Gods Of The Night Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aztecs

Mesoamerican ritual calendars, such as those of the Aztecs, ran on 260-day cycles, which represents almost 29 sets of nine days (one day short). The Aztecs had a similar set of gods for the day, the Lords of the Day, but there were thirteen of them; the 260-day cycle is split evenly into 20 sets of thirteen days. Thus in each cycle, different night gods represent the night following the day of each day god. It is thought that the number nine represents the nine levels of the underworld, or that 260-day cycles were used as it is the approximate length of human gestation.

The Lords of the Night all had names, as well as a symbol. The nine are: Xiuhtecutli (god of fire and time), Itztli (the sacrificial knife), Pilzintecuhtli (god of the sun), Centeotl (god of maize), Mictlantecuhtli (god of death), Chalchiuhtlicue (goddess of jade water), Tlazoteotl (goddess of purification and confession), Tepeyollotl (god of jaguars), and Tlaloc (god of rain). The gods feature prominently in Aztec and Mayan mythology; the names of the Mayan Lords of the Night are unknown.

Answer: Erebus

Chaos refers to the nothingness that existed before the creation of the universe, and first to spring forth from this, according to Hesiod, were Erebus and Night (or Nyx). The brother and sister are consorts, as is common in Greek mythology, and together bore Aether and Hemera, representing the upper atmosphere and the day.

The name is also used for part of Hades (the underworld), which was split into various regions. Erebus is the darkest region, through which the souls of the dead pass soon after death, and through which one of the five rivers of Hades, the Lethe, flows. This is the river of forgetfulness.

Answer: Lithuania

Few sources survive of Lithuanian mythology, and most that do had been heavily mixed with elements of Christianity and written by foreigners, such as Polish theologian Jan Lasicki (also known as Lasicius), who mentioned Breksta as the goddess of twilight.

She rules the passage of time with Austrine (the dawn) and Zleja (the day), as well as being the goddess of dreams. Between sunset and sunrise, she is said to protect people and the night.

Answer: Thor

Nott is the daughter of Norvi, and was married three times, bearing a child with each husband: Naglfari fathered Audr, Annar fathered Joro (the earth), and Dellingr (twilight) fathered Dagr (the day). Odin placed Nott and Dagr in the sky; Dagr's chariot rides across the daytime sky, pulled by his horse Skinfaxi, while Nott's chariot rides across the night sky, pulled by the horse Hrimfaxi. Hrimfaxi covers the land with dew each morning - his name means "frost-maned".

Thor, perhaps the most famous Norse god, was borne of Joro. He is the god of thunder and lightning, and wields the hammer Mjolnir. He and the serpent Jormungandr are foretold to kill each other during the events of Ragnarok.

Answer: Maori

Her name was first Hine-ata-uira, and she was goddess of the dawn. She had no idea that the god she married was also her father, Tane, god of forests. When she discovered the truth, she was devastated and deeply ashamed, and fled to the underworld, where she took on her role as ruler of the underworld, the goddess of night and death. Tane begged her to return, but she insisted that she stay to bring in the dead when death was brought to the world, including the souls of the children they had borne together.

She also married her uncle, Ruaumoko, god of earthquakes, but I think that was in full knowledge of who he was!

Answer: Summanus

Summanus is an Etruscan or Sabine god, adopted by the Romans into their mythology. His name comes from "summus", meaning "highest": according to Saint Augustine, he was once more exalted than his daytime counterpart Jupiter, until a temple dedicated to Jupiter was built that was much more impressive and beautiful than Summanus's.

The Romans offered small round cakes called summanalia to him on the day preceding the summer solstice, and they also sacrificed to him two black oxen.

Answer: Nyx

Nyx has been previously mentioned as the consort of Erebus. She is said to live in Tartaros, a region of great suffering beneath the underworld, with Hypnos and Thanatos. Nyx possesses great power, to the point that even Zeus was afraid of her; Hypnos ran to his mother in fear after putting the king of the gods to sleep, and Zeus's fear of Nyx was such that Hypnos had a lucky escape from his wrath!

Nyx's children have generally dark and negative associations, as seen in those already mentioned; others include Moros (doom), Oizys (misery), and Lyssa (madness). She gives her own name to an asteroid as well as one of Pluto's moons (spelled Nix).

Answer: Rabbit

Metztli is often equated with other moon deities, including Yohaulticetl, a goddess who is one of the Lords of the Night, and Tecciztecatl, the man in the moon. Tecciztecatl was one of two gods who vied to become the next sun, but he was afraid of its fire, so the other god leaped in first and received the honor; however, Tecciztecatl soon gained courage and became the second sun.

The gods were angered that the sun and the moon would be equally bright, and that proud Tecciztecatl had to bow to the first humble sun, and so they threw a rabbit at the moon, diminishing his brightness so that he would only now be visible at night, and leaving the imprint of the rabbit that can still be seen on the full moon today.

Answer: Nephthys

Nephthys was also goddess of the air, and so could take the form of a bird; she is usually associated with a hawk, and thus professional mourners in Ancient Egypt were known as "Hawks of Nephthys". She was also associated with vultures, as she was considered infertile (as was Set, who was barren as the desert), and so she became known as the goddess of death and mourning, which fits well with her son, Anubis, who is the guardian of the dead.

Nephthys' family dynamic was an odd one: her husband, Set, murdered Osiris, the husband of her sister Isis. In spite of this, the sisters remained close, even though Nephthys was also unfaithful with Osiris! The sisters can be viewed as a kind of "yin and yang"; day and night, life and death. Also, Isis represented growth and prosperity, while Nephthys, as the vulture, represented decay.

Answer: Ratri

"Lord of Light" is set on a strange planet, where the crew of a crashed spaceship are able to transfer souls electronically to a different body, like Buddhist reincarnation. The novel incorporates many aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism, although the characters are western; the protagonist Mahasamatman is a god who goes by the name Sam. He is aided by Ratri, who has been punished by the other gods, and can only use her powers for short periods of time.

"Ratri" is the ordinary word for "night" in many Indian languages, such as Tamil and Bengali. The goddess, also called Ratrideva, is the symbol of the embodied human state, and is sister to the goddess of the dawn, Ushas. "Ratrisutka" is a poem written in praise of Ratri, who is a personification of Maya, the "illusion" that we do not directly experience the world, but instead live in a version of it that we ourselves have projected.