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Quiz about Beauty and Ugliness
Quiz about Beauty and Ugliness

Beauty and Ugliness Trivia Quiz


Variations on Classical Themes: a counterpoint of questions on beauty and ugliness, encompassing philosophy, art, music, cinema, literature, science and more.

A multiple-choice quiz by Arlesienne. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
Arlesienne
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
272,112
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
20
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
13 / 20
Plays
5210
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: Guest 165 (7/20), Guest 50 (11/20), Kiwikaz (12/20).
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Question 1 of 20
1. What is the philosophy of beauty called? Hint


Question 2 of 20
2. What Italian expression, meaning "beautiful singing", defines an operatic style marked by perfect evenness of tones, vocal agility and brilliance? Hint


Question 3 of 20
3. Complete this quote by Rodney Dangerfield with the missing word: "When I was born I was so ugly the doctor slapped my _____" Hint


Question 4 of 20
4. Beauty to die for: ironically, the author of "The First Wives Club" and other best-sellers, who often advocated for the rights of ageing women, died during a face-lift at age 54. Who was she? Hint


Question 5 of 20
5. The oldest written testimony of plastic surgery appears in the "Sushruta Samhita", an early medical treatise that mentions several techniques for the reconstruction of noses, ears and lips. In which language is the original "Sushruta Samhita" written? Hint


Question 6 of 20
6. In his "Poetics" and "Metaphysics", Greek philosopher Aristotle formulated the chief forms of beauty which he found to be exemplified in mathematics. What are they? Hint


Question 7 of 20
7. According to James Joyce, this noun, originating from the Portuguese, is the "most intrinsically beautiful word in the English language". What word is it? Hint


Question 8 of 20
8. Joseph Merrick, known as "The Elephant Man" because of the monstrous deformation of his head and body, was the subject of a film by David Lynch starring John Hurt. Merrick died under mysterious circumstances, but, according to the doctor who took care of him, he suffocated because for once in his life he tried to do something in the same way as all normal people. What was it? Hint


Question 9 of 20
9. Aphrodite, the most beautiful of Greek goddesses, was married to the ugliest Olympian, the craftsman of the gods and god of fire. What was his name? Hint


Question 10 of 20
10. The "Belle of Louisville" is an iconic landmark in Kentucky. What is it?
Hint


Question 11 of 20
11. "Of the visages of things - And of piercing through to the accepted hells beneath; Of ugliness - To me there is just as much in it as there is in beauty - And now the ugliness of human beings is acceptable to me", wrote this American poet in his most celebrated work, a collection of poems judged by Ralph Waldo Emerson as "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed". Who is the poet? Hint


Question 12 of 20
12. Russian/French painter Marc Chagall stated: "Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of ____ - and never succeeding." Complete the quote with the missing word, which refers to a recurring motif in Chagall's paintings. Hint


Question 13 of 20
13. Dissenting from widespread aesthetic views, in "The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex", this English scientist formulated his theory that beauty in nature is not arbitrary, but the result of a sexual selection, and is equally significant for humans and animals. Who is he? Hint


Question 14 of 20
14. Gothic buildings are often adorned with grotesque carved creatures projecting from the roof gutter. What are such monsters called? Hint


Question 15 of 20
15. Complete Lord Byron's verse: "She walks in beauty ______

Hint


Question 16 of 20
16. Traditional iconography never shows an ancient Egyptian - man or woman - without elaborate make-up around the eyes. Called "Mesdemet", this special eye make-up was derived either from stibnite, the principal ore of antimony, or, more frequently, from lead sulphide. What is the primary mineral ore of lead? Hint


Question 17 of 20
17. Who recorded the title track "Beauty and the Beast" for the soundtrack to the eponymous Walt Disney movie that won an Academy Award and a Grammy Award?

Hint


Question 18 of 20
18. Elizabeth Arden opened her first beauty parlour in New York in 1909, and soon expanded world-wide. What symbol not only represents her salons and spas, but also supplies the name for one of her perfume lines?

