Mighty Mythological Women Warriors Quiz

Answer: Athena

Athena was "born" fully grown and with a helmet, shield, and spear directly from the forehead of her father, Zeus. In the book "Iliad", she is depicted as a war goddess and shares that duty with the god Ares. However, unlike her male counterpart, Athena prefers using wisdom to settle issues and not immediate violence.

She is known to use her warrior skills to help defend city-states and promote justice. As seen in the photo here, she is usually shown wearing a helmet and armor. She can be spotted with her spirit animal, the owl, which also represents wisdom and close observation. She also gifted Athens (and any of us who like olive oil) the olive tree.

Answer: Ireland

In Celtic mythology, the Morrigan can appear alone or as a group of sisters who are named Badb, Macha, and Nemain. The Morrigan is a shapeshifter and can appear as different animals, such as an eel or a wolf. However, she most famously transforms herself into a raven that appears on battlefields. As this bird, she shrieks and flaps around to panic the opposing army.

The Morrigan also supernaturally puts both extreme courage into the hearts of her favored warriors and crippling fear into her enemies. She can "see" the outcome of battles, much like an oracle. No warrior wanted to catch a glimpse of her washing his bloody clothes by a stream as that means he is fated to die in the upcoming battle.

Answer: Amazons

The Amazons were a race of female warriors known for their independence, horsemanship, and archery skills. Men were completely excluded from their society except for mating purposes. Babies were only kept if they were female; otherwise, they were sent to their father or killed. The women grew up learning many forms of combat including using spears, axes, and bows and arrows.

Several Amazons were featured in various sagas over the years. For instance, a queen named Penthesilea sided with the Trojans during the Trojan War. She herself killed many Greeks before dying at the hands of Achilles. Another queen, Hippolyta, owned a magical golden girdle (think of Wonder Woman) that was taken from her by Heracles.

Answer: Lioness

Sekhmet, whose name means "The Powerful One", was involved in battles, symbolized divine retribution, and was the bringer of plagues. Yet she was also the goddess of healing, closely associated with medicine and surgery. As an example, her anger could bring sickness and death, but once appeased, she had the power to heal what she had wounded. This made her both loved and feared by the people.

She is the daughter of the god Ra, and was sent by him in the form of a lioness to punish people for not behaving as they should. A legend states that Ra was worried she would kill everyone so he mixed 7,000 jars of beer with red juice to trick her into thinking it was blood. She drank them all! Not shockingly, she passed out and slept for days and woke up with her wish for blood gone.

Answer: Skye

At her fortress on the Isle of Skye, Scathach trained many Celtic heroes in the arts of pole vaulting (useful in the assault of forts), underwater fighting, and combat with a barbed harpoon of her own invention. It was called the gae bolg and could allegedly penetrate shields and maim or kill even if it was thrown from a vast distance.Her most famous student was the great hero Cu Chulainn, who was known as the "Hound of Ulster".

Scathach's role transformed over time to include the realm of the dead. As a Celtic goddess of the dead, she was in charge of taking worthy warriors who were killed in battle to the Lands of Eternal Youth.

Answer: Hua Mulan

Hua Mulan, whose name means "magnolia flower", learned that her ailing father was drafted to fight. She secretly dressed as a man and took his place. She served gallantly for twelve years, fighting in numerous battles and earning great honor. Her fellow soldiers never realized she was a woman! After the war, she declined a promotion and went home where she revealed her true identity.

Hua Mulan was featured in an epic poem named "The Ballad of Mulan" which was composed in the 5th or 6th century CE. Disney also featured her, with several differences from the ballad, in an animated movie in 1998 and in a live-action movie in 2020. Both were called "Mulan".

Answer: Samurai warrior

Tomoe Gozen supposedly grew up with her male cousin and learned martial arts alongside him. Continuing her training, she became a samurai warrior. Legend states that she was a remarkably strong archer and an expert with the sword. She was an expert horse rider and could almost magically tame the animals. An epic poem states that she could "confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot."

It is said that after her cousin, who was reported to also be her lover, was killed she avenged his death. She then stole his head and walked into the sea with it, drowning herself. In Japan, she remains a popular figure in mythology and even in modern culture where she stars in such things as video games.

Answer: Romans

Boudicca's husband was a king in what is now modern-day Norfolk, England. After his death, Roman leaders took over his lands, beat Boudicca and raped her daughters. This led to a rebellion that was headed by Boudicca. She delivered fiery, motivational speeches to a massive army, reminding them of the wrongs they had suffered. According to legend and myth, she led armies that killed tens of thousands of Romans and citizens who sided with that group.

In the final battle, Boudicca is depicted as having directed her army from her chariot behind the lines. However, the Romans were able to defeat the upstart Britons in that battle. Though beaten, Boudicca is immortalized as a symbol of resistance. She can still be found in art, literature, and as a statue near Westminster Bridge in London.

Answer: The hunt

Artemis was a virgin goddess of hunting and of the wilderness. She also has associations with wild and domestic animals, fertility and childbirth, rites of passage, chastity, and the moon. She is shown as a young, beautiful huntress carrying a quiver of arrows and holding a bow. She is also often accompanied by an animal such as a deer or a hunting dog.

She was very proud of her chastity and harshly defended the innocence of her worshipers and priestesses. As "Lady of Beasts", Artemis presides over all wild creatures, but also protects domestic animals, and can cure them when they are sick. She was also very tough, though, and together with Apollo, she would kill mortals who had earned the wrath of Zeus.

Answer: Valhalla

These Norse warrior women rode on horseback (sometimes described as wolves or ravens in older myths) over battlefields. Interestingly, the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) was believed to be the reflection of their armor as they rode. The god Odin determines who lives and who dies in battle and those chosen are guided to Odin's hall by the Valkyries. Once there, the women shed their fierce battle clothes to serve the chosen with mead and food during their endless feasts.

In several heroic sagas, Valkyries take on more personal roles. They would protect specific heroes in battle through magic and guidance, and in some stories, they even marry those men, although they typically leave after a few years.