood that flowed from Medusa's neck.

Another version has Pegasus being formed from Medusa's blood mixing with the sea foam. After Bellerephon and Pegasus defeated the Chimaera, Zeus transformed Pegasus into a constellation in the heavens.

Answer: Ra

Bastet was worshipped in Ancient Egypt as early as 2890 BCE as a goddess of war and transformed to her current guise as the protector of cats between 945 and 715 BC after the unification of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of Egypt. The Upper Kingdom had Sekhmet as their warrior goddess, and this is likely why Bastet lost her original role. Bastet is the child of, and consort to, the Sun god Ra.

She is the mother of Maahes, who, in turn, was a lion-headed god of war who was fathered by the creator god Ptah who, it is said, thought the world into existence.

Answer: Hypnos

The Roman poet Ovid suggests in his "Metamorphoses" that Morpheus, Phobetor and Phantasos are only three out of the thousand sons of Hypnos. He identifies Morpheus as the god of dreams, Phobetor, also known as Icelos, as the god of nightmares and Phantasos as the god of inanimate objects in prophetic dreams.

They are the children of Hypnos and Pasithea (goddess of relaxation), one of the three Graces. Alternative parentage has been suggested, that they are the sons of Nyx (goddess of night) and Erebus (god of darkness).

Answer: Jupiter

Vulcan was born to Jupiter and Juno. As the myth goes, Vulcan was not a pretty baby and his mother threw him from the top of Mount Olympus in disgust. His leg was broken when he struck the water and his leg was malformed. He was found by Thetis, a sea nymph, and raised as her own.

He discovered fire and learned to forge exquisite items. His talent was discovered by Juno and his identity was discovered. Vulcan trapped his mother in an intricate throne and only released her when Jupiter gave him the goddess of love, Venus, as a wife. Vulcan is the father of Cacus (fire breathing giant killed by Hercules), Caeculus, Romulus (first king of Rome) and Servius Tullius (sixth king of Rome).

Some mythology suggests that Vulcan was the father of Jupiter.

Answer: Typhon

Cerebrus was the offspring of Typhon, a serpentine monster with a hundred dragons' heads, who is described as the most deadly creature in Greek mythology. Typhon himself was the child of Gaea (Mother Earth) and Tartarus (Underworld). Together with his wife Echidna, a half woman/half serpent, they were parents to the hounds Cerberus and Orthus, the Hydra and Chimaera. Cerberus guarded the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving and was captured by Heracles during his Twelfth Labour.

Answer: Loki

Confusing parentage indeed. The story of Sleipnr's origin can be found in the "Prose Edda", written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. In the early time, soon after Midgard was established, a builder made a bargain with the gods. He promised to build a wall strong enough to withstand attack from invaders and in return he would be given the sun, the moon and the goddess Freya.

The gods had conditions. He was to complete it within three seasons and have no help from any man. Using his stallion Svaðilfari (written as Svadilfari in the question to avoid problems with screen display for players), he came close to fulfilling his task. Loki transformed into a mare and lured the stallion away, thereby preventing the builder from finishing his task. Sleipnr was born from this union. Loki is also the father of the great wolf Frenrir, the world serpent Jörmungandr as well as Hel, the ruler of Hel.

Answer: Ares (God of war)

Initially Eros was described as one of the first gods which existed, with the likes of Aether, Chaos, Erebus, Gaia and Tartarus. From the Greek playwright Aristophanes:

"At the beginning there was only Chaos, Night (Nyx), Darkness (Erebus), and the Abyss (Tartarus). Earth, the Air and Heaven had no existence. Firstly, blackwinged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite deeps of Darkness, and from this, after the revolution of long ages, sprang the graceful Love (Eros) with his glittering golden wings, swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in the deep Abyss with dark Chaos, winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the first to see the light."

Later his parentage was attributed to Aphrodite and the god of war Ares.

Answer: Shiva

The three incorrect answers are all goddesses.

There are a number of different myths surrounding Ganesha's origins. One claims that he mysteriously appeared and was found by Shiva and Parvati. Another states that he was created by Parvati alone. A third claims that he was borne from the goddess Malini, elephant headed herself, after drinking Parvati's bathwater. His brother is the god of war, Kartikeya. He is also seen as one of the five main gods of Brahmanism.

Answer: Osiris

In early times Horus was described as being the brother of Osiris, Set, Nepthys and Isis, but he was later removed from this group and Osiris and Isis were made his parents. Interestingly, Horus was conceived after Set, god of the desert, killed and dismembered Osiris and Isis retrieved all his body parts. Horus and Set fought to be ruler of Egypt and Horus prevailed in the end, but lost an eye in the process. Restored to him, his eye became a symbol of protection amongst the Egyptian populace. While his father Osiris was god of the dead, Horus became god of the living.