QUESTIONS.
1. What was the name of the race of warlike sky gods to which most of the
familiar deities belonged?
2. Who was the chief goddess, sometimes mistaken for Freya?
3. Who was the god of justice and fertility, son of Sif?
4. Who was the god brother of Odin?
5. Who was the blind god who was tricked into killing Balder by Loki?
6. Who was the brother of Balder who avenged his death by killing Hoder?
7. Who was the god of the sea, whose daughters were the waves?
8. Who was the goddess of storms, wife of Aegir?
9. Who was the guardian of the well of knowledge?
10. Who was the goddess of the underworld?
11. Who was the goddess, keeper of the golden apples of eternal youth?
12. Who was the mountain goddess, wife of Njord, mother of Frey and Freya?
13. Who was the sun goddess who drove her chariot across the sky
14. Who was the son of Odin who avenged his father’s death by slaying the wolf
responsible?
15. Who were the female warrior spirits who helped Odin by training and
watching over his warriors in battle?
ANSWERS
1.The Aesir. 2. Frigg. 3. Ull. 4.Ve. 5. Hoder. 6.Vali. 7.Aegir. 8. Ran. 9. Mimir. 10. Hel. 11.Idun. 12. Skadi. 13. Sol. 14.Vidar. 15.The Valkyries.
QUESTIONS.
1. What was the name of the Trojan hero regarded by the Romans as their
ancestor?
2. What was the name of the Latin city which was in fact as well as in legend, the
mother city of Rome?
3. Everyone knows that Romulus was the first King of Rome, but who was the
second?
4. What was the name of the college of priestesses devoted to the cult of Vesta,
goddess of the hearth and home?
5. What was the name of the precipice on the south-west corner of the Capitol,
from which traitors were thrown to their deaths?
6. What are the books of prophecy, first destroyed in 83 BC, replaced, and finally
destroyed in the 4th century AD.?
7. Who was the third King of Rome?
8. The Temple of Saturn in Rome, which was consecrated in 497 BC had a
secondary function.What was it?
9. What ‘event’ did Romulus organise in order to populate Rome?
10. Apart from the major deities, Romans also had many domestic gods who
protected their homes and belongings.What were they called?
11. What was the name of the wife of Tarquinius Collatinus whose rape by Sextus
son of the seventh King of Rome,Tarquinius Superbus led her to kill herself in
shame?
12. Can you name any of the three original tribes into which Rome was divided,
believed to date back to the time of Romulus?
13. Who was the Etruscan chief who besieged Rome in 6th century BC?
14. Who was the legendary one-eyed Roman warrior who held the Etruscans at
bay, until the bridge behind him was destroyed?
15. What was the Roman name for the spirits of the dead?
ANSWERS
1.Aeneas. 2.Alba Longa. 3. Numa. 4.The Vestal Virgins. 5.The Tarpeian Rock. 6.The
Sibylline Books. 7.Tullus Hostilius. 8.The State Treasury. 9.The Rape of the Sabine
Women. 10. Penates. 11. Lucretia. 12.The Luceres, the Ramnes and the Tities. 13. Lars
Porsena. 14. Horatius. 15.The Manes.
QUESTIONS.
1. Who was the goddess of horses?
2. Who was the god of honesty?
3. Who was the god of trees and forests?
4. Who was the goddess of victory?
5. Who was the goddess of nursing mothers?
6. Who was the god of fertility?
7. Who was the god of seed-sowing?
8. Who was the god of death?
9. Who was the god who protected individuals and groups?
10. Who was the god of husbands?
11. Who was the goddess of childbirth and of fountains?
12. Who was the goddess of chance?
13. Who was the goddess of funerals?
14. Who was the god of human fertility?
15. Who was the goddess of spring flowers?
ANSWERS
1. Epona. 2. Fides. 3. Silvanus. 4.Victoria. 5. Rumina. 6.Vertumnus. 7. Consus. 8. Orcus. 9. Genius. 10. Portunus. 11. Egreria. 12. Fortuna. 13. Libitina. 14. Liber Pater. 15.
Feronia.
QUESTIONS.
1. Who was the ‘flower maiden’, the goddess of loving and giving?
2. Who was the goddess concerned with the wild bear?
3. Who was one of the three goddesses of war whose presence on the battlefield
incited frenzy?
4. Who was the Welsh goddess called the ‘Great Queen’?
5. Who was the guardian god of the land, one of the aspects of the ‘Son of Light’?
6. Who was the Welsh goddess, mother of the gods Llew and Dylan?
7. Who was the Welsh god associated with sacred kingship and ‘Threefold Death’?
8. Who was the Welsh god of the sea?
9. Who was the god of music, healing and youth, sometimes seen as a hunter?
10. Who was the great river goddess, mother of the god Oenghus?
11. What were the names of the three goddesses who together form the goddess of
Irish sovereignty?
12. What was the name of the third of the war goddesses?
13. By what name was the god Mabon known in Ireland?
14. Into what deity did early Christianity transform the god Cernunnos?
15. By what name was the god Sucellus known in Gaul?
ANSWERS
1. Blodeuwedd 2. Dea Artio 3. Nemhain 4. Rhiannon 5. Merlin 6.Arianrhod 7. Llew 8.
Dylan 9. Mabon 10. Boann 11. Banbha; Fodla and Eriu 12. Badhbh 13. Oenghus 14.
The Devil 15. Sylvanus
QUESTIONS.
