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issue 44: September - October 2004 

The Iliad Quiz

QUIZ
HOMER'S
THE
ILIAD
The ANSWERS

There was no winner this time. If you would like to have a go before seeing the answers below (sorry - no prize) click here

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1. At the opening of The Iliad, the Trojan war has been going on for...
a. six months
b. three years
c. nine years
d. hasn’t yet begun

2. Akhilleus was rightly pissed off at Agamémnon, but it was really Apollo who brought about the quarrel between the two. The sun god had been appealed to by a priest who had it in for Agamémnon because he...
a. ransacked the priest’s temples
b. refused to release the priest’s daughter for ransom
c. took the priest’s wife and daughter as his concubines
d. ignored the priest’s pleas for money and sacrifice

3. In the first battle scene between the Trojans and the Akhaians, Meneláos is about to kill Paris when Aphrodítê intervenes and...
a. veils them both in dusk
b. temporarily blinds Meneláos
c. hides Paris in mist
d. bears Paris off in a dark cloud

4. A short while later, Meneláos is wounded by this Trojan soldier ...
a. Aineías
b. Simoéisios
c. Hektor
d. Pándaros

5. Both sides offered sacrifices to the gods of either a hundred oxen or cattle at the same time or the sacrifice of a large number of other animals. This sacrifice is called a.....
hekatomb  

6. The gods aided both the Trojans and Akhaians. Hêra and Athêne were big cheerleaders and occasional interveners on behalf of which side?
Akhaians

7. A Trojan soldier is flung from his chariot at the feet of Meneláos to whom he begs for his life, promising "no end of ransom" from his father; Meneláos consents, but who steps in, calls him a "soft heart," spears the guy, then jumps on the spear and breaks it off?
a. Agamémnon
b. Odysseus
c. Aías Telamonios
d. Short Aías

mentoroy.gif (15070 bytes)

8. Of whom was it said by a Trojan augur: "I call him most formidable of Akhaians now . . . / the fellow fights like one possessed: no man / can equal him in fury"?
a. Akhilleus
b. Merínones
c. Diomêdês
d. Idómeneus

9. Who spoke the words: "When Dawn with rosy fingers eastward made the tenth day bright …?
Glaukos

10. During a break in battle, Antênor advises the Trojans to...
a. stand firm and protect Helen
b. give her back to the Atreidai
c. let the soldiers have their way with her
d. sacrifice the troublesome "cow" to Apollo

11. Hektor’s team of horses was called "Tawny and Whitefoot" and...
a. Raven and Dawn
b. Lightning and Blackwing
c. Goldy and Ambrosia
d. Dusky and Dapple

12. When the men didn’t want to fight, they were often called a "pack of dogs," or a soldier was referred to as a ...
a. woman
b. rat
c. goat
d. ninny

13. Match the epithet with the name by putting the corresponding number in the box:

a. grey-eyed 7   1. Hêra
b. breaker of wild horses 5   2. Myrmidons
c. lionhearted breaker of men 6   3. Odysseus
d. lord of the warcry 4   4. Diomêdês
e. arms white as ivory 1   5. Hektor
f. the great tactician 3   6. Akhilleus
g. brothers-in-arms of Pêleus’ son 2   7. Athêne

14. When Agamémnon wants to make peace with Akhilleus, he offers to return Akhilleus’ slave girl Briseis, whom he had stolen, saying...
a. they never slept together
b. they only fooled around a bit
c. he only coupled with her once
d. he was getting tired of her anyway

15. He was an old, wise Akhaian, but still fought like hell...
a. Euaimôn
b.Tydeus
c. Nestor
d. Pêleus

16. Akhilleus only joined the battle after the death of ...
a. his mother, Thetis
b. Teukros
c. Polypoites
d. Patróklos

17. Which Trojan was left strutting around in Akhilleus’ armor?
Hektor

18. Before the Akhaians, with Akhilleus in the lead, go to battle the Trojans, there is a big discussion about whether or not they should first...
a. bathe
b. eat
c. cut their hair
d. make love to their women

19. The first Trojan to fight Akhilleus was...
a. Aineías
b. Hektor
c. Paris
d. Xánthos

20. To avenge the death of his beloved companion, Akhilleus not only dragged around the body of Hektor behind his chariot, he also...
a. tortured 12 of the bravest Trojans
b. blinded 12 sons of Priam
c. raped 12 Trojan virgins
d. cut the throats of 12 Trojan boys

21. Which sport was not undertaken at the funeral games arranged by Akhilleus?
a. wrestling
b. chariot racing
c. javelin throwing
d. discus throwing
e. running
f. archery
g. swimming
h. boxing
i. spear fighting

22. King Priam retrieved Hektor’s body by offering Akhilleus all sorts of great loot, including...
a. 20 pubescent beauties
b. 10 bars of gold
c. a golden chariot
d. a good set of cutlery

23. At the time of Hektor’s death, how long had Helen been in Troy?
a. 10 years
b. 15 years
c. 20 years
d. 30 years

24. After the death of Hektor, his wife Andrómakhê predicts that their baby son will be snatched away and ...
a. held for ransom by the Akhaians
b. hurled to death from Troy’s walls
c. thrown into the sea
d. rescued by Aineías

25. In Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy (2004), several liberties are taken with the original text. Perhaps the most egregious license in the film comes with the death of two principal characters, who, according to Homer and many other ancients, lived on long after the Trojan war. They are...
a. Meneláos and Agamémnon
b. Agamémnon and Akhilleus
c. Meneláos and Hektor
d. Hektor and Akhilleus
 

© TBR 2004

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issue 44: September - October 2004  

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