Zeus vs Odin Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gaia

Let's pursue the Norse cosmogony. After Ymir, the frost giant, was born, a cow called Audhumbla fed him. This cow also licked the salty icicles, modeling a pre-human being, whose son Borr became the first divine being. From him came three sons: Odin, Vile and Ve, who killed Ymir and used his body to build the Universe. They made the earth from the giant's flesh, they filled rivers with his blood, they turned his bones into mountains and his hair into forests and they created the sky from his skull, spreading his brain as clouds. The remaining blood was gathered and poured into the Ocean, separating the new world from the realm of the giants.

The Greek cosmogony is equally interesting and violent. Following Gaia (the Earth) and Eros (the Wish), several new entities emerged from the Chaos: Erebos (the Dark), Nyx (the Night), Aither (the Ether), Hemere (the Cosmic Light), Uranus (the starry Sky) and Pontos (the Sea). From Uranus' marriage with Gaia, the twelve mighty Titans arose: Koios, Krios, Kronos, Hyperion, Iapetos, Okeanos, Mnemosyne, Phoibe, Rhea, Theia, Themis, Tethys. The youngest of all, Kronos (the Time) mutilated (castrated) his father and took his place as the ruler of the Universe. He then married Rhea and gave birth to a new generation of gods that would eventually strip the Titans of their power. These were Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon and Zeus. Zeus was the only one to escape being devoured by Kronos and he later saved his brothers and sisters from his father's belly. After winning the ten-year war with the titans, Titanomahia, Zeus becomes the sole master of the Universe.

Answer: 9

Odin divided the Universe in nine realms, situated on the vertical from top to bottom as follows: Mespellsheim (the initial realm of fire); Ashgardhgr (the world of the gods); Ljosalfeim (the realm of the spirits of light); Vanaheim (the realm of the spirits of water); Midgardhr (the world of mortals - a disc surrounded by the Ocean); Yotunheim (the world of giants, separated from Agardhr by Ilfing - the river that never froze); Svartalfheim (the first underworld realm, hosting the spirits of the night); Hell (the realm of the dead, ruled by the merciless goddess Hel); Niflheim (the most inferior level - the realm of eternal frost and mist guarded by the dragon Nidhogg).

Answer: Walhalla

Ashgard is the realm of gods. There, on the peak of Hlidskjalf stands the imposing Walhalla (also spelled Valhalla), protecting the throne of the great Odin. The citadel is covered with golden shields and has 540 gates. Above the main gate facing the west, two of Odin's symbols, the raven and the wolf, peer into the horizons. Straight through Walhalla grows Yggdrasill, the world Tree, whose roots once hanged Odin, in his devouring search for knowledge. Walhalla is also a posthumous sanctuary for the brave heroes who felt in battles.

They are brought in by the Valkyries and join the ranks of Odin's army forming the warring caste called jarla. However, Walhalla is bound to duration and not to eternity, as all its inhabitants, gods and heroes alike, dwell with the fear of the inevitable destruction of the universe - Ragnarok.

Answer: Jupiter

Unlike the German mythology, which is simply the translation of the Norse, the Roman mythology, though greatly dependent on the Greek background, has its original aspects. And probably the most obvious one is its pragmatism, manifested in the effort to tie the myths about the birth of Rome and the consolidation of the Roman state with the real historical events.

Moreover, the so called "interpretatio romana" implies that Roman mythology would enrich itself every time the Romans would conquer a new civilization, absorbing elements from its religion. And yes, of course, although the Roman mythology inherited the main gods from Greek mythology, it's the Roman names that got "famous" as the planets of our solar system bear them.

Answer: Prometheus

Prometheus is the benefactor for human kind. Like Loki, Prometheus is adopted by the gods for not supporting his fellow titans in Titanomahia and he is likewise damned afterwards for his actions. Like Loki, Prometheus is associated with fire, but only the creative fire, which is his precious gift to the mortals.

Although his intentions are noble, bringing the fire to the human world implies stealing it (the way of the trickster, typical of Loki) from the gods. Thus, like Loki, the titan Prometheus dares to rebel against the unchallenged rule of the supreme god and gets punished for it. Like Loki, Prometheus is chained to a rock and his suffering is equally agonizing, as his regenerating liver is torn apart each day by Zeus' vulture.

Moreover, Prometheus' actions indirectly harm the human world (fire is "paid" by the mortals with the "gifts" of Pandora's Box) as in the case of Loki's bringing about the Ragnarok.