Hint


Question 19 of 20
19. Who played the "Ugly" in Sergio Leone's western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"(1966)? Hint


Question 20 of 20
20. This nihilistic art movement - also referred to as "anti-art" - emerged during World War I. Its exponents, in their "non-artistic" works, reversed every traditional canon of aesthetics, ridiculing all existing art forms, and reflecting the absurdity and ugliness of a society that was able to generate such a barbaric conflict. What is the name of this movement, whose most notable members were Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Oct 03 2024 : Guest 165: 7/20
Sep 23 2024 : Guest 50: 11/20
Sep 06 2024 : Kiwikaz: 12/20
Sep 03 2024 : Guest 71: 12/20
Aug 23 2024 : Guest 207: 10/20
Aug 17 2024 : ptc123: 16/20
Aug 10 2024 : Guest 136: 15/20

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. What is the philosophy of beauty called?

Answer: Aesthetics

Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy which studies the nature and the perception of beauty, especially in the fine arts. The most significant thinkers have explored the theme of beauty, and analysed the focal question of aesthetics: what qualities make something or someone "beautiful"? Their approaches are basically founded on two categories: the objective and the subjective. In the former, beauty is inherent to the "object" and has universal validity; in the latter, beauty is "in the eyes of the beholder", i.e. it is a purely personal experience.
Aristotle and Plato saw beauty as an objective expression of symmetry and order, whereas 18th century philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant and David Hume, proposed new aesthetic theories, introducing the elements of subjectivity, pleasure and taste.
If in the distant past aesthetics was mostly a philosophical subject, the last two centuries have also seen many artists and critics contribute their views on the topic.
2. What Italian expression, meaning "beautiful singing", defines an operatic style marked by perfect evenness of tones, vocal agility and brilliance?

Answer: Bel canto

Bel canto (in Italian written "belcanto") is a style of singing which flourished in Italy in the 17th, the 18th and early 19th centuries. Operas in the bel canto style were written specifically to showcase singers' vocal virtuosity. They featured fluent, sparkling melodies, smooth legato, high coloratura passages, trills, and other ornaments.
Bel canto reached its peak in the works of three Italian composers who, between them, wrote about 130 operas: Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868, "The Barber of Seville"), Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835, "Norma") and Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848, "Lucia di Lammermoor").
Particularly famous practitioners of the art of bel canto included grand divas like Giuditta Pasta, Dame Joan Sutherland, and Maria Callas. Maybe it was because of the whims and the excesses of so many prima donnas that Gioacchino Rossini once sighed: "Oh how wonderful, really wonderful opera would be if there were no singers!"
3. Complete this quote by Rodney Dangerfield with the missing word: "When I was born I was so ugly the doctor slapped my _____"

Answer: Mother

American stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield (1921-2004) was especially famous for his vitriolic self-deprecating humour, especially regarding his own lack of physical attractiveness.
Some unforgettable examples:
"My psychiatrist told me I was crazy and I said I want a second opinion. He said okay, you're ugly too."
"Yeah, I know I'm ugly. I said to a bartender: 'Make me a zombie.' He said: 'God beat me to it'."
"I was such an ugly baby. My mother never breast fed me. She told me that she only liked me as a friend."
"I was so ugly my mother used to feed me with a sling shot."
"I'm so ugly; my mother had morning sickness -- AFTER I was born."
"I'm so ugly; I worked in a pet shop, and people kept asking how big I'd get."
4. Beauty to die for: ironically, the author of "The First Wives Club" and other best-sellers, who often advocated for the rights of ageing women, died during a face-lift at age 54. Who was she?

Answer: Olivia Goldsmith

Olivia Goldsmith's debut novel and biggest seller was the satirical "First Wives' Club" (1992) in which three women take revenge on husbands who left them for younger women. The novel was also turned into a hilarious movie starring Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton and Bette Midler.
The protagonists of her novels are often women who doubt themselves and their looks, who fear failure in love or business life; "women", she stated, "who worry about their careers, their lovers and their thighs. And in no particular order". Cosmetic surgery is omnipresent in her literary work, as miraculous remedy against personal problems. Her novels also show, though, that all exterior changes, without a true internal balance, are ultimately fruitless.
Her attempt to alter her own exterior ended tragically. Olivia Goldsmith died from complications during a face-lift. She was 54 years old. Among her best-sellers are: "Flavor of the Month", "Fashionably Late" and "Switcheroo".
5. The oldest written testimony of plastic surgery appears in the "Sushruta Samhita", an early medical treatise that mentions several techniques for the reconstruction of noses, ears and lips. In which language is the original "Sushruta Samhita" written?

Answer: Sanskrit

Having described already in 600 B.C. a rhinoplasty, an otoplasty - respectively, a nose and ear job - and the reconstruction of several body parts, the Indian surgeon Sushruta is rightfully called the "father of plastic surgery". His "Samhita" (a Sanskrit word meaning approximately "collection" or "compendium") is the oldest medical encyclopaedia still extant.

