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130 The Trojan War Trivia Questions, Answers, and Fun Facts

How much do you know about The Trojan War? This category is for trivia questions and answers related to The Trojan War (Humanities). Each one is filled with fun facts and interesting information.
1 Who were Hector's parents?
Answer: Priam and Hecuba

Hector was the eldest son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. He was a direct descendant of Tros, the founder of Troy, and, through him, a descendent of Zeus as well. Hector had plenty of brothers and half-brothers. The Iliad says that Priam had 50 sons, 19 of them with Queen Hecuba. Of these, 22 are mentioned by name in the Iliad. Priam also had numerous daughters.
  From Quiz: Hector: Troy's Greatest Champion
2 A golden apple is a key part of the story of the Judgement of Paris. Which evil goddess made the apple?
Answer: Eris

Eris was the goddess of discord. Poor thing - her "job" was to cause trouble everywhere she went. No one wanted to hang out with her, and because of this she was typically excluded from activities on Mt. Olympus. Angry, resentful, and the only deity not invited to the big wedding, Eris showed up at the banqueting hall with the golden apple.
    Your options: [ Leucothea ] [ Medusa ] [ Eris ] [ Thalia ]
  From Quiz: The Judgement of Paris
3 What was the name of the great king of Mycenae who led the Greeks to eventual victory over the Trojans?
Answer: Agamemnon

Agamemnon was the great king of Mycenae. He is known as a great king or "wanax" as he dominated over the kings of the other ancient city states that made up ancient Greece or Achaea, as it was known then.
  From Quiz: The Trojan War
4 Heinrich Schliemann was the man who was credited with the discovery of the ruins of the city of Troy thousands of years after it was destroyed. However, another man had already made small excavations on the site. Who was he?
Answer: Frank Calvert

Frank Calvert had made small excavations on one part of Hisarlik and uncovered some ruins. It is said that it was he who gave Schliemann the idea to dig on Hisarlik.
  From Quiz: Troy
5 Helen's father was Zeus, and he was said to have appeared to her mother, Leda, as a swan. What color egg was Helen said to have been hatched from?
Answer: Blue

It was a blue egg Helen was said to have been hatched from. In some tales, her brother, Polydeuces is also said to have hatched from an egg.
  From Quiz: The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships
6 Which hero was staying at Skyros, at Lykomedes' palace, disguised as a girl?
Answer: Achilles

Achilles' mother, Thetis, knew that her son would be in great danger if he participated in the Trojan War. So, she hid him at King Lykomedes' palace, among his daughters and disguised as a girl. But Calchas the prophet told the Greek kings that they couldn't defeat the Trojans without Achilles. So, Odysseus went to Skyros with Diomedes to find him. Odysseus, disguised as a merchant, entered the palace and set down some jewels and dresses for women, and some weapons too. While the other girls went to see the jewels and dresses, Achilles watched the weapons. And when Diomedes made a war signal with a horn, Thetis' son took the weapons and prepared to fight. So, he was recognized and accepted to follow the two kings to the war.
    Your options: [ Achilles ] [ Odysseus ] [ Ajax ] [ Agamemnon ]
  From Quiz: The Trojan War
7 Who was the goddess of discord who wasn't wanted in Mt. Olympus and wasn't invited to a very important wedding?
Answer: Eris

Eris is the ONLY goddess of discord. She was also the only one who wasn't wanted, because she was evil just like Ares. She was the only one not invited to the wedding because the gods didn't want to have any trouble at the wedding of Peleus, Zeus' grandson.
  From Quiz: Trojan War: The Real Version
8 What is the name of the woman who is said to have "started" the Trojan war?
Answer: Helen

Helen was the wife of King Meneleus. Helen ran away with Prince Paris of Troy, which prompted King Meneleus and his brother Agamemnon to go after her.
  From Quiz: The Myths of the Trojan War
9 Where was Troy to be found?
Answer: Turkey

The remains of Troy were found in Turkey.
  From Quiz: The History of Troy
10 Who was the leading hero on the Trojan side?
Answer: Hector

The answer is Hector, who was killed, in the 9th year of the Trojan War, by Achilles.
  From Quiz: The Trojan War
11 What words were engraved on the golden apple?
Answer: to the fairest

When the guests at the wedding saw the golden apple, they immediately began to discuss who should receive it. Needless to say, the apple created quite a bit of a stir - exactly the trouble that was anticipated - and drew everyone's attention from the wedding to the issue at hand - who is the fairest?
  From Quiz: The Judgement of Paris
12 What is the name traditionally given to the ancient author of the "Iliad", the ancient epic that contributes a lot to our understanding of the Trojan War?
Answer: Homer

