Deck 17: The Myths of Crete

Question 1

On whom do we rely for most Cretan legends?

A) Minoan scribes
B) Roman writers
C) Greek authors of the Classical period
D) Greek authors of the Hellenistic period

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Zeus fell in love with Europa and appeared to her in the form of a _______.

A) satyr
B) cloud
C) swan
D) bull

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Whom did Zeus give Europa for protection on the island of Crete?

A) Talus
B) The Minotaur
C) Scylla
D) The Harpies

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Why did Daedalus kill his nephew Perdix?

A) Because Perdix had seduced Daedalus' wife
B) Because Perdix had tried to take credit for several of Daedalus' inventions
C) Because Daedalus was jealous that Perdix invented the saw
D) Because Daedalus suspected him of trying to betray Athens to the Megarians

Question 5

What is the name of the prison that Daedalus designs for the Minotaur?

A) The Bronze Tower
B) The Labyrinth
C) The Enigma
D) Mallia

Question 6

What was the key to Nisus of Megara's invulnerability?

A) A certain purple lock of hair on his head
B) A cloak given to him by Apollo
C) The gates of Megara remaining closed
D) A magic ring

Question 7

Who immediately fell in love with Theseus when he arrived on Crete?

A) Scylla
B) Pasiphaë
C) Phaedra
D) Ariadnê

Question 8

Theseus abandons Ariadnê on which island?

A) Samos
B) Thera
C) Naxos
D) Icaria

Question 9

Who is Daedalus' son?

A) Icarus
B) Danaüs
C) Deucalion
D) Phoenix

Question 10

Daedalus escaped from Crete and landed on Sicily, where _______, the king of Camicus gave him refuge.

A) Cepheus
B) Catreus
C) Cilix
D) Cocalus

Question 11

Which three scripts did Cretans use over the course of the Bronze Age for recording information?

A) Phoenician
B) Linear B
C) Linear A
D) Pictorial

Question 12

Scholars once thought that an enormous volcanic explosion on the island of _______ caused the destruction of Minoan power around 1450 BC.

A) Naxos
B) Crete
C) Thera
D) Aegina

Question 13

Which fifth-century BC Athenian historian was a pioneer in efforts to distinguish myth from history?

A) Tacitus
B) Thucydides
C) Herodotus
D) Hipponax

Question 14

The archaeological record behind myths about Crete lay buried until the efforts of ______, starring in 1899.

A) Arthur Evans
B) Heinrich Schliemann
C) Christos Doumas
D) John Chadwick

Question 15

In 1992, to the amazement of the scholarly world, Minoan frescoes from about 1600 BC were found in _______.

A) Jerusalem
B) Athens
C) Normandy
D) the Nile delta

Question 16

Most scholars agree that Bronze Age Cretans worshiped a mother-goddess represented as _______.

A) an egg
B) a huntress holding wild animals
C) a bare-breasted woman holding serpents
D) a double-edged ax

Question 17

Which Near Eastern god is, according to some scholars, associated with the myth of youths being fed to the Minotaur?

A) Anu
B) Tiamat
C) Baal
D) Enlil

Question 18

Which of the following are examples of the excessive sexuality that characterizes myths surrounding Crete and its royal family?

A) Ariadnê's willingness to betray her family and country
B) Scylla's treachery on behalf of Minos
C) Phaedra's lust for Hippolytus
D) Phoenix's eagerness to remain in Phoenicia rather than look for Europa

Question 19

Which of the following are elements of widespread patterns of ritual male initiation?

A) Being driven from one's native town
B) Undergoing mock death and encountering demons
C) Being betrayed by a trickster god
D) Some form of sexual experience

Question 20

The Greek word daidalos means "_______."

A) master builder
B) deceptive
C) mercenary
D) skillfully made

Question 21

This acrobatic bull-leaping game is often represented in _______ art.

A) Hittite
B) Minoan
C) Mycenaean
D) Roman