In it, he meticulously described over 1000 illnesses, as well as the most appropriate therapies or surgical interventions to treat them.

Moreover, he gave a detailed account of 121 instruments, which were surprisingly similar to those used today.
6. In his "Poetics" and "Metaphysics", Greek philosopher Aristotle formulated the chief forms of beauty which he found to be exemplified in mathematics. What are they?

Answer: Order, symmetry and definiteness

As odd as it may seem to those who have always considered math the "ugliest" of all school subjects, Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) stated in his "Metaphysics": "Those who assert that the mathematical sciences say nothing of the beautiful or the good are in error. For these sciences say and prove a great deal about them; if they do not expressly mention them, but prove attributes which are their results or definitions, it is not true that they tell us nothing about them. The chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness, which the mathematical sciences demonstrate in a special degree."
In his "Poetics" as well, Aristotle suggested that symmetry and order were the very essence of a beautiful object - either a living being or a structure - and that a body is beautiful when all its parts are in proportion to the whole figure.
In the 5th century B.C., the concrete realisation of his aesthetic theories is found in the statues of the sculptors Myron, Phidias and Polycletus, whose favourite subjects to represent ideal beauty were gods and athletes.
7. According to James Joyce, this noun, originating from the Portuguese, is the "most intrinsically beautiful word in the English language". What word is it?

Answer: Cuspidor

"He dropped the match. It fell-thhhh-into the cuspidor." This line is excerpted from "Ulysses", James Joyce's landmark novel, published in 1922.
"Cuspidor" is synonymous with "spittoon", and originated from "cuspir", the Portuguese word for "to spit". In spite of its meaning, undoubtedly disgusting, this was Joyce's preferred word.
An interesting poll was once conducted among writers and editors, who were asked to choose the most intrinsically beautiful word in the English language, based solely on its sound, and independently of its meaning.
Some of the results were decidedly surprising: Willard R. Espy mentioned "Gonorrhea", Arnold Bennett singled out "Pavement", and Irvin S. Cobb said "Chattanooga", whereas "Nevermore" was Elias Lieberman's favourite. Other selected words were "Mignonette", "Gossamer", "Lullaby", "Vermillion" and "Nobility".
8. Joseph Merrick, known as "The Elephant Man" because of the monstrous deformation of his head and body, was the subject of a film by David Lynch starring John Hurt. Merrick died under mysterious circumstances, but, according to the doctor who took care of him, he suffocated because for once in his life he tried to do something in the same way as all normal people. What was it?

Answer: Sleep

Joseph Merrick - in the movie called John - became popular in Victorian society as the "Elephant Man". His disease has been diagnosed today as the Proteus syndrome, a very rare congenital disorder identified only in 1979, which causes an uncontrollable growth of bones and skin.
After a desolate youth, mostly spent as a side-show attraction, Merrick was discovered by doctor Frederick Treves who took him to his hospital to study his disease. Merrick soon revealed himself to be an intelligent, sensitive and humorous soul hidden behind a repulsive exterior.
Merrick's fame soon spread, and many people visited him, including members of the upper class and royalty.
He was never considered a "normal" man, though, but always a "phenomenon", and this was a cause of profound pain to him. His greatest wish was to be like others. When he suddenly died, Dr Treves said that Merrick had probably tried to sleep lying down for the first time in his life, but the enormous weight of his head crushed his neck, and he asphyxiated.
9. Aphrodite, the most beautiful of Greek goddesses, was married to the ugliest Olympian, the craftsman of the gods and god of fire. What was his name?

Answer: Hephaestus

The unruly and wild Aphrodite - the Greek goddess of love, beauty and fertility - was anything but a paragon of marital fidelity. She had innumerable affairs, making no distinction between gods and mere mortals. Among her lovers were the gods Ares, Poseidon, Dionysus and Hermes, and the mortals Adonis and Anchises.
Poor Hephaestus had his work cut out for him in attempting to compete with all those glorious lovers, but as he was a prodigious craftsman, he conquered her heart by creating for her the most lavish jewels.
Indefatigable, Hephaestus not only made all the buildings of the gods, but also forged Achilles' armour, and created Pandora, the first woman.
The equivalent of Aphrodite and Hephaestus in Roman mythology are Venus and Vulcan.
Asclepius was the god of medicine, Hyperion was the god of light and Dionysus was the god of wine.
10. The "Belle of Louisville" is an iconic landmark in Kentucky. What is it?

