It Was Love Trivia Quiz

Answer: Theodora

This powerful couple from late Roman times and the beginning of the Byzantine era was superficially as ill-suited as could be. Justinian had been groomed to become Emperor, and Theodora was the daughter of circus performers, a hippodrome artist herself and a lover of several prominent men.

They met when Theodora was 21 and Justinian 15 years her senior and were married against the wishes of the royal palace. Justinian had to issue a law that would allow Theodora to get married since marriage was forbidden to actresses and prostitutes.

She became a co-regnant when Justinian became Emperor in 527 CE and their reign ranks as one of the greatest in Byzantine history.

Answer: Alice B. Toklas

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas met as expatriates in Paris in 1907. They shared their life for 39 years, until Stein's death in 1946. Gertrude Stein was a prominent figure in the expatriate community of Paris and a very close friend of Picasso, Hemingway and Matisse. Toklas acted as Stein's secretary, manager, editor and romantic companion and their relationship described as happy.

After Stein's death, although she left Toklas much of her estate and her large collection of valuable paintings, her relatives contested the will and Toklas, having had no legal connection to her partner of 39 years, was denied both the collection and the estate.

She lived in poverty for 21 years after Stein's death, making a living through writing and when she died, she was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery, next to Gertrude Stein.

Answer: Gala (Elena Ivanovna Diakonova)

Salvador Dali met his muse and lifelong companion Gala while she was still married to his friend, the French poet Paul Eluard. She was a Russian émigré and 10 years his senior and their affair angered Dali's father who initially disowned him. The couple remained together and they were eventually married in 1958.

They maintained a strong relationship despite numerous affairs on both sides and after Gala's death, Dali lost all will to live and attempted to end his life several times. The Gala-Dalí Castle House Museum was established in 1996 in the castle Dali had bought for Gala at Pubol.

Answer: Episteme

The husband and wife couple of Galaction and Episteme were early Christian martyrs from Emessa, today's Homs, Syria. Galaction's mother converted to Christianity when she became pregnant with her son. Galaction married Episteme, urged her to be baptized and they both left for the Mountain Publion where Galaction joined a male monastery and Episteme a female one.

They did not see each other until their martyrdom in 253 CE during the reign of the Emperor Trajan Decius. They are celebrated in the Greek Orthodox Church on November 5.

Answer: Leander

Hero was a young priestess of Aphrodite who lived alone in a tower in Sestos, on the European (Thracian) side of the Hellespont (today's Dardanelles). Leander was a young man who lived on the opposite side of the strait, in Abydos, on the coast of Asia Minor.

The two youths fell in love, and every night Leander swam the 1300 m distance between them, guided by a lamp lighting in Hero's tower. They spent the night together and Leander swam back to Abydos as dawn was setting in. Winter came but Leander's love could not be hindered by great waves and icy winds.

While attempting to cross the sea, strong winds blew out the lamp in the tower and Leander lost his way and drowned. When Hero saw his body on the shore the following morning, she jumped from the tower and joined her lover in death.

The tragic myth of the two young lovers has been an inspiration for writers, poets and musicians since Roman times.

Answer: Shahryar

The story of Scheherazade and Shahryar is the main theme in the collection of Middle Eastern and Asian stories which we know as "One Thousand and One Nights" or "Arabian Nights". Shahryar was a king of what is today Iran, India and much of China and Southeast Asia who discovered that his wife was unfaithful to him.

After he had both her and her lover killed he asked his vizier to bring him a different girl every night whom he had killed in the morning, in order to avoid being betrayed again. Scheherazade was the vizier's daughter who witnessed the carnage at the palace and decided to act on it.

She asked her father to bring her to Shahrayar and right before dawn, she started telling a story to the king. When the first rooster's crow was heard, her story was not yet finished and an intrigued Shahrayar allowed Scheherazade to live another night and finish her story.

This went on for one thousand and one nights by which time they had fallen in love with each other and Scheherazade became a queen.

Answer: Cosima Liszt

Cosima Liszt was the illegitimate daughter of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt and countess Marie d'Agoult. Her first marriage was to her father's favorite pupil, Hans von Bülow, in 1857. She had known Richard Wagner since she was 15 years old but in 1863 she started an affair with him, while he was married to Minna Planer and had several mistresses. Richard and Cosima lived together and even had two children while she was still married to Bülow until they were finally married in 1870.

They remained together until Wagner's death in 1883 and together they established the renown Bayreuth Festival.

After Wagner's death, Cosima devoted her life to the festival of which she was the director until 1907 when she was succeeded by her and Wagner's son Siegfried.

Answer: Andromeda

Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danae, was the slayer of the gorgon Medusa with the help of the goddess Athena. On his way back to the island of Seriphos, Perseus saw the princess of Ethiopia, Andromeda, chained to a rock, waiting to be devoured by a sea monster. Andromeda's mother, Cassiopeia, committed hubris by boasting about her daughter's beauty over the sea nymphs and enraged Poseidon who devastated the land of Ethiopia. To appease Poseidon and rescue the land, Zeus suggested to her father, king Cepheus, to sacrifice his daughter.

After he rescued her, Perseus married Andromeda and took her with him to Tiryns where they ruled for many years and had seven sons and one daughter. Their descendants include Heracles and the Mycenaeans.

Answer: Rudolf of Austria

The baroness Marie Vetsera and Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria were involved in the so called "Mayerling Incident" at the Imperial hunting lodge in Mayerling, Austria, in 1889. The couple was found dead in an apparent murder-suicide pact. The love affair between the 30 year old prince and the 17 year old baroness was known to the prince's parents, Emperor Franz Josef I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria and to his wife, Princess Stephanie. Rudolph's death made his cousin Franz Ferdinand the heir to Austria's throne. Franz Ferdinand's assassination in 1914 triggered WWI and ultimately the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Answer: Heloise d' Argenteuil

Peter Abelard was a prominent philosopher, theologian and teacher in 12th century Paris. He was chosen by Fulbert, a canon of the Notre Dame church, as a tutor for his niece, the beautiful and intellectually gifted Heloise d' Argentuil. Although 20 years her senior, Abelard fell in love with Heloise and their love affair and secret marriage produced a son named Astrolabe. Abelard sent Heloise to a convent to protect her from her uncle's rage who had Abelard castrated when he found out about their marriage. Abelard became a monk and requested from Heloise to remain in monastic life, a fact that made her very unhappy because she knew she would have to give up her child for life.

In all the years they were apart, their love flourished through their correspondence. Six hundred years after their death, Josephine Bonaparte was so moved by their story that she ordered their remains to be entombed together in Père Lachaise Cemetery.