It is not known exactly who wrote 'the Iliad' and some believe more than one person had a hand in it. But the name given by historians to the writer of the poem is Homer. "The Iliad" means "the Trojan". Although there is no agreement as to when he lived, it is thought that his poems were finished in about 750 B.C. Troy was known as "Ilium" in ancient times as well as Troy because its founder, Ilus, son of Tros named it after himself.
  From Quiz: The Trojan War
13 When of age to be married, Helen had many suitors, so King Tyndareus made all the men swear an oath that they would be content with whoever Helen chose to marry. Whom did she end up choosing?
Answer: Menelaus

She did end up choosing Menelaus as her husband. He left his palace at Mycenae where his brother was king, and became the King of Sparta.
  From Quiz: The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships
14 When Hercules came to Salamina, he stayed at Telamon's house. While he was there, he placed the lion's skin around Telamon's child, making it almost invulnerable. Which was this child?
Answer: Ajax

Telamon was Hercules' friend. He was married to Periboea, a daughter of Alcathous, and they had a son, Ajax the Great. When he was born, Hercules was at Salamina. Wanting to make the child invulnerable, he covered almost all his body with the lion's skin he was always wearing. The only part of the body that wasn't covered was the place under the hands, because Hercules held him from there. (Different versions of this story give other sites of vulnerability, but all agree that he, like Achilles, had a weak point.) Later, when Ajax wanted to commit suicide, he was hit there and died.
    Your options: [ Ajax ] [ Achilles ] [ Odysseus ] [ Agamemnon ]
  From Quiz: The Trojan War
15 Why was the wedding very important?
Answer: It was the wedding of one of Zeus' grandsons.

It was the wedding of one of Zeus' grandsons. All of the divinities were invited to come except Eris, goddess of discord.
  From Quiz: Trojan War: The Real Version
16 Achilles was rumoured to be the greatest warrior ever born, and he proved it on the Trojan shores. Many men were slain by his Myrmidons, not to mention this Queen of the Amazonians. What was her name?
Answer: Penthesilea

In rare versions of the story (mostly painted on vases made in Athens in 500 BC), Penthesilea came to the Trojans' aid from the east, where her warrior-women fought against the Achaean army. Vicious as they were, the Amazonians were all killed in battle. There is a great Greek vase in the British Museum which was made around 500 BC that shows Achilles killing Penthesilea with a spear in her throat. An add-on to this myth tells how Achilles fell in love with the Queen before she died by his spear, which pierced her throat.
  From Quiz: Other Myths of the Trojan War
17 Who did the woman who started the Trojan War run away with?
Answer: Prince Paris

Helen ran away with Paris. Prince Hector was Paris' brother, Odysseus was a Greek king and warrior, and Priam was the king of Troy and Paris and Hector's father.
  From Quiz: The Myths of the Trojan War
18 Letīs start at the beginning. Who founded Troy?
Answer: Dardanos

Dardanos founded the city, he called it Dardania. His grandson extended the family's lands and called the people Trojans.
  From Quiz: The History of Troy
19 Whose wedding was interrupted by the golden apple being tossed in the midst of the guests in the banquet hall?
Answer: Peleus and Thetis

Peleus, a grandson of Zeus, eventually became king of Phthia. The sea nymph, Thetis, was his third wife. Apparently both Zeus and Poseidon had been interested in her, but were put off by the prophecy of Proteus, who said that the son born of Thetis would be mightier than his father. Indeed, Peleus and Thetis were the parents of the great Achilles. Thetis left Peleus when he would not allow her to make her son immortal, but several years later returned to grant Peleus immortality (he was one of the few mortals privileged enough to hear the Muses sing) and live together in her father's home.
  From Quiz: The Judgement of Paris
20 What is the name of the famous prince of Phthia that was a vital part of the Trojan war?
Answer: Achilles

Achilles son of Peleus was the prince of Phthia and leader of the infamous Myrmadons. He is a key character in Homer's "Iliad" and is a well known hero in Greek mythology. The myth says that his mother, the sea nymph Thetis, dipped him into the River Styx to give him immortality, but the heel by which she held him did not go in the river and so became his weak spot. This is where the term "Achilles' heel" comes from.
  From Quiz: The Trojan War
21 Odysseus was the man who came up with the idea of the oath and proposed it to Tyndareus. What did Odysseus want in return?
Answer: The hand of Penelope in marriage

Odysseus came as a suitor to Helen, but only wanted Penelope's hand in marriage. Penelope's father, Icarius, swore that no one would marry his daughter unless that suitor beat him in a footrace. Odysseus succeeded.
  From Quiz: The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships
22 In the Trojan War, the Greeks occupied a lot of cities near Troy and took a lot of slaves. Who took Briseis?
Answer: Achilles