Answer: Steamboat

"Louisville's Beauty" is a treasure: the last original steamboat on the Mississippi, and the oldest one still operating in the US. In 1989, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Originally called "Idlewild", it was built in 1914 by James Rees & Sons of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It changed owners and locations several times, before finally arriving in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1962, now renamed "Belle of Louisville".
In 1963, the Belle of Louisville ran a race against a steam-boat named the Delta Queen. Although the Belle of Louisville lost, this was the beginning of a long tradition: an annual competition between the Belle of Louisville and another steamboat (most often the Delta Queen), usually held a few days before the Kentucky Derby.
11. "Of the visages of things - And of piercing through to the accepted hells beneath; Of ugliness - To me there is just as much in it as there is in beauty - And now the ugliness of human beings is acceptable to me", wrote this American poet in his most celebrated work, a collection of poems judged by Ralph Waldo Emerson as "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed". Who is the poet?

Answer: Walt Whitman

"Of the Visage of Things" is part of "Leaves of Grass", a collection of poems most widely considered to be the masterpiece of Walt Whitman (1819-1892).
"Leaves of Grass" started as a modest volume of 12 poems, published by Whitman at his own expense in 1855, and remained a work-in-progress - constantly revised and expanded by the author, who added and deleted poems, and made minor or major changes. The ninth and last edition, also called the "Death-bed edition", was published in 1892, and contained over 400 poems.
A passionate man and thinker, Walt Whitman presents in his poems an incomparable universe in which no expression of life isn't worthy of being sung: the beautiful and the ugly, the good and the bad, the sensual and the spiritual.
12. Russian/French painter Marc Chagall stated: "Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of ____ - and never succeeding." Complete the quote with the missing word, which refers to a recurring motif in Chagall's paintings.

Answer: Flowers

Marc Chagall's paintings are characterised by an extremely rich, surreal imagery, and are animated by vibrant colours. Many of them display flowers in all possible size and forms. Among them: "Le Bouquet Ardent", "Lovers and flowers" and "Clown with Flowers". Regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, Marc Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Belarus, in 1887, but moved to France in 1923, where he remained until his death in 1985.

He worked in several artistic fields, including stage design for theatre and ballet.

Some of his most famous creations are the ceiling of the Paris Opéra, and murals for the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
13. Dissenting from widespread aesthetic views, in "The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex", this English scientist formulated his theory that beauty in nature is not arbitrary, but the result of a sexual selection, and is equally significant for humans and animals. Who is he?

Answer: Charles Darwin

After "The Origin of Species", "The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex" (1871) is Charles Darwin's (1809-1882) most famous publication. With the "Descent of Man", Darwin rejected the theory of beauty as a mere erratic expression of nature.

His conclusion was that all the iridescent colours, wonderful patterns and ornate embellishments displayed by butterflies, birds, fish, or other species of animals have a specific purpose, and are the result of a sexual selection. Dissenting from Kant and other philosophers, who believed only humans to be capable of appreciating beauty, Darwin stated that all creatures, humans and animals, are able to distinguish it, although at different levels of consciousness.
14. Gothic buildings are often adorned with grotesque carved creatures projecting from the roof gutter. What are such monsters called?

Answer: Gargoyles

Characteristic features of most gothic buildings are the so-called gargoyles - frightening carved monsters projecting from upper stonework. The fantasy of the sculptors knew no bounds; they embellished town halls, churches and houses with wild beasts, grotesque humans, hideous mythological characters, and other scary figures.
Have you ever sought shelter from the rain below a Gargoyle, and been surprised by a sudden shower? No wonder, because the Gargoyles were originally conceived as spouts to carry water clear of a wall.
An accepted belief is also that the Gargoyles were intended to protect the buildings by scaring off evil spirits.
15. Complete Lord Byron's verse: "She walks in beauty ______

Answer: Like the night

"She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies; and all that's best of dark and bright meets in her aspect and her eyes; thus mellow'd to that tender light which heaven to gaudy day denies." English poet and satirist George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, (1788-1824) was inspired to write his poem "She Walks in Beauty" by the sight of his wife's cousin, Mrs. Robert John Wilmot, at a party.

