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Quiz about Feral Children in Legend Literature  and Life
Quiz about Feral Children in Legend Literature  and Life

Feral Children in Legend, Literature -- and Life Quiz


Stories of young children raised or nursed by non-human animals abound in legend and literature and in real life as well. I have tried to make a quiz that tests knowledge of mythology, literature, history, current events and zoology.

A multiple-choice quiz by xaosdog. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
xaosdog
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
68,107
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
7 / 15
Plays
5206
Awards
Editor's Choice
- -
Question 1 of 15
1. In Greek mythology which of the following spent his early infancy suckled by a she-bear on the slopes of Mount Ida, after being abandoned there to die by his prophecy-shy father? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. According to Roman myth, the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were kept alive as infants by a female of what species? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. In a legend from Irish mythology, what animal was the only mother the warrior-poet Oisin ever knew? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. Which of the following is NOT a foundling-animal nurse match-up celebrated in legend? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. From literature, which of the following is the name of the person who was raised from infancy to manhood by 'anthropoid' apes? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. By what beasts was Mowgli raised? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. Which of the following was the twin brother of Valentine, nephew to King Pepin of France, who was suckled and raised by a she-bear (as his name might well suggest) after being lost in a forest as an infant? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. Octavian, son of the Roman Emperor Octavian, was (according to the eponymous romance) raised by which of the following? Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. Kamala and Amala, perhaps the most widely known feral children to have come to the attention of modern science, were raised by what animals until found by the Reverend J. A. L. Singh in 1920? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. In 1998, the international press was full of stories of a six year-old boy who had spent the previous two years living with a pack of wild dogs. The authorities had been aware of the boy for some time, and police had made serious efforts to 'capture' him, but the initial efforts had all failed because the boy and the dogs worked together so cleverly and the dogs defended him so savagely. In what city did all of this take place? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. Another 'dog-boy' whose case made international headlines was dubbed 'Axel' by authorities interested in protecting his identity; he was about ten years old in June 2001 when taken from the dogs who nurtured him (including permitting him to suckle milk). In what country did this take place? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. In Uganda, in 1989, a boy approximately five years old was taken into human society after living for perhaps two years among animals. Among what animals did John Ssebunya live? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. There is a documented case of a she-leopard hunting, capturing and rearing a human child to replace cubs she had recently lost?


Question 14 of 15
14. There are documented cases of reptiles keeping human children alive for periods of time measured in months?


Question 15 of 15
15. There is evidence to indicate that children raised by animals emerge from childhood more resistant to disease and more physically advanced than children raised within the human community?



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In Greek mythology which of the following spent his early infancy suckled by a she-bear on the slopes of Mount Ida, after being abandoned there to die by his prophecy-shy father?

Answer: Paris

After Paris' mother dreamed that she gave birth, not to a child but to a burning faggot writhing with fire snakes, a seer prophesied (correctly) that the boy would bring about the destruction of Troy. He was abandoned to die of exposure, but was kept alive by a she-bear.

This is not particularly far-fetched: I am writing in February 2002, and as recently as October 2001 Iranian authorities reported finding a lost sixteen-month old baby who had been kept alive in a she-bear's den, suckled by the mother bear.
2. According to Roman myth, the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were kept alive as infants by a female of what species?

Answer: wolf

Twin brothers Romulus and Remus were the sons of Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, who had been deposed as king of Alba Longa by his own brother Amulius. To prevent the continuance of the true royal line, Amulius caused Rhea Silvia to become a vestal virgin.

However, the maid was impregnated, apparently by the god Mars, who appeared to her in a dream. The progeny of the union were abandoned to die of exposure, but were suckled by a she-wolf (in addition, and less plausibly, a woodpecker fetched food for them). Eventually the twins grew up to restore their grandfather to his throne before founding a city of their own.
3. In a legend from Irish mythology, what animal was the only mother the warrior-poet Oisin ever knew?

Answer: doe

Oisin's mother had been transformed into a deer by an evil druid. For a brief period she was freed from the enchantment by Finn mac Cumhal, who made her his wife. However, shortly after becoming pregnant, the hapless Saba was once again captured by the druid and turned back into a deer.

Her human son was born, and she raised him as best she could in cervine form until she was slain by the druid. Luckily for Oisin, his father Finn found him not long afterward. Finn raised the boy and taught him human speech, only then hearing the boy's story and discovering that he was his son.
4. Which of the following is NOT a foundling-animal nurse match-up celebrated in legend?

Answer: Krishna, suckled by elephant

Krishna's childhood was spent in the company of his parents, Nanda and Yasoda.
5. From literature, which of the following is the name of the person who was raised from infancy to manhood by 'anthropoid' apes?

Answer: John Clayton

The anthropoid apes or mangani of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel knew him as Tarzan, but his birth name was John Clayton. (William Cecil Clayton, John's cousin, bore John's 'rightful' aristocratic title until John's true identity was generally revealed. Taylor and Davidson were the protagonists of, respectfully, Pierre Boulle's novel Planet of the Apes and Tim Burton's brilliant 2001 film adaptation thereof.) Robinson Crusoe is the eponymous hero in the novel by Daniel Defoe.
6. By what beasts was Mowgli raised?

