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Quiz about Ovids Metamorphoses
Quiz about Ovids Metamorphoses

Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' Trivia Quiz


"Of bodies chang'd to various forms, I sing." Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' traces the history of the ever-changing world from its creation to the poet's present day, through a series of wonderful myths and legends.

A multiple-choice quiz by GPSpann. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
GPSpann
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
350,186
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
154
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Question 1 of 10
1. We begin with Ovid's cosmogony. The world is created by the gods with the elements all being put in order. There follows a description of Ovid's Ages of Man. How many Ages of Man are there? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Jupiter becomes digusted by the corruption of mankind in the Iron age. He therefore wipes out all of humanity except for the pious Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha. How does Jupiter go about killing everyone? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. The god Apollo is shot by Eros' arrow, which causes him to fall in love with the nymph Daphne. He chases Daphne through the forest. Daphne prays for the gods to protect her, and so she is transformed into something. What is she transformed into? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. In one of the 'Metamorphoses' best known stories, the Theban Actaeon is transformed into a stag by the goddess Diana and is devoured by his own dogs. What offense does Actaeon commit which causes this punishment? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Next we come to one of Jupiter's many sexual escapades. He falls in love with Semele, a Theban princess. Semele asks Jupiter to make love to her with the same power and might that he makes love to his wife Juno. Jupiter agrees to the request. What happens next? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. What does Narcissus, the Boeotian hunter, fall in love with? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Pyramus and Thisbe are the original doomed lovers. They come from rival households and their parents forbid them to wed. They agree to secretly meet up beneath a mulberry tree. Thisbe arrives first but she encounters a vicious lion with bloodstained lips. What happens next? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Why does Minerva turn Arachne into a spider? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The Cretan king Minos is besieging the city of Megara, ruled by king Nisus. Nisus' daughter Scylla falls in love with the enemy Minos and commits a crime to help Minos win the war. What does she do? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The craftsman Daedelus and his son Icarus are held prisoner by Minos in a very tall tower on Crete. What does Daedelus create to help them escape from the tower? Hint



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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. We begin with Ovid's cosmogony. The world is created by the gods with the elements all being put in order. There follows a description of Ovid's Ages of Man. How many Ages of Man are there?

Answer: four

In the Golden Age, the world is perfect, ruled by the Titans, free from conflict, where man lives a life of abundance. In the Silver Age, Jupiter overthrows the Titans and becomes king of the gods. Humans now have to work for a living.

Then comes the Bronze age where man becomes prone to warfare. Finally, in the Iron age, man becomes impious and corrupt as all order is lost.
2. Jupiter becomes digusted by the corruption of mankind in the Iron age. He therefore wipes out all of humanity except for the pious Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha. How does Jupiter go about killing everyone?

Answer: Flood

Jupiter's anger is sparked after Lycaon, the tyrant of Arcadia, disrespects him and even tries to kill him! This inspires the great god to punish the entire human race. Ths other gods try talk him out of it. They tell him that, with no humans left, there will be no-one able to make offerings and sacrafices to the gods; but Jupiter goes ahead with it anyway.

A great flood wipes out all of humanity except this pious couple who are to re-populate the Earth, as ordered by the gods themselves. Does this sound familiar? It is likely that much of this story is derived from similar origins to the Biblical story of Noah.
3. The god Apollo is shot by Eros' arrow, which causes him to fall in love with the nymph Daphne. He chases Daphne through the forest. Daphne prays for the gods to protect her, and so she is transformed into something. What is she transformed into?

Answer: Laurel tree

Daphne is transformed into a laurel tree. However, this does not stop Apollo's advances, and he begins to embrace the bark of the tree. As a result, the laurel tree was adopted as one of the sacred symbols of Apollo.
4. In one of the 'Metamorphoses' best known stories, the Theban Actaeon is transformed into a stag by the goddess Diana and is devoured by his own dogs. What offense does Actaeon commit which causes this punishment?

