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Humanities 115 - World Mythology » Summer 2022 » Final Exam

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Question #1

The goddess Ishtar proposes that Gilgamesh marry her, but he refuses because she abuses her lovers. To get revenge, Ishtar asks her father Anu to give her something to destroy Gilgamesh. What is it?

A. the Scorpion Man

B. the Bull of Heaven

C. Enkidu, the wild man

D. a hundred-handed giant

Question #2

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, for Gilgamesh to travel enter the dark land he must first pass a gate guarded by:

A. Shamash, the Judge and Law-Giver

B. Siduri the Alewife

C. the Scorpion Man and his mate

D. a ring of fire

Question #3

Tiamat was the Mother Goddess of Babylonian mythology. Marduk overthrows her, and makes her body into:

A. human beings

B. the earth

C. the many forms of love

D. the morning star

Question #4

The hero of The Ramayana is Rama, who is the god Vishnu on earth in human form. The appearance of a god in physical form is called:

A. upinshad

B. valmiki

C. avatar

D. rakshasa

Question #5

Archetypes are common in the mythologies of many cultures, like The Hero or The Mother Goddess. One archetype is often cunning and mischievous, like Set in Egyptian mythology or Loki in Norse mythology. This archetype is called:

A. magician

B. mentor

C. trickster

D. avenger

Question #6

In The Iliad, Paris meets King Menelaus in battle. Menelaus gets the better of him, and drags Paris around by the helmet. What happens next?

A. Paris wounds Menelaus

B. Hector rescues him

C. Menelaus wears his armor

D. Aphrodite breaks the helmet strap

Question #7

The Greek kings take an oath to rescue Helen if she is ever abducted. After Paris takes her to Troy, the kings assemble but Achilles does not come. They find him:

A. disguised as a woman

B. sulking in his tent

C. sowing his field with salt

D. inside a wooden horse

Question #8

A single prophet, Muhammad, founded the religion of Islam. The things he said were written down by his followers, and later complied into a book called The Qur’an. Other stories of Islam, created in oral tradition, have been written in a collection called:

A. The Pillars of Islam

B. The Ka'bah

C. Ramadan

D. The Hadith

Question #9

Rome’s legendary founders were the twins Romulus and Remus. Abandoned in the wilderness as babies, they survived:

A. eating nuts and berries

B. suckled by a she-wolf

C. taken in by shepherds

D. the goddess Minerva rescues them

Question #10

In Greek mythology, Zeus became god of the sky, Poseidon god of the sea, and Hades god of the underworld. Because no goddess wanted to live in the underworld, Hades was given Demeter’s daughter:

A. Persephone

B. Artemis

C. Hestia

D. Penelope

Question #11

In the final battle of The Aeneid, Aeneas fights King Turnus. Aeneas gets the upper hand, and is about to let Turnus live when he sees Turnus wearing something. What is he wearing?

A. the armor of Achilles

B. Lavinia's garter

C. the face of Gorgon Medusa

D. the belt of Prince Pallas

Question #12

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest story ever written, found on hundreds of pieces of clay tablets. One of the oldest tablets includes a battle with Humbaba, a monster in the:

A. battle chasm

B. oblivion

C. charybdis

D. cedar forest

Question #13

In The Aeneid, Aeneas stays in Carthage making love to Dido until a messenger appears to tell him that he must set sail for Italy. The messenger is:

A. Mercury

B. Hermes

C. Iris

D. Apollo

Question #14

The story of the Trojan War begins with the birth of Helen of Troy. She was the daughter of Leda, whom Zeus raped while he was in the form of a:

A. swan

B. ray of light

C. shepherd

D. white bull

Question #15

A poem that has great length, a central hero, and includes the history and mythology of a culture is called:

A. animistic

B. dramatic

C. lyric

D. epic

Question #16

In Mayan mythology, a god saves two humans from a flood. He also orders them to eat only an ear of corn, but they disobey by eating fish. These similarities to the Abrahamic myths may be because:

A. the Garden of Eden was in the Americas

B. a Catholic priest and Mayan Christian translated them

C. all cultures have flood myths

D. the Abrahamic myths are true

Question #17

Shi Huangti, the first emperor of China, standardized public services and built the Long Wall, an early version of the Great Wall. In an attempt to establish his own legal authority and to reform the writing system he also:

A. burned almost all books

B. built the Terracotta Army

C. wrote the Five Classics

D. outlawed prophecy

Question #18

God tests Abraham by ordering him to sacrifice his son. Abraham attempts the sacrifice, but there are two different versions of how God stops him. In Islam:

A. a tribe of people convince him he has passed the test

B. He hears the voice of God from a whirlwind

C. Abraham chooses to deny the request

D. an angel stops him

Question #19

In The Aeneid of Virgil, Aeneas is a hero of Troy who escapes the destruction of the city with his household gods, his son by the hand, and carrying:

A. his father on his back

B. a copy of The Iliad

C. an offering to Jupiter

D. his wealth in a basket

Question #20

Three gods of Egyptian mythology are Osiris, god of fertility and ruler of the underworld, Isis, his sister and wife, a goddess of the sky, and their son:

A. Anubus

B. Set

C. Tut

D. Horus

Question #21

The Mayan civilization declined because deforestation and a prolonged drought reduce their ability to grow enough food. Refugees from Mayan cities joined those from Teotihuacan and Tula to form a new culture called:

A. Aztlan

B. Mexica

C. Aztec

D. Inca

Question #22

Achilles, the hero of The Iliad, kills Hector, prince of Troy, with a spear thrust to the throat because he knows the weak point in his armor. Why does Achilles know this?

A. Helen has told him

B. Hector is wearing Achilles' armor

C. the goddess Athena shows him

D. all Trojan armor is exposed at the throat

Question #23

In Norse culture, a dead king was buried in an elaborate, grass-covered tomb with treasure and weapons. This kind of tomb is called a:

A. clan

B. weregild

C. stonehenge

D. barrow

Question #24

In The Ramayana, the Princess Sita is abducted by the demon King Ravanna. As he carries her off his flying chariot, she drops her veil and jewels, which are found by:

A. harpies

B. sages

C. three goddesses

D. monkeys

Question #25

Many Egyptian myths were written on papyrus scrolls and placed in the coffin with the mummy. The scrolls include hymns, prayers, and instructions for the deceased and is called:

A. Papyrus of Osiris

B. Ode to Aten

C. Book of the Dead

D. Rosetta Stone

Question #26

In the Hindu creation myth, the universe begins in water. From it rises a many-headed cobra. Brahma, the creator, emerges from the cobra’s navel on:

A. an egg

B. a wave

C. a magic carpet

D. a lotus blossom

Question #27

Gilgamesh finds a plant that will give him eternal life. Before he can eat the plant, a snake swallows it. Gilgamesh knows the snake will live forever because he sees it:

A. has a phallic shape

B. shed its skin

C. in the Garden of Eden

D. swim in water

Question #28

In Japanese Shintoism, there are many spiritual beings represented by physical objects like a rocks or trees. These spiritual beings are called:

A. meoto iwa

B. Torii

C. Kami

D. kokun

Question #29

Hebrew, the language of the Jews, is based in an ancient language that is also the root of Philistine and Arabic. That language is:

A. Bedouin

B. Semitic

C. Nomadic

D. Phoenician

Question #30

According to the Abrahamic myths, Abraham’s wife Sarah could not have children. She asks Abraham to sleep with her handmaid Hagar, who gives birth to:

A. Yahweh

B. Isaac

C. Abram

D. Ishmael

Question #31

Christianity, one of the Abrahamic faiths, is based in the teachings of Jesus. The books of Matthew,Mark, Luke and John are the four biographies of Jesus from which his teachings are known. There may have been a fifth biography, known to scholars as the:

A. Heresy

B. Q Source

C. Apocrypha

D. Behistun Inscription

Question #32

Christianity became the dominant faith in Europe during the Middle Ages. Eventually Martin Luther created a different form of Christianity called Protestantism. Among other things, Protestant Christians do not recognize the authority of:

A. The Ten Commandments

B. The Pope

C. The Bible

D. earthly government

Question #33

In Egyptian mythology, Set locks his brother Osiris in a chest and throws it into the Nile. Isis searches for it, and find it:

A. in a tree trunk

B. in the underworld

C. hidden in the desert sands

D. transformed into a sarcophagus

Question #34

In the Greek creation myth, the Earth Mother Gaia forms spontaneously out of chaos along with the Underworld and one of the five forms of love:

A. Eros, the sexual urge

B. Agape, love for mankind

C. Philia, or affection

D. Xenia, concern for strangers

Question #35

The center of African tribal culture was the storyteller, who also served as a holy man and source of knowledge. This important figure is called a:

A. Griot

B. Fetish

C. Nganaba

D. Shaman

Question #36

The oldest writing of the Hebrews is a collection of five scrolls that include their history, mythology and law called the Torah. This writing can also be found in the:

A. first five books of the Old Testament

B. the Qur'an

C. decalogue

D. first four books of the New Testament

Question #37

Civilization is a state of human existence in which people live together for mutual benefit. One civilization began in ancient Greece, was copied and improved by ancient Rome and is the foundation of our own civilization. It is known as:

A. Western Civilization

B. Humanist Civilization

C. Classical Civilization

D. Far Eastern Civilization

Question #38

Like Katness Everdeen in The Hunger Games, Chi-Li volunteers to be the sacrifice for a giant serpent that devours a maiden once a year. Why does she do this:

A. to bring honor to her family

B. to marry a prince

C. he father has died

D. to save her younger sister

Question #39

In Chinese mythology, the Mother Goddess Nu Kua makes people out of clay by hand. They are the high-born. She drags an object through the clay, shakes it, and the drops that fall become common folks. What is that object?

A. a rope

B. a tortoise shell

C. river reeds

D. a lotus blossom

Question #40

Babylonian mythology begins with Apsu, Tiamat, and Mummu, three forms of a primal element. The element is present in the creation myth of most cultures. It is:

A. God

B. water

C. air

D. light

Question #41

The goddess Hera despised Heracles because he was the son of Zeus by another woman. To appease her, Zeus commands that when grown Heracles will perform 12 labors. One of those labors is to:

A. kill his wife and children

B. strangle two snakes

C. kill the many-headed Hydra

D. cut off Medusa's head

Question #42

In the Japanese creation myth, Inzanagi and Inzanami go behind the Pillar of Heaven, say “You are a fine man” and “You are a fine woman,” and then make love. Their first child is a leech baby because:

A. Inzanami spoke first

B. they forgot the jewel-tipped spear

C. the gods had fallen asleep

D. Inzanagi was crude in his speech

Question #43

The reason we have The Epic of Gilgamesh today is because it was written on hundreds of clay tablets found in a library at the ancient city of:

A. Alexandria

B. Jerusalem

C. Nineveh

D. Babylon

Question #44

After the Greeks win the Trojan War, it takes Odysseus ten years to find his way home. Along the way he is seduced by a witch, captured by a Cyclops, and is the only man to hear the song of the:

A. Suitors

B. Sirens

C. Furies

D. whales

Question #45

There are two possible after-lives in Norse mythology. Brave warriors who die in battle are carried to Valhalla by Valkyries. Everyone who does not die in battle dwell in Nifelhiem, which is ruled by:

A. Loki

B. Hel

C. Baldur

D. Frigg

Question #46

Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to become a Christian. He ordered a gathering of Christian leaders to compile a holy book, write an oath for Christians stating the tenets of the faith, and establish other sacred principles. That meeting is known as the:

A. Protestant Reformation

B. Council of Nicaea

C. Great Schism

D. Council of Trent

Question #47

The epic poet of Greece wrote The Iliad, The Odyssey, and hymns to the gods, which established many of the Greek myths. That poet was:

A. Ovid

B. Hesiod

C. Apollodorus

D. Homer

Question #48

Early Chinese people believed in divination, or the ability to predict future events. They would throw a handful of sticks, stones, or coin-like tokens on the ground, and then find the corresponding pattern in the:

A. Lao Tzu

B. I Ching

C. Analects of Confucius

D. Dao De Jing

Question #49

In the Greek creation myth, the Mother Goddess Rhea first creates to races of beings, the Cyclopes and the:

A. Gorgons

B. Furies

C. Frost Giants

D. Hundred-Handed Giants

Question #50

In The Labors and Death of Hercules, the goddess Hera is angry that Zeus has had a child with another woman and attempts to kill baby Hercules by sending snakes to his crib. What happens to the snakes?

A. Hercules strangles them

B. they entwine around Hermes' staff

C. the goddess Athena kills them

D. the slither out of their skins

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