Briseis was a woman from a town called Lyrnessos. She was taken as a slave by Achilles. Later, Agamemnon, when he was forced to free his slave Chryseis, took Briseis from Achilles. At this, Achilles decided to withdraw from battle. At the end, she was given to Achilles again.
  From Quiz: The Trojan War
23 Whose judgment caused the Trojan War?
Answer: Paris

The Judgment of Paris. First, Eris, the goddess of discord, wasn't invited to the wedding of Peleus, grandson of Zeus, because she was bad. Therefore, as revenge, she sent an apple saying "To the Fairest". All of the divinities there wanted the apple but it ended up that Hera, Athena and Aphrodite fought for it. They went to Zeus to make him choose who was the fairest among them, but Zeus didn't want anything to do with it. He told them to go to Paris, Prince of Troy, and ask him instead, for he was a great judge of beauty. Paris chose Aphrodite, with her offer that the most beautiful woman would be his. It was because he didn't want to do anything with conquering lands or ruling a country, which Athena and Hera offered respectively. By that the other two goddesses were angered, and the Trojan war started.
  From Quiz: Trojan War: The Real Version
24 The Amazonian Queen was not the only royal to fall to Achilles' wrath, for King Memnon also met his end facing the Myrmidons. But, what country was he king of?
Answer: Ethiopia

Memnon was King of Ethiopia and came into the Trojan war near the end. It is told in some accounts that the Ethiopians were not entirely welcome in Troy, as there were already too many mouths to feed in the starving city. The myth also tells that, when Memnon was killed, the whole Ethiopian army changed into birds and flew away.
  From Quiz: Other Myths of the Trojan War
25 Who was Paris' warrior brother?
Answer: Hector

One of Paris' many brothers was Hector, who lead the Trojan armies against the Greeks. Hector was killed by Achilles, the Greek hero.
  From Quiz: The Myths of the Trojan War
26 The castle in Troy was called Pergamos. What was kept here?
Answer: A wooden statue of the goddess Athena

The Statue was called the Palladium. Troy couldn't fall unless the Palladium was removed.
  From Quiz: The History of Troy
27 What is the name of Helen's mother?
Answer: Leda

Leda was the wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. She was raped by Zeus in the form of a swan and Helen (along with Castor and Pollux) were born from an egg.
  From Quiz: Facts of Troy
28 Who is the Greek champion, the son of Telemon, who fought a duel with Hector that ended in a draw and an exchange of of gifts?
Answer: Ajax

In "The Iliad", Ajax is often called "Telamonian Ajax", or "Ajax the Great", to distinguish him from another Greek warrior, Ajax, the son of Oileus, who is called "Ajax the Lesser". He is described as a man of great size and strength, and, aside from Achilles, the best warrior among the Greeks. When Hector challenged the Greeks to send a man to meet him in single combat, Ajax was chosen by lot to fight the Trojan champion. Ajax actually seems to have gotten the better of Hector in their duel, knocking him down with a large stone, and wounding Hector with his spear. After they had been fighting all day, their match was declared a draw. Hector gave Ajax his sword, and Ajax gave Hector his belt.

When Achilles was killed by Paris, Ajax and Odysseus rescued his body from the Trojans. Each wanted Achilles' armor for himself. When it was awarded to Odysseus, Ajax was so overcome with grief that he killed himself by falling on his sword - the same sword given to him by Hector.
  From Quiz: Hector: Troy's Greatest Champion
29 What is the name of the famous king of Ithaca who was known for his wits and cunning?
Answer: Odysseus

Odysseus was the heroic and cunning king of the island state of Ithaca. He was an asset to the Greeks in the Trojan war and if the myth of the Trojan horse is true, then it is thought that he would have been the inventor. In Homer's "Odyssey" we are told of Odysseus' epic trip home where he battles monsters, sirens and a sorceress. He is even said to have travelled to the underworld where he spoke with the spirits of Achilles and Agamemnon. He eventually reached Ithaca and is thought to have lived happily ever after.
  From Quiz: The Trojan War
30 Helen and Menelaus had one child. What was her name?
Answer: Hermione

Persephone is the god that Helen was said to have looked up to, besides Aphrodite. Clytemnestra was Helen's sister. Hecuba was the Queen of Troy.
  From Quiz: The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships
31 Which Greek set his foot first on the coast of Troy and was killed at the first battle?
Answer: Protesilaus