1. Who was the monkey god?
2. Who was the god who corresponded to nature and the human soul.
(Collectively represented by Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva as ‘Trimurti’)?
3. Who was the incarnation of Vishnu as a giant with the head of a horse?
4. Who was the goddess, wife of Rama?
5. Who was the incarnation of Vishnu as a tortoise?
6. Who was the god known as he who enlightens, he who enhances, he who
makes prosper?
7. Who was the supreme goddess, corresponding to the Absolute (Brahman) and
facilitates its manifestation?
8. Who was the incarnation of Vishnu as a dwarf?
9. Who was the incarnation of Vishnu as a fish?
10. Who was the incarnation of Vishnu as a boar?
11. Who was the god-bull vehicle of Shiva?
12. Who was the god who was yet another incarnation of Shiva?
13. Who was the god who was yet another incarnation of Vishnu?
14. Who was the god brother of Krishna?
15. Who was the god half-brother of Rama?
ANSWERS
1. Hanuman. 2. Iswara. 3. Kalkin. 4. Sita. 5. Kurma. 6. Pushan. 7. Mahadevi-
Shakti. 8. Vamana. 9. Matsya. 10.Varaha.11. Nandin.12. Bhairava;Virabhadra.
13. Narada; Parashurama. 14. Balarama. 15. Shatrughna.
QUESTIONS.
1. Who was the elephant headed son of Shiva?
2. Who was the incarnation of Shiva as lord of the dance and rhythm?
3. Who was the goddess, the female incarnation of energy?
4. Who was the goddess, the foster mother of Krishna?
5. Who was the god-incarnation of Vishnu?
6. Who was the god half-brother of Rama?
7. Who was the six-headed, twelve-armed god who rode on a peacock?
8. Who was the goddess, the gracious and ascetic?
9. Who was the sun god, the illuminator?
10. Who was the god of fire, a three headed god who rode on a ram?
11. Who was the bird-god on which Shiva rode?
12. Who was the incarnation of Vishnu as a man-lion?
13. Who was the god who was the terrifying, violent aspect of Shiva?
14. Who was the god creator of truth and justice?
15. Who was the mother goddess and teacher, often depicted playing the cymbals?
ANSWERS
1. Ganesh. 2. Nataraja. 3. Shakti. 4.Yashoda. 5. Rama. 6. Lakshmana. 7. Karrttikeya. 8.Uma. 9. Surya. 10.Agni. 11. Garuda. 12. Narasimha. 13. Rudra. 14. Savitri. 15. Karaikkal-Ammaiyar.
QUESTIONS.
1. Who was the principle god of creation, for members of the sect of Vaishnavism?
2. Who was the principle god of creation, for members of the sect of Shaivism?
3. Who was the goddess of wealth and good fortune, wife of Vishnu?
4. Who was the goddess of destruction, the evil wife of Shiva?
5. Who was the goddess, the good wife of Shiva, the opposite of Kali?
6. Who, for followers of both sects,was the minor god of creation?
7. Who was the goddess, third wife of Shiva?
8. Who was the goddess, consort to Shiva?
9. Who was the goddess, consort to Shiva?
10. Who was the incarnation of Vishnu who corresponded to the perfect
deification of life?
11. Who was the goddess of romantic love, the consort of Krishna?
12. Who was the mother goddess of art, music and learning, the female counterpart
of Brahma?
13. Who was the god of desire and sexual lust?
14. Who was the storm god, who brings rain?
15. Who was the astral god, who brings ill fortune?
ANSWERS
1.Vishnu. 2. Shiva. 3. Lakshmi. 4. Kali. 5. Parvati. 6. Brahma. 7. Durga. 8.
Mahishasuramardini. 9. Pidari. 10. Krishna. 11. Radha. 12. Sarasvati. 13. Kama. 14.
Indra. 15. Shani.
QUESTIONS.
1. By what name is Heracles known in Roman mythology?
2. Zeus was the father of Heracles.Who was his mother?
3. Heracles was sent by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi to serve his cousin for
twelve years.What was his cousin’s name?
4. Eurystheus set him twelve tasks, or labours.What were they?
4.1. To kill and take back the skin of what animal?
4.2. To kill which monster with the body of a dog and nine serpent heads?
4.3. To catch which creature with brazen feet and golden antlers?
4.4. To catch a giant wild boar, called …?
4.5. To clean out the filthy stables of which King of Elis?
4.6. To drive away the giant, man-eating birds from which marshy area in
northern Arcadia?
4.7. To capture which magnificent white animal sent by Poseidon to Minos?
4.8. To catch the man-eating pets of a king of the Bistones in Thrace, which
were known as …what?
4.9. To fetch which item of clothing from the Queen of the Amazons?
4.10. To steal the cattle belonging to which three-bodied monster living on
the island of Erythia?
4.11. To bring back the fruit belonging to the ‘daughters of evening’ living at
the western end of the world, called …?
4.12. To capture the savage dog which guarded Hades, named …?
ANSWERS
1. Hercules. 2.Alcmene. 3. Eurystheus. 4.1 The Nemean Lion. 4.2 The Hydra of Lerna.
4.3 The Ceryneian Hind. 4.4 The Erymanthian Boar. 4.5 Augeus. 4.6 Lake Stymphal.
4.7 The Cretan Bull. 4.8 The horses of Diomedes. 4.9 The golden girdle of Hippolyte.
4.10 Geryon. 4.11 The golden apples of Hesperus. 4.12 Cerberus.
