Question 1

What is an oracle?

Accepted Answer

An oracle can refer to the prophetic shrine of a god, the words spoken by the gods at such a shrine, or a person authorized to convey and interpret those words. Therefore, all of the options (A, B, and C) are correct.

Question 2

The ritual of Brauronian Artemis intended to teach adolescent girls

Accepted Answer

The ritual of Brauronian Artemis was a rite of passage for young girls in ancient Greece, symbolizing the transition from childhood to adulthood and preparing them for their future roles as wives, which involved taming their natural wildness.

Question 3

What happened to Asclepius?

Accepted Answer

Asclepius became so great a physician that he learned to revive the dead, which threatened to upset the natural order of things. Zeus, the god of thunder and the king of the gods, feared that Asclepius would upset the balance between life and death, so he killed him with a thunderbolt.

Question 4

What happened to Daphne?

Accepted Answer

Daphne was transformed into a laurel tree to escape Apollo's advances, as he was pursuing her relentlessly, and she prayed to her father, the river god Peneus, to save her.

Question 5

What is sympathetic magic? Choose the most precise definition.

Accepted Answer

Sympathetic magic is the belief that performing a ritual or action that imitates the desired outcome will cause that outcome to occur. This is known as the principle of "like produces like". An example of this is voodoo dolls, where the doll is seen as a representation of the person, and sticking pins in it is intended to cause harm to the real person.

Question 6

What is an omphalos?

Accepted Answer

An omphalos refers to the navel of the world, which was displayed in Delphi as a piece of rock. It was considered a sacred site in ancient Greek mythology and was associated with the worship of the god Apollo.

Question 7

What was Themistocles's interpretation of the Delphic Oracle's advice to the Greeks to defend Greece with a wooden wall?

Accepted Answer

Themistocles interpreted the Delphic Oracle's advice of defending Greece with a "wooden wall" to mean that the Greeks should use their fleet of warships as their primary defense against the Persian invasion.

Question 8

The birth of his son Asclepius transformed Apollo from a cool, distant god into a caring god who was closely related to human beings.

Accepted Answer

Apollo was always considered a god closely related to human beings due to his roles as the god of healing, music, poetry, and the sun, among others. The birth of Asclepius, while adding to his association with healing, did not fundamentally transform his relationship with humanity.

Question 9

Since Apollo knew the arts of song and dance and persuasion, he was usually lucky in love.

Accepted Answer

Apollo, despite his talents, often faced rejection and tragedy in his love life, with many of his romantic pursuits ending unfavorably.

Question 10

Although an ancient tradition attributed the Delphic oracle's trance and utterances partly to intoxicating fumes from underground, archaeologists have recently been able to disprove that idea definitively.

Accepted Answer

Archaeologists and geologists have found evidence of hydrocarbon gases in the area of the Delphic oracle, which supports the ancient accounts of intoxicating fumes influencing the Pythia, rather than definitively disproving them.

Question 11

Young Greek men studied the arts-and cultivated the Muses-as they prepared to become soldiers and undertake the other diverse responsibilities of citizenship.

Accepted Answer

This is true. In ancient Greece, education was focused on developing well-rounded citizens who were proficient not only in warfare but also in arts, music, and philosophy. The Muses, the goddesses of inspiration in Greek mythology, were often invoked in education and cultural activities.

Quiz 7: In Touch With the Gods: Apollos Oracle at Delphi