The World wide Mythology Trivia Quiz

The Friendly Sharptooth · **Reply #40 on:** January 25, 2011, 08:59:36 PM

What time is it? Egyptian mythology time! I am going to post a bit of information. The answer I am looking for is where I leave the blank spot. "After Set murdered Osiris, dismembered him, and strewed his body parts throughout Egypt, _______ helped his wife Isis search for the pieces."

Nick22 · **Reply #41 on:** January 26, 2011, 12:58:32 AM

a number of gods helped her look for it. Nepyhtys, Anubis and thoth, all helped. so the question is Micheal which answer you were looking for.

The Friendly Sharptooth · **Reply #42 on:** January 26, 2011, 11:21:49 AM

I see that the article I read was not very detailed. It had only one name in that blank spot. It was the goddess Nephthys, which you listed, so it's your turn.

Nick22 · **Reply #43 on:** January 26, 2011, 01:56:14 PM

what famous myth tells the story of the flood hundreds of years before the bible?

Malte279 · **Reply #44 on:** January 26, 2011, 02:11:54 PM

There are plenty. Among other it is mentioned in the Gilgamesh epos (the oldest we have) and also in the Greek Deucalion myth (not quite sure if that one preceded the old testament texts). I think there is another Mesopotamian text that includes the story, but I do not remember the name of that one (I think it was by the Sumerians though).

Nick22 · **Reply #45 on:** January 26, 2011, 06:03:27 PM

gilgamesh is the oone i was looking for. your turn malte.

Malte279 · **Reply #46 on:** January 26, 2011, 06:10:07 PM

Okay, here is something from Greek mythology, but it is neither from the Illiad, nor from the Odyssey.
Who was killed by having a discus thrown at his head (an accident though)?

jansenov · **Reply #47 on:** January 27, 2011, 07:49:07 AM

It was Acrisius. Perseus killed him by accident. It's ironic that Perseus felt absolutely no hatred towards Acrisius, although it was Acrisius who locked him (when he was a baby) and his mother in a chest and threw them into the sea.

Malte279 · **Reply #48 on:** January 27, 2011, 11:37:38 AM

Very good jansenov

Acrisius had received a prophecy according to which his grandson would kill him (that's why he cast him into the sea in that box). That unfortunate prophecy was fulfilled when Perseus' discus happened to hit the king who had hidden among the crowd of watchers.
If there is one dead certain way to ensure in mythology that someone is going to live it is the attempt of their parents or other relatives to kill them because of a prophecy the events of which are usually triggered by the attempt to prevent it from turning true (Oedipus, Paris, Perseus, Romulus & Remus... the list goes on).
Your turn jansenov.

jansenov · **Reply #49 on:** January 28, 2011, 07:13:11 AM

OK, this one is from Indian (Indo-Aryan) mythology.

When he witnessed the destructive power of the atomic bomb in New Mexico, physicist Oppenheimer quoted a famous passage from a great work of Indian litterature. What work is it, whom did Oppenheimer quote, and what global mythical event does this quote refer to?

P.S. Optional question. There is a quote of similar fame in Norse mythology refering the same type of event. If you can find this quote, who said it, and from what work does it come, you will get a bunch of virtual candy

(and maybe something more concrete, if conditions permit).

Malte279 · **Reply #50 on:** January 28, 2011, 08:32:29 AM

Quote

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

respectively:

Quote

"I am become Time, the destroyer of worlds."

The quote is from the Hinduist text "Bhagavad Gita" and the words are spoken by Krishna. The reference I think is to the mythological revealing of a form of the deity Krishna during the battle of Kurukshetra (it is contested whether or not there was a historical battle or if the battle is to be understood as an allegory).
As for Norse mythology, I think there are many quotes which may be interpreted in similar fashions, especially in the context of Ragnarˆk, the final battle. I don't know if there is a quote referring to an individual as something along the lines of a destroyer of worlds, but there is a passage in which a Vˆlva (sort of a female shaman or seer) makes a prophecy to Odin in which the event Ragnarˆk (actually Ragnarˆk is a series of events that cannot really be summarized as simply a battle) is described as what one might roughly translate to:

It satisfies itself [its hunger / thirst for blood] through the life-blood of doomed men, paints red the homes of power with crimson gore. The sunbeams become black in the following summers, weathers will be all treacherous.

Not sure if this is what you meant though as I'm sure there are many other fitting passages.

jansenov · **Reply #51 on:** January 28, 2011, 04:45:10 PM

Bravo, Malte! I didn't even ask for the specific part of Mahabharata. Krishna revealed himself as the Universal Being during this battle of apocalyptic proportions. Allegedly millions of soldiers fought in the battle. It could be possible that such a battle (more likely a war) was fought in India, since China, a country of similar size (in terms of population), could also muster millions of soldiers during the Warring States period. India was actually even wealthier than China in ancient times, I think. As for the Norse passage, you quoted the right work, but not the exact passage I had in mind. There are many such gruesome passages in that work. I though of the last line in this work, "I sink now". It was quite an abrupt end to this prophecy, so it had an effect on me. But here's your virtual candy.

