So much of what we know about the history of our world has been passed down in myths and legends. Over time, many of these myths have been debunked, others have been verified, but many contain elements of truth and fiction making it impossible to prove or disprove their authenticity. We don’t know everything, and we never will. What we chose to accept as fact, fiction, urban legend, or superstition ultimately rests with us. Who do you believe? What do you believe?
After an exhaustive search of historical events, myths, and legends, we selected ten for our November 2024 quiz. Can you select the best answer to go with each event, myth, or legend? Notice I didn’t say correct answer because history will always be subjective. Good Luck!
Answers to the “What Do You Believe?” Quiz can be found in the last article of this issue, “Next Month in This Awful Awesome Life – December 2024. You can read through the magazine or use this convenient link, https://www.thisawfulawesomelife.com/home/2024/10/30/next-month-in-this-awful-awesome-life-december-2024-by-fran-joyce
1. All Vikings wore horned helmets.
a. True
b. False – The idea that Viking helmets had horns was made popular by the costumes from Richard Wagner’s Norse operas.
c. False – Horned helmets depicted in ancient tapestries may have been worn for ceremonial purposes or by renegade warriors known as berserkers. Most Vikings either didn’t wear helmets or wore helmets with brow ridges to protect their faces.
d. Both b and c
2. Cleopatra belonged to the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin.
a. True
b. False - She was an Egyptian related to Isis.
c. False – She was Persian.
d. None of the above
3. The Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in the New World in 1621.
a. True
b. False – Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) in what is now the southwestern United States celebrated Thanksgiving as early as the 10th century CE.
c. False – Spaniards in Florida celebrated a feast of Thanksgiving in 1565
d. None of the above
4. Caesar was born by Caesarean Section.
a. True
b. Most probably false – because of the crude surgical skills of ancient Roman physicians, mothers were either dead oy dying when this procedure was performed and there seemed no other way to save the life of the child. Caesar’s mother Aurelia was around to raise him, so he was probably not born by Caesarean Section.
5. “Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword.”
a. Accurate quote from Caesar
b. Not a quote from Caesar because there were no drums in Caesar’s time and all swords during his time were double-edged.
c. Not a quote from Caesar - Pompey said it.
d. None of the above
6. According to “The Myth of the Minotaur”
a. To avenge the death of his son, Androgeos, Minos, the king of Crete demanded the city of Athens send seven young men and seven young women be sent to his place every year for nine years to be sacrificed to a monster.
b. His monster, the Minotaur, had the head of bull and the body of a man.
c. His palace contained a maze (Labyrinth) where he let the Minotaur) catch and kill these human sacrifices.
d. All of the above
7. The concept of an ozone layer is mentioned in Norse Mythology.
a. True – In Norse Mythology, Odin describes a hidden shield, a Svalinn, which exists between the world and the sun to protect the world from burning up.
b. False – Living so far North, the Norse seldom worried about too much sun.
c. False – The Norse believed their sun goddess, Sól would turn the heat of the sun, up or down, depending on her mood.
d. None of the above
8. The legendary Greek hero Jason did exist and his search for The Golden Fleece was real.
a. True
b. False - Jason was a real Greek, but the golden fleece and his search for it were not.
c. False – Jason was a made-up character, but the water that washes down from the mountains in the Svaneti region of what is now the modern-day country, Georgia contains gold deposits. For thousands of years, farmers in the area have used sheepskins to strain the water and collect the gold dust and nuggets -inadvertently creating golden fleeces.
d. False - Minerals in the waters cascading down from the mountains give sheep’s fleece a golden- yellow color when they drink it.
9. Historians and Archaeologists believe the legendary city of Troy never really existed.
a. True
b. False - Historians and Archaeologists believe the city of Troy once stood where the city of Thessaloniki now exists.
c. False – Historians and Archaeologists believe that ruins discovered in the 19th century in the archaeological mound, Hisarlik, in Türkiye (Turkey) are the ruins of the city of Troy based on information taken from ancient literature (Homeric Troy).
d. None of the above
10. The myths about the existence of Krakens have been completely debunked.
a. True
b. False – Krakens have been found in the Bermuda Triangle and the Alaska Triangle.
c. False – Researchers have found skeletal remains of Krakens in the waters off the coasts of Norway and Iceland.
d. True and False – Giant squids 12-15 m (40 to 50 feet) do exist and are probably the basis for the legends of the Kraken. Giant squid live deep underwater and are rarely seen alive by humans, but their carcasses have washed ashore. It’s unlikely they would ever surface and attack ships.
Sources for this quiz:
https://www.thoughtco.com/top-ancient-history-myths-urban-legends-117292