Deck 1: Introduction to Greek Myth

Question 1

The hero in Greek myth is usually assertive, noble, and invulnerable.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The birth of Athene illustrates a mythical paradox: a male creating new life without the participation of a mother.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated the traditional site of Mount Olympus.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Anthropomorphic means "gods who can change their shape."

Question 5

Since Greek myth was so closely related to Greek religion, it never served any social or political functions.

Question 6

It is possible for literary works of myth to contain elements of folklore.

Question 7

The City Dionysia was a dramatic festival dedicated to worship of Athene.

Question 8

Virgil, the author of the Metamorphoses of the Gods, is generally thought to be a staunch supporter of Roman imperialism.

Question 9

Greek myth typically emphasizes competitiveness and individual achievement.

Question 10

Metis, the goddess of music and dance, was the first wife of Zeus.

Question 11

In Greek myth, supernatural beings are almost always present.

Question 12

According to Herodotus, Homer and Hesiod stabilized the popular conceptions of the gods' personalities, relationships, and functions.

Question 13

The goddess Athene burst from Zeus's thigh, wearing a warrior's spear and shield.

Question 14

The Metamorphoses of the Gods was written by the Roman poet Ovid during the reign of Augustus.

Question 15

Athena, though always a virgin goddess, could be the "founding mother" of Athens because she gave birth without any interaction with a male.

Question 16

The Mycenaean civilization was strongly influenced by an even older civilization, the Minoan civilization.

Question 17

According to Hesiod, Zeus created the first human being.

Question 18

Scholars recognize that myth may have a truth of its own that transcends mere fact.

Question 19

The Greek poets reinterpreted Greek mythology with an orientation toward humanistic values.

Question 20

It appears that the Minoans worshiped the feminine aspect of deity, while the Mycenaeans' chief god was Zeus.

Question 21

The east frieze of the Parthenon depicts the Panathenaic procession, in which

A) a shepherd carries a lamb to Athena.
B) young girls carry a decorated robe called a peplos to the goddess.
C) young men and women leap over the back of the sacrificial victim.
D) only Athenian men participate.

Question 22

Aphrodite was the mother of Paris, who took Helen to Troy and started a great war.

Question 23

The typical Greek emphasis on individualism is evident in which hero?

A) Herodotus
B) Achilles
C) Apollodorus
D) Virgil

Question 24

The images of Athene and Dionysus suggest

A) that myth has power to integrate polar opposites, illustrating contrarieties and conflicts inherent in existence.
B) that knowledge of procreation and genetics was beyond the scope of Greek mythology.
C) that myth has the capacity to illustrate problematic relationships in dysfunctional families.
D) that myth, essentially, makes very little sense.

Question 25

Three key names are associated with the preservation of Greek mythology in the first centuries b.c. and a.d. Choose the one that does not belong on the list.

A) Apollodorus of Athens
B) Pausanias
C) Plutarch
D) Julius Caesar

Question 26

What kind of stories do typical sagas deal with?

A) Stories about a particular city or family
B) Stories about the origin of the world
C) Stories about the experiences of the common folk
D) Stories about gods in disguise interacting with heroes

Question 27

Roman mythology really is just a retelling of the old Greek mythological tales with different names.

Question 28

Most scholars currently agree that

A) the Trojan War had absolutely no basis in fact.
B) Homer was the author of all of the Homeric Hymns.
C) Greeks committed large portions of their sacred writings to memory.
D) the worship of a male sky/weather deity was brought into Greece by immigrants near the end of the third millennium b.c.

Question 29

Scholars agree that most Greek myths originated

A) between about 1600 and 1100 b.c.
B) between about 700 and 500 b.c.
C) between about 140 b.c. and 160 a.d.
D) at least 10,000 years ago.

Question 30

Ovid's epic Metamorphoses begins with a story of the creation or beginning of things and ends with

A) the foundation of Rome.
B) the establishment of the Roman Empire.
C) the death and deification of Julius Caesar.
D) the marriage of Cadmus and Harmony.