You'll get a drawing or poem from me soon (relatively soon, that is).

Your turn, Malte.

Malte279 · **Reply #52 on:** January 28, 2011, 05:02:53 PM

Thank you very much

With regard to the trinity test I can't help adding the fact that another scientist at the location, Kenneth Bainbridge, commented in a somewhat less poetic but more down to earth manner on the first nuclear bomb. His comment was: "Now we are all sons of bitches!"
Anyway, here is the next question (I'll not immediately add which field of mythology it comes from since I fear this might make it too easy, but I will add the field of mythology in case it turns out to be more difficult than I think). We already had mention of a king who dumped his grandson Perseus into the ocean in a wooden box. Kings in mythology seem to have made kind of a habit of such actions.
Which king, in an attempt to kill his own son, ordered all the noble babies born at the time his son would have been born to be brought on a leaky ship to be send to the sea where they were supposed to drown (of course one baby survived and it is easy enough to guess who that one would be

).

jansenov · **Reply #53 on:** January 28, 2011, 06:15:39 PM

It must be something Celtic this time. Out of Indo-European mythologies, we had questions asked about Germanic, Greek, and Indo-Iranian ones. These are, of course, the best known and best preserved ones in the family.

I'd bet with Mordred. He was born out of an incestous relationship between Arthur and his sister, and there was the prophecy that the king would be killed by a baby born on May Day. Arthur rounded up all the noble babies born in May and sent them out to the sea. Quite a bastard Arthur was.

Nick22 · **Reply #54 on:** January 29, 2011, 04:27:20 PM

arthur was lkiterrally a bastard being fathered by uthan on the lady of caldwell thanks to merlins magic according to most interpretations of the legends

Malte279 · **Reply #55 on:** January 30, 2011, 04:16:20 AM

Right answer jansenov

However, this act of children mass-murder doesn't seem to have had a large effect on Arthur's reputation or caused somewhat more understanding for Mordred's aversion against his father

Your turn.

jansenov · **Reply #56 on:** January 30, 2011, 06:04:15 AM

I won't mention the exact mythology this time. I'll just say it's Indo-European. In a Byzantine treaty with a certain foreign power it is said that the Byzantine delegation made an oath by swearing to God, and the representatives of the foreign power swore to two gods. One of these gods punishes oath-breakers with death by disease, the other with death in battle. What are the names of these two gods, and what is the important myth they are involved in?

P.S. Optional question. These two gods are also involved in another myth. If you discover what this myth is about, you get a lot more virtual candy.

jansenov · **Reply #57 on:** January 31, 2011, 04:31:52 AM

Concerning the last question, the mythology is Slavic.

jansenov · **Reply #58 on:** February 21, 2011, 07:43:20 AM

The names of the gods asked for in the last question are Perun and Veles. Perun was the Slavic god of thunder, also god of warriors and peasants. He was conected with the hawk and the oak. Veles was the god of cattle, magic, pastoralists, and the underworld. Veles would steal Perun's cattle or Perun's wife, causing drought, after which Perun would scour the entire land searching for Veles. Veles would change forms, but once Perun found him, he would strike him with his axe (the source of thunder bolts), made of stone or gold, and Veles would burst into rain, bringing life to the land. Later on, Veles would reincarnate in the underworld and plot revenge on Perun.

Once Veles kidnapped Perun's son, Yarilo, the god of spring, and raised him in the underworld. But Perun discovered this and forced Veles to let Yarilo spend half a year in the upper world. The time when Yarilo is in the upper world is known as spring and summer, while during the winter he has to spend time with Veles in the underworld. During this time the upper world would be ruled by Morana, Yarilo's sister and Perun's daughter, the goddess of winter.

These two gods were mentioned in a treaty the Byzantines made with Russians. The Russian envoys raised their weapons and summoned these two gods to be their witnesses. Later on under Vladimir the Great the Russians offficially converted to Orthodox Christianity, although the old faith persisted at least until the 15th century. Aside from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, signs of worship of these gods can be found in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria.

OK, so let me ask a new question. Priests of which Germanic god determined whether to go to war or not by observing the behaviour of a stallion walking over a row of spears? I think Tacitus mentioned this tradition. This tradition was also taken over by Abodrites, a Slavic tribe that lived in northeastern Germany.

Caodao2 · **Reply #59 on:** April 20, 2011, 06:27:36 PM

I'm guessing this one, not using wikipedia. Was it Odin/Wotan?

Was I allowed to just jump in? I just got here.