Answer: wolves

Mowgli, 'Little Frog' in the Hindi-inspired animal language created by Jungle Books author Rudyard Kipling, was raised by a family of wolves. Kipling is said to have been inspired by a real-life case of a wolf-boy found near Lucknow. The Lucknow boy was culturally lupine, and was never successfully brought into human society.
7. Which of the following was the twin brother of Valentine, nephew to King Pepin of France, who was suckled and raised by a she-bear (as his name might well suggest) after being lost in a forest as an infant?

Answer: Orson

Valentine and Orson (French 'ourson,' little bear) were the sons of Bellisant (or Bellyssant), sister to Pepin and wife of Alexander of Constantinople. Bellisant, an outcast, gave birth in a wood near Orleans to her two sons. Lost soon thereafter, Valentine was rescued and returned to civilization, but Orson was snatched up by a bear to feed to her cubs.

However, the bear cubs befriended the boy rather than eat him, so the bear raised him as one of her own. Orson became something of an Enkidu to Valentine's Gilgamesh, growing up a 'wild man of the forest' against whom Valentine ultimately contended in battle before befriending and reclaiming him as a lost brother.

After the reconciliation, Orson learned human speech and ultimately made it big in the French aristocracy, marrying Fezon, daughter of the duke of Aquitaine.
8. Octavian, son of the Roman Emperor Octavian, was (according to the eponymous romance) raised by which of the following?

Answer: lioness

Believing (incorrectly) that his twin sons Octavian and Florent had been fathered by another man, Octavian exiles his wife and her infants. Octavian is immediately snatched up by a lioness, and Florent by an ape. The lioness is caught up by a griffin, who flies with lioness and Octavian both to a distant island.

There, the lioness kills the griffin, and raises Octavian as her own cub. Florent, by contrast, is quickly rescued from the ape by a knight, and although he is subsequently stolen from the knight by outlaws, who sell him to a pilgrim, he remains within the human community.

In the end, of course, everyone becomes a famous knight, is reunited, and lives happily ever after.
9. Kamala and Amala, perhaps the most widely known feral children to have come to the attention of modern science, were raised by what animals until found by the Reverend J. A. L. Singh in 1920?

Answer: wolves

Kamala appeared to be about eight years old when the girls were found, Amala about eighteen months. The girls were fierce violent when found, and never adjusted to human society. Indeed, even their appearance and posture were reportedly bestial to such a degree that it has been theorized that some mechanism of DNA transfer through the vector of the mother wolf's milk may have been operative.

In any event, the younger girl died of parasites and dysentary in 1921, and her older sister in 1929, never having learned much more than thirty words (and those entirely idiosyncratic to her, being neither English nor Bengali).
10. In 1998, the international press was full of stories of a six year-old boy who had spent the previous two years living with a pack of wild dogs. The authorities had been aware of the boy for some time, and police had made serious efforts to 'capture' him, but the initial efforts had all failed because the boy and the dogs worked together so cleverly and the dogs defended him so savagely. In what city did all of this take place?

Answer: Moscow

Unlike many feral children, Ivan Mishukov lived with his human family until he was four, so he could speak human language. After recapture and a period of transition, Ivan appears to be doing well in school, but he reports that he dreams of dogs when he sleeps at night.
11. Another 'dog-boy' whose case made international headlines was dubbed 'Axel' by authorities interested in protecting his {identity;} he was about ten years old in June 2001 when taken from the dogs who nurtured him (including permitting him to suckle milk). In what country did this take place?

Answer: Chile

'Axel' was abandoned by his family when five, and escaped from a children's center soon after. After being taken from the cave where he was living with the pack of dogs who had taken him in, he was placed in a new children's center. He escaped from there in November 2001, and, as of the date of this writing, has not been recaptured.
12. In Uganda, in 1989, a boy approximately five years old was taken into human society after living for perhaps two years among animals. Among what animals did John Ssebunya live?

Answer: monkeys

John was found living among vervet monkeys. An English psychologist who briefly observed him reported it was impossible the vervets had actually cared for him 'in any real sense,' indeed that no nonhuman animal could possibly provide care for a human child.

However, his assessment was at odds both with the details of the boy's story (once he re-learned human speech), with reports of witnesses (who said that the vervets fiercely attempted to defend John from the humans attempting to 'save' him), and with the assessments of primatologists amazed by his ability to interact with vervets.

In any event, John is now classified as mildly mentally retarded, but has a fine singing voice, and at the age of fourteen was a member of the Pearl of Africa children's choir.
13. There is a documented case of a she-leopard hunting, capturing and rearing a human child to replace cubs she had recently lost?

Answer: True

Three years later, the child was found again, almost blind, possibly from malnutrition. His hands and feet were calloused like paws. He bit and scratched anyone who came near, and ate small birds and raw meat. After being returned to his family, he eventually learned to walk bipedally.
14. There are documented cases of reptiles keeping human children alive for periods of time measured in months?

Answer: False

Are you kidding? Reptiles?
15. There is evidence to indicate that children raised by animals emerge from childhood more resistant to disease and more physically advanced than children raised within the human community?

Answer: False

There is evidence that feral children sometimes have astounding resistance to cold, and sometimes to pain. But they are frequently on the point of expiring from parasites and disease when found by humans;. They often have severe physical ailments associated with malnutrition and they frequently end up with severe joint and/or spinal problems.

They are often mentally retarded as a result of their upbringing outside the human community.
Source: Author xaosdog

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