Final Exam Study

What culture FIRST posited the idea of a lost city called Atlantis?

A. Greek GP

Approximately how many phonemes are found in the English language?

C. 44 GP

For one major cultural myth for which the World Tree is the origin of the first man and woman, what type of tree is named in the myth?

C. acacia LP

What are creepypastas?

C. scary stories shared online LP

The Bermuda Triangle is unusually deadly considering how few ships cross it, but the reasons for this are entirely explainable by modern science.

False LP

What is the purpose of a Norse kenning?

poetic LP

What is the Anglicized term for the ritual battles the Aztecs called xochiyaoyotl?

B. flower wars

What is one of the Vile Vortices?

C. Easter Island LP

What did the Greeks believe caused volcanic eruptions?

C. Hephaestus working at his forge LP

What type of tree is Yggdrasil?

C. Ash GP

In Aztec mythology, what is the sun created from?

D. the body of sacrificed gods LP

What cryptid is said to be local to the Gobi Desert?

D. Mongolian death worm GP LP

The end of the world in Norse mythology is described by a poem, Voluspa (Wise Woman's Prophecy).

true LP

What piece of legislation contains the clauses stating things like:"...the history of the United States effectively demonstrates that building a strong nation does not require the sacrifice of cultural differences;" and"...it is appropriate and necessary for the Federal Government to support research and scholarship...in order to contribute to an understanding of the complex problems of the basic desires, beliefs, and values of the American people in both rural and urban areas"?

A. American Folklife Preservation Act GP

Which culture's pantheon seems LEAST interested in mankind?

A. Mesopotamian LP

Which mountain's entire top is considered a sacred site today?

A. Mount Fuji LP

Most of the stories of Norse mythology were collected in which saga/poem compilation?

A. Prose Edda GP

What was the food and drink of the Greek gods?

A. ambrosia and nectar LP

What is one structural explanation for why modern Americans don't tell young children about bogeymen who will steal them away if they wander at night?

A. fences and locks replace the function of these stories LP

Which modern practice is MOST similar to the concept of ethnogenesis?

A. genetic lineage sites like Ancestry.com or "23andme" LP

Which cryptid was most likely inspired by animals infected with a tumor-causing virus?

A. jackalope GP LP

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all which type of religion?

A. monotheistic GP LP

What comparative mythology perspective would be LEAST likely to support the idea of a heroic monomyth?

A. particularist LP

What are logographic writing scripts based on (as in, what is the "building block" of the written language)?

A. phonemes GP

What term could be MOST accurately applied to Mesopotamian myth?

B. Babylonian GP

Which pair of myths explain similar elements of the world?

B. Garden of Eden and Pandora's Box LP

In Egyptian mythology, the pharaoh is the avatar of what god?

B. Horus LP

Dante's Inferno explains what Catholic concept (reserved for virtuous souls who still cannot yet enter heaven)?

B. Limbo GP

What is the name of the most famous surviving Greek temple, dedicated to Athena?

B. Parthenon GP

Where is the cave where humans were created, according to Aztec myth?

B. Teotihuacan GP

Which location in the world is particularly known for its many cenotes?

B. Yucatan Peninsula GP

According to Buddhist myth, where did the first tea plants come from?

B. a monk's eyelids LP

In the ancient Greek language, what would the term "hecaton" have meant?

B. hundred GP

What is MOST important about the Sumerian King List?

B. its mention of rulers after a great flood LP

According to Dante, which sin would lead to an afterlife as a living tree, immobile but forever being fed upon by harpies?

B. suicide GP

Adam refuses to walk under a ladder and goes out of his way to avoid having a black cat cross his path. What are these behaviors examples of?

B. superstitions QP

Which feature would be MOST expected to be found in an urban legend?

B. the victim being unidentified or vaguely described LP

Based on the nure-onago and harionago of Japanese folklore, what does "onago" indicate in the Japanese language?

B. woman or girl QP

Which deity is the patron city-god of ancient Babylon?

C. Marduk GP

Panderers, flatterers, false prophets, and hypocrites are all punished in which of the nine circles of Hell, according to Dante?

C. eighth GP

In late Roman mythology, Medusa was originally a human woman but was transformed into a monstrous gorgon by the goddess Minerva (Athena) as punishment for defiling a temple. What would Alexander Eliot consider this part of the story of Medusa?

C. pagan myth LP

Which creature would a cryptozoologist be MOST likely to study?

C. yeti LP GP

Approximately how many languages are listed in the Ethnologue?

D. 6,809 LP

Which broad geographic term MOST accurately describes the location of Mesopotamia?

D. Middle East LP GP

In Greek mythology, why do ravens have black feathers?

D. being burnt by a god's anger LP

From where did anthropologists learn much about ancient Egyptian myths?

D. funerary texts LP

Why do people most likely believe in superstitions?

D. gaining a sense of control GP

Elena encounters a real-world kappa! Which technique would be LEAST likely to save her if the kappa were to attack?

D. singing it a lullaby GP

What is an example of a myth that has been associated with real-world historic events?

D. the anger of Pele

Who would the Greeks MOST likely have prayed to in order to prevent an earthquake?

Poseidon LP