The beautiful lady had dark hair and a fair face, and was wearing a black mourning dress with spangles. That harmonious fusion of lights and shades immediately captured the imagination of the poet. "She Walks in Beauty", published in 1815, was the first of a series of songs that Lord Byron wrote to be set to traditional Jewish tunes by Isaac Nathan.
16. Traditional iconography never shows an ancient Egyptian - man or woman - without elaborate make-up around the eyes. Called "Mesdemet", this special eye make-up was derived either from stibnite, the principal ore of antimony, or, more frequently, from lead sulphide. What is the primary mineral ore of lead?

Answer: Galena

The blue, grey or black mineral galena is the chief ore and principal source of lead. It consists mostly of lead sulphide (PbS), but it frequently contains other metals, like silver.
Galena is widely spread throughout the world; in Egypt it was extracted primarily from the mines near the Red Sea coast.
Eye make-up was employed by Egyptian men, women and children of all castes. Scientists believe that it had not only a beautifying purpose, but also served as insect repellent and provided protection from the sun. Crucial, too, was its supposed magical power, considered an invulnerable shield against the "evil eye". Eye make-up kits have been found in the earliest Egyptian tombs.
Hematite is the major ore of iron, bauxite is the principal ore of aluminium, and magnetite is the magnetic mineral form of iron oxide.
17. Who recorded the title track "Beauty and the Beast" for the soundtrack to the eponymous Walt Disney movie that won an Academy Award and a Grammy Award?

Answer: Celine Dion

One of the superstars of pop music, with over 100 million albums sold world-wide, Céline Dion was born in Charlemagne, a small town in Québec, Canada. Youngest of 14 children, she grew up in a highly musical family, and began singing when she was 5 years old. Already famous in Québec as a teen star, in 1988 she won the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland.

Her true international breakthrough, though, came when she sang in duet with Peabo Bryson the title track for Walt Disney animated movie, "Beauty and the Beast" (1992).

The song stormed the US charts, and earned both an Academy Award and a Grammy.
18. Elizabeth Arden opened her first beauty parlour in New York in 1909, and soon expanded world-wide. What symbol not only represents her salons and spas, but also supplies the name for one of her perfume lines?

Answer: Red Door

The famous red door of Elizabeth Arden's salon on Fifth Avenue is still her signature today.
Born Florence Nightingale Graham in 1884 in Ontario, Canada, into poor circumstances, Elizabeth Arden came to New York in 1908 in search of an employment opportunity. In spite of financial difficulties, she was able to open her first beauty salon in 1909, laying the foundation for an immense cosmetics and beauty empire. She was a pioneer not only in the field of beauty treatments and products, but also in the way she used innovative marketing strategies to commercialise her products.
19. Who played the "Ugly" in Sergio Leone's western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"(1966)?

Answer: Eli Wallach

Cult movie of the "Spaghetti Western" series, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is the third film of Sergio Leone's trilogy, after "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964), and "For a Few Dollars more" (1965). "The greatest film ever made," is the summation of the American director Quentin Tarantino.
The plot is set amid the bloody chaos of the American Civil War, and features three gunmen - Blondie (the Good, Clint Eastwood), Angel Eyes (the Bad, Lee van Cleef), and Tuco (the Ugly, Eli Wallach) - each of them engaged in a ruthless quest to discover a treasure trove of Confederate gold coins before the others.
Legendary also is the film's musical score, composed by Ennio Morricone.
20. This nihilistic art movement - also referred to as "anti-art" - emerged during World War I. Its exponents, in their "non-artistic" works, reversed every traditional canon of aesthetics, ridiculing all existing art forms, and reflecting the absurdity and ugliness of a society that was able to generate such a barbaric conflict. What is the name of this movement, whose most notable members were Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray?

Answer: Dada

The piece of "non-art" which probably best epitomises Dada's subversive view of art and aesthetics is the outrageous "Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp, a signed porcelain urinal exhibited in 1917: the ultimate consecration of ugliness and vulgarity in art.
Dada (also called Dadaism) originated as an anti-war movement in Zürich, Switzerland at the end of 1915, and soon spread to other European cities and New York. It was formed by disillusioned artists, writers and intellectuals whose works showed a cynical attitude toward traditional values and beliefs.
Besides Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray, the most significant Dada artists were George Grosz, Kurt Schwitters, Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Among the writers, important proponents of Dada were Tristan Tzara, André Breton, and Hugo Ball.
Source: Author Arlesienne

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