Gods of Fertility Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Not surprisingly, given women's role in the birthing and nurturing of children, fertility was often associated with female deities, who were often also worshipped as embodiments of the Earth itself. However, these goddesses often had one or more male counterparts, who presided over diverse aspects of fertility, such as virility or the sprouting of seeds.

Hadad was an aspect of Ba'al, the supreme god worshipped by the ancient peoples of the Levant, and later by the Carthaginians. Like other deities associated with weather phenomena, he had both a benevolent, life-giving side and a destructive one. He was often depicted wearing a bull-horned headdress and a thick beard - definitely masculine attributes.

Khnum and Sobek are both very ancient Egyptian deities. Khnum, revered as the creator of human bodies, was often shown with a potter's wheel, or in the company of the frog goddess Heqet, his wife, associated with childbirth. Sobek, on the other hand, was a deity of war as well as fertility, identified with the power of the pharaohs. The Ancient Egyptians also had a god, Min, who specifically presided over fertility and reproduction, and was portrayed with phallic attributes.

Priapism, a medical condition involving a long-lasting, painful erection, owes its name to the traditional depictions of the Greek god Priapus - many of which have been found in Pompeii. Statues of Priapus with his oversized, erect phallus and characteristic Phrygian cap were often placed in gardens, where they also functioned as scarecrows. In some ancient sources, he was associated with the satyrs and their leader Pan (called Faunus in Latin), the god of wild, untamed nature, who was said to share in the supposedly lustful nature of male goats. Pan's lustfulness was legendary, and many myths describe his pursuit and seduction (or rape) of various nymphs.

Pan, like the satyrs, was one of the companions of Dionysus, which in Ancient Rome came to be identified with Liber ("the free one"), an archaic Italic god who presided over viticulture and male fertility. Liber's temples contained images of erect phalluses; during his festival (Liberalia), which took place around the spring equinox, young men celebrated their coming of age, wearing the manly toga ("toga virilis") for the first time.

The twin brother of Freyja, goddess of love and beauty, Freyr (also known as Yngvi) was one of the Vanir, ancient Norse deities associated with fertility and prosperity. Like other gods mentioned in this quiz, he was often depicted as (or with) an erect phallus, and venerated as a bringer of peace and a good harvest.

Cernunnos, the Celtic (Gaulish) horned god depicted on the famous Gundestrup Cauldron, was also a deity of fertility and prosperity, associated with traditionally masculine animals such as snakes, rams, bulls and stags; he was often shown holding a cornucopia or a bag of coins, and surrounded by animals.

Mentioned once in a 12th-century text with the name of Gerovit, Jarilo represented the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth. The name Jarilo, however, often appears in Slavic folk songs, referring not only to the god, but also to spring or early summer fertility festivals.

The similarity of the names Kokopelli and Xochipilli is not accidental, as the Hopi language and Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Aztecs, belong to the same family. Besides the fertility aspect, these two deities also share an association with music (much like the Greek Pan) and agriculture, in particular the cultivation of maize (corn). Kokopelli's hump is also a symbol of fertility, as it contains unborn children. Xochipilli, on the other hand, presided over fertility together with his sister Xochiquetzal, the protector of motherhood and childbirth. A more sinister Aztec deity associated with fertility was the rain god Tlaloc, Xochiquetzal's consort, to whom children were sacrificed.

Known for their magnificent gold artifacts, the Muisca (or Chibcha) were a warlike society, and sports were used as training for their elite guecha warriors. The god Chaquén, however, was not only a patron of sports and a renowned trainer of warriors, but also a patron of agriculture and fertility. The festivals celebrated in his honour involved widespread drunkenness and sexual license, and people were allowed to have relations with anyone regardless of social or marital status.