Answer: Siegfried

The Nibelungs were a race of dwarves, who amassed a fabulous treasure and possessed a magical ring, capable of producing gold. The Nibelungs' Hoard, as the treasure was called, was guarded by the dwarf Andvari. The god Loki forces Andvari to give up his treasure, but the dwarf puts a curse on it as to bring mishap and sorrow to anyone who possesses it. Loki needed the treasure in fact to ransom himself from the captivity of the powerful wizard Hreidmar.

The wizard freed him in exchange for the glittering prize, but took Andvari's curse upon him. And the curse brought his death as he was murdered in his sleep by his own sons, Fafnir and Regin.

The greedy Fafnir then took the treasure for himself and metamorphosed into a terrible dragon to scare his brother away. Regin would not give up so easily on his share though. Thus, he talks the warrior Siegfried (Sigurd in the Norse version) into killing the dragon Fafnir. Things don't turn out well for Regis either, because Siegfried, now bearing the curse of the gold, gets rid of him.

After having slain the dragon, Siegfried ate its heart and acquired the ability to understand the language of birds. The birds tell him about the Valkyrie Brunhilde and as the two meet, they instantly fall in love. By a sudden twist of fate, Siegfried marries another, the young Gudrun, attracting the anger of Brunhilde. Marked by the curse of the Nibelung treasure, Siegfried ends up dead, following a quarrel between the two women.

Answer: Nidhogg

The terrifying Nidhogg is the gatekeeper of Niflheim and he is the one to tear up the bodies of criminals after their death. Nidhogg is the bringer of chaos as he is restless in his attempt to gnaw the roots of the World Tree - Yggdrasill. His ill-fated work of uprooting the tree, thus crumbling the very foundations of the Universe, would eventually succeed during Ragnarok.

Answer: Ares

Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera and he is among the 12 high ranked Olympian gods. He is depicted as a bloodthirsty god, always trying to arouse conflicts. His impulsive and uncontrollable temperament makes him the symbol of brutal violence. Another aspect of Ares' despicable personality is his lust for erotic affairs.

His greatest 'conquest' is the graceful goddess Aphrodite, his relations with her resulting in the birth of the mischievous Cupid, shooting the deceptive arrows of love. His cult was not widely spread in Greece, though the sacred hill in Athens where the city's council met in the open air - the Areopagus, bears his name.

Answer: the Fates

The Norns' and the Fates' amazing resemblance is an argument for the fact that both Greek and Norse mythologies find their roots in a common Indo-European source. The Greek Fates are also three in number and their purpose is to care for the fragile thread of Life. Kltho (the birth) spins it, Lachesis (the living days) reels it and Atropos (the death) cuts it.

The Fates, also known as the Moiraes, symbolize the Destiny so they are even above the gods.

Answer: Ragnarok

Ragnarok is an eschatological myth with apocalyptic traits. The Norwegian translation of the word would be: ragny - god, rokr- dark. Ragnarok is written in the destiny of the gods and takes place in an indefinite future, when the world ought to be regenerated due to its imperfections. The first step will be the three-row succession of the Fimbulwinter, the long winter whose snows will cover everything. Then, the total carnage will break out. Loki's offspring, the wolf Fenris, will swallow the sun, after he had grown large eating the spleens of the infidels. The infernal Loki will break free of his chains and will wreak havoc over the nine worlds. Then, the World Serpent, Yormungandhr comes out to surface and his writhing causes a universal flood. Loki's ship - Naglfar, built from the nails of the dead, carries the army of doom meant to crush Asgard. The Rainbow Bridge Bifrost crumbles and the giants break into the realm of the gods. The World Tree Yggdrasill, watched by the gloomy Norns, withers as the dragon Nidhogg gnaws its roots. The first great challenge involves Odin and Fenris. After a long struggle, the ferocious wolf emerges victorious and swallows Odin, but it's immediately slain by Odin's son, Wydarr. In his turn, Loki (the tempestuous fire) clashes with Heimdal (the astral light) and they kill each other. The next episode involves the thunder god Thorr, who manages to slay Yormungandhrm, but also perishes, suffocated and burned by the serpent's poisonous breath. The last duels are fought on the outskirts of Walhalla: the god Freyr is defeated by the leader of the giants, Surtr and the god Tyr is killed by the infernal dog, Garm. The winning Surtr releases the flames of the fiery realm of Muspllsheim and they rage across the universe until they consume it.

The universe will some day regenerate as a new world, Himli. Several lost gods will return at the helm of this world: Baldr, the solar god of Spring, his blind brother Hodhr, Wydar, the god of the forests and Vale, the archer god. The wise Odin will never appear again on this stage...