Answer: He accidently sees Diana bathing in the nude.

This is an example of divine anger and injustice. Ovid remarks, in Actaeon's defense, that "if you look carefully, you will find that it was the fault of chance and not wickedness: what wickedness is there in error?"

Ovid was exiled from Rome by the emperor Augustus for committing an "error." It is known that Augustus found much of Ovid's work highly inappropriate. Perhaps here Ovid is defending his own "error" as something he did by accident, for which he should not be punished.
5. Next we come to one of Jupiter's many sexual escapades. He falls in love with Semele, a Theban princess. Semele asks Jupiter to make love to her with the same power and might that he makes love to his wife Juno. Jupiter agrees to the request. What happens next?

Answer: The force of Jupiter's sexual power kills Semele.

Although Semele is incinerated by the sexual energy of Jupiter, a baby is extracted from her womb, who turns out to be the god Dionysus.

As you may have noticed, none of the stories mentioned so far have portrayed the gods in a very positive light. Throughout the 'Metamorphoses', Jupiter conducts countless extra-marital affairs which usually end with the wrath of Juno being inflicted upon Jupiter's lovers.
6. What does Narcissus, the Boeotian hunter, fall in love with?

Answer: His own reflection

Narcissus sees his own image in the lake and is captivated by the beauty of the reflection. He ends his days staring into the lake, eventually withering a way and becoming a narcissus flower.

This is one of the best known stories from the 'Metamorphoses', having inspired countless artistic renderings, from Caravaggio to Dali, to name two of the best known examples. Also from this story comes the word narcissist.
7. Pyramus and Thisbe are the original doomed lovers. They come from rival households and their parents forbid them to wed. They agree to secretly meet up beneath a mulberry tree. Thisbe arrives first but she encounters a vicious lion with bloodstained lips. What happens next?

Answer: Thisbe flees, leaving behind her veil.

Thisbe runs away from the lion but her veil falls off as she is fleeing. The lion, with bloodstained lips, mutilates the veil. When Pyramus arrives and sees it in shreds, he assumes Thisbe to be dead, so he falls upon his sword to commit suicide. And then Thisbe comes back and, at the sight of Pyramus' dead body, she commits suicide also.

Does Romeo and Juliet come to mind?
8. Why does Minerva turn Arachne into a spider?

Answer: Because Minerva was jealous of Arachne's skill in weaving.

Arachne had boasted that she was the finest weaver in the world. The goddess Minerva (goddess of crafts, amongst other things) challenges her to a weaving contest, in which Arachne produces the far superior work. To make matters worse, Arachne's tapestry showed images of the gods seducing mortals and having affairs. And so a jealous Minerva turned Arachne into a spider, where she would weave for all eternity...

From here we get the word arachnid.
9. The Cretan king Minos is besieging the city of Megara, ruled by king Nisus. Nisus' daughter Scylla falls in love with the enemy Minos and commits a crime to help Minos win the war. What does she do?

Answer: She cuts off Nisus' hair.

Scylla cuts off Nisus' hair, which allows Minos to win the war. But this isn't just any old hair; Nisus has one magical purple lock in the middle of his white hair which ensures the power and safety of Megara. With this gone, Minos can conquer the city.

However Minos is disgusted by Scylla's impiety and her passion for the Cretan king is not reciprocated. She is turned into a bird and flies away. Nisus also turns into a bird...
10. The craftsman Daedelus and his son Icarus are held prisoner by Minos in a very tall tower on Crete. What does Daedelus create to help them escape from the tower?

Answer: Wings

Daedelus built the labyrinth which houses the Minotaur. Minos had Daedelus imprisoned because he feared that the craftsman would tell people the route to escape the labyrinth.

Daedelus creates wings out of feathers which land at the top of the tower. However, despite being instructed not to do so, his son Icarus uses the wings to fly too close to the sun and the heat melts the wax which holds the feathers together. And so Icarus drowns.
Source: Author GPSpann

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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