There was a prophesy telling that the first Greek warrior who set foot at Troy's coast would die. So, when the Greek ships reached the coast, no one wanted to come down first. The brave king Protesilaus from Thessaly got out of his ship first, and he was killed by Hector at the first battle. Achilles couldn't help him because he was battling Cycnus, Poseidon's son. Protesilaus' body was sent to Thessaly, to his wife Laodameia. She mourned her husband and refused to marry again. Zeus decided to allow Protesilaus' soul to return for one hour to the world of the living and then he ordered Hermes to carry both of them to Hades.
    Your options: [ Protesilaus ] [ Eyrypylos ] [ Epeius ] [ Thersites ]
  From Quiz: The Trojan War
32 The goddesses each offered a bribe to the man who made the judgement. Whose bribe did he choose, and what was it?
Answer: the most beautiful woman will be his, Aphrodite

Paris chose Aphrodite's bribe because he didn't want to do anything about ruling, because he was (at least he thought he was) a mere shepherd.
  From Quiz: Trojan War: The Real Version
33 Who was the general who ran naked on the plains of Illium (where the ashes of Achilles and Patroclus were supposed to be buried) in honour of Achilles, several hundreds of years later?
Answer: Alexander the Great

While Alexander the Great passed through modern day Turkey when fighting the Persians, he stopped at the site of Troy and honoured his Homeric heroes. On the Plains of Illium there was a mound called the 'Kesik tepe', supposed burial mound of Achilles and Patroclus. On knowing this, Alexander stripped naked in front of his men and ran around the mound to pay his respects. He was also joined by Hephaestion, who ran naked for Patroclus. Many other lesser generals have done this over the years.
  From Quiz: Other Myths of the Trojan War
34 Who came up with the idea of the Trojan Horse?
Answer: Odysseus

Odysseus was the brains behind the Trojan Horse. Odysseus was king of Ithaca, and did not want to go to war against the Trojans. Odysseus pretended to be crazy and plowed his fields with no seeds. To test if he was really crazy, the others took his baby boy and put him in front of Odysseus' plow. When Odysseus guided the plow away from his son, the other kings knew Odysseus was not crazy and he had to join the army.
  From Quiz: The Myths of the Trojan War
35 No one knows who took the Palladium. Who stole it according to Homer?
Answer: Odysseus and Diomedes

It was Odysseus and Diomedes. They crept into Troy at night and stole the statue.
  From Quiz: The History of Troy
36 What started the Trojan War?
Answer: All of these.

A series of events led to the Trojan war. Although in the romantic version of the story, it was above all (or only) the kidnap of Helen that caused the start of the war. However, there were more issues such as the oath of Tyndareus, an oath that every suitor of Helen made to protect her husband's honour before Helen's husband was chosen. And underneath it all, was also Agamemnon's lust for power and control of Troy's riches that cemented the war altogether.
    Your options: [ Agamemnon's lust for power ] [ The kidnap of Helen ] [ The oath of Tyndareus ] [ All of these. ]
  From Quiz: Facts of Troy
37 Who wounded Aphrodite in the war?
Answer: Diomedes

Aphrodite was wounded by Diomedes, urged on by Athena.
  From Quiz: The Trojan War
38 Hector killed this Greek warrior, who was Achilles' best friend. Who was he?
Answer: Patroclus

At one point during the war, Achilles refused to fight because Agamemnon had taken away a slave girl he believed was rightfully his. As Achilles sulked in his tent, the Trojans drove back the Greeks almost to their ships. His best friend, Patroclus, donned Achilles' armor and led the Greeks in a counterattack that pushed the Trojans back to the walls of their city. He was then killed by Hector, who stripped his body of Achilles' armor. When Achilles learned of Patroclus' death, he flew into a rage and vowed to avenge him.
  From Quiz: Hector: Troy's Greatest Champion
39 Why was Paris, the prince of Troy, chosen to judge the "golden apple contest"?
Answer: Zeus felt he would be an impartial judge

Paris had shown his ability to be an impartial judge at a bull-judging contest. Zeus had sent Ares to the contest disguised as a bull. Of course, the Ares/bull was perfect in every way. Paris awarded him the Golden Laurels, rather than giving them to his own prize bull. Zeus gave the apple to Hermes to deliver to Paris along with the message that the goddesses would accept his decision. What Zeus didn't consider, however, was the fact that Paris was a man who might be swayed by a bribe.
  From Quiz: The Judgement of Paris
40 How is it said that Heinrich Schliemann died, and where?
Answer: A stroke in Naples, Italy

It is said that Schliemann collapsed in the street and was taken into a hotel foyer where he died. He was carried speechless and apparently penniless in a hotel foyer on the Piazza Umberto.
  From Quiz: Troy
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