Deck 11: Myths of Fertility II: Dionysus

Question 1

According to some writers, Dionysus displaced which divinity to become one of the twelve Olympians?

A) Ares
B) Isis
C) Hebê
D) Hestia

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following are emblems of Dionysus or associated with his presence?

A) Swans and geese
B) The phallus
C) The horns of a bull
D) Thick, luscious ivy

Answer 2

B,C,D

Question 3

What disguise did Hera assume when she tricked Semelê?

A) An old woman
B) Semelê's closest friend
C) Aphrodite
D) Semelê's sister Ino

Answer 3

A

Question 4

After Semelê's destruction, Zeus sewed the fetus of Dionysus _______.

A) into his own thigh
B) into his own head
C) into the soil of Mt. Ida
D) into a vineyard near Mt. Olympus

Question 5

Ino's name was changed to _______ when she was transformed into a sea-deity.

A) Neomeris
B) Nausithoê
C) Scylla
D) Leucothea

Question 6

In his eastern wanderings, Dionysus met which goddess, who cured him and from whom he acquired his long robes?

A) Selenê
B) Cybelê
C) Isis
D) Inanna

Question 7

What is the name of the staff crowned with a pinecone or a bunch of leaves, and carried by maenads?

A) thyrsus
B) thyiasos
C) amorgos
D) amyntas

Question 8

What did King Midas ask for when Dionysus granted him a wish?

A) That he live for seven generation of men
B) To be transformed into a bear
C) One of the Graces to be his wife
D) That everything he touched be turned to gold

Question 9

In the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus, the sailors who leapt overboard to escape a transformed Dionysus were turned into _______.

A) stingrays
B) lampreys
C) sharks
D) dolphins

Question 10

Which of the following are among the tales told about Lycurgus?

A) He went mad and attempted to rape his own mother
B) He killed a group of satyrs and maenads and planted their corpses in a vineyard
C) He thought his son was an ivy plant and pruned off his legs with an ax
D) He frightened Dionysus, who fled into the sea, where Thetis comforted him

Question 11

Dionysus eventually turned the Minyads into _______.

A) cats
B) bats
C) rats
D) hats

Question 12

Semelê's sisters angered Dionysus by telling what lie about Semelê?

A) That Semelê was illegitimate, and not really Cadmus' daughter
B) That Semelê killed herself
C) That Semelê's lover was a mortal and she was destroyed for lying about being Zeus' lover
D) That Semelê faked her death and had run away with her mortal lover

Question 13

What things does the Messenger report when he describes what he witnessed on Mt. Cithaeron?

A) Satyrs dancing in circles and shouting lewd taunts at one another
B) Women suckling young animals
C) Springs of wine flowing from the ground
D) A stream of milk gushing from the earth

Question 14

A possessed Agavê at first proudly believes that the head of her son Pentheus is _______.

A) the head of a mountain lion
B) a newborn lamb
C) the head of Tiresias
D) a giant grape

Question 15

Before he took his place on Mt. Olympus, Dionysus _______.

A) freed the Hecatonchires
B) challenged Apollo for the right to give oracles at Delphi
C) brought Semelê back from the house of Hades
D) created the elephant

Question 16

Which names and words associated with Dionysus are of Eastern origin?

A) Bacchus
B) Semelê
C) Thyrsus
D) Leucothea

Question 17

Dionysus is associated with goats and big cats like lions and panthers, and also with _______.

A) butterflies
B) bulls
C) doves
D) turtles

Question 18

Our word "enthusiasm" comes from the Greek word enthousiasmos, which means "_______."

A) being filled with the god
B) standing outside oneself
C) rejoicing in the dance
D) leading the sacred followers

Question 19

Which two terms are associated with the tearing apart of a wild animal and eating its raw flesh?

A) polypragmosynê
B) sparagmos
C) zylotypia
D) ômophagia

Question 20

Dramatic performances were held in Athens at the Theater of Dionysus during what religious festival?

A) The Panathenaea
B) The Anthesteria
C) The City Dionysia
D) The Amphidromia

Question 21

Who are represented here?

A) Semelê and Zeus
B) Ariadnê and Pan
C) A maenad and a satyr
D) Artemis and Pan