⚡ Mythology Trivia Questions & Answers
Greek, Norse, Egyptian, and world mythologies — gods, heroes, and legends. Below are 50 free mythology trivia questions with answers. Want a real challenge that adapts to what you know? Play the Mythology quiz on BUZZ — no signup needed to start.
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50 Mythology trivia questions
Q1. Who is the king of the Greek gods, ruler of Mount Olympus?
Answer: Zeus
💡 Zeus's Roman equivalent is Jupiter. He is the god of sky, lightning, and thunder. His symbol is the thunderbolt, an eagle, and the oak tree.
Q2. Who is the Greek god of the sea?
Answer: Poseidon
💡 Poseidon also causes earthquakes ('Earth-Shaker') and is associated with horses. The Romans called him Neptune. He competed with Athena to be the patron god of Athens — she won with the gift of an olive tree.
Q3. Who is the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare strategy?
Answer: Athena
💡 Athena was born fully grown and armored from Zeus's head after Hephaestus split it open with an axe. She's associated with the owl, the olive tree, and the city of Athens.
Q4. Who killed Medusa (the snake-haired Gorgon)?
Answer: Perseus
💡 Perseus used a mirrored shield to avoid Medusa's stone-turning gaze, then beheaded her. Pegasus (the winged horse) sprang from her neck. Perseus later used Medusa's head to rescue Andromeda.
Q5. Hermes was the Greek god of messengers and what other group?
Answer: Thieves
💡 Hermes was god of messengers, travelers, merchants, and thieves; he wore winged sandals and carried the caduceus.
Q6. What is Mjolnir in Norse mythology?
Answer: Thor's hammer
💡 Mjolnir was forged by the dwarves Sindri and Brokkr. It could return to Thor's hand after being thrown. Its name may derive from an ancient word meaning 'lightning' or 'grinder.'
Q7. Who is the chief god (Allfather) in Norse mythology?
Answer: Odin
💡 Odin sacrificed an eye at the Well of Mimir for cosmic wisdom, and hung himself on the World Tree Yggdrasil for nine days to discover the runes. He is the god of wisdom, war, death, and poetry.
Q8. What are the Valkyries in Norse mythology?
Answer: Female spirits who choose who dies in battle
💡 Valkyries escort worthy warriors to Valhalla, where they serve mead. Wagner's Ring Cycle opera features them memorably.
Q9. Who is the Egyptian god of the dead and ruler of the underworld?
Answer: Osiris
💡 Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth, who scattered his body. His wife Isis reassembled him, restoring him to life — he became ruler of the dead. He's depicted as a green-skinned mummy wearing a white crown.
Q10. Who is the Egyptian sun god?
Answer: Ra
💡 Ra, also called Ra-Horakhty or Amun-Ra, traveled the sky in a solar barque by day and battled the serpent Apophis at night.
Q11. Who is the Roman god of war?
Answer: Mars
💡 Mars was second only to Jupiter in Roman reverence. March (Martius) is named after him. He was also god of agriculture, and the wolf and woodpecker were sacred to him. His Greek equivalent is Ares.
Q12. In Hindu mythology, what is Ganesha the god of?
Answer: Overcoming obstacles and wisdom
💡 Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, has an elephant head because Shiva cut off his original head in anger, then replaced it with an elephant's.
Q13. Embalmers removed the lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines into jars — but which organ stayed put?
Answer: The heart
💡 Egyptians left the heart inside the body because they believed it would testify for or against its owner in the afterlife's judgment.
Q14. Shiva's four-armed 'Lord of the Dance' form, symbolizing creation and destruction, is called what?
Answer: Nataraja
💡 In the classic bronze image, one of Nataraja's feet is planted on a dwarf demon representing ignorance, while the other is lifted in a gesture of release.
Q15. Which weapon does storm-king Indra hurl as both thunderbolt and symbol of unbreakable strength?
Answer: The vajra
💡 The word vajra means both 'thunderbolt' and 'diamond' in Sanskrit, reflecting the weapon's power and hardness.
Q16. In the Mahabharata's climactic war, which two cousin families fight brutally for the throne?
Answer: The Pandavas and the Kauravas
💡 The war lasted just eighteen days according to the epic, yet it's said to have wiped out nearly an entire generation of warriors.
Q17. Toga off, wine out — which Roman god turned festivals into wild all-night parties?
Answer: Bacchus
💡 Bacchus's wild Bacchanalia festivals got so out of hand that Rome's Senate restricted them by law in 186 BCE.
Q18. She spins an endless wheel that can lift you up or dump you flat — which goddess controls luck?
Answer: Fortuna
💡 Fortuna's wheel symbolized how luck never holds still — good fortune could flip to bad with a single turn.
Q19. Which shape-shifting Monkey King battles through heaven with a magic staff in Journey to the West?
Answer: Sun Wukong
💡 His staff can shrink small enough to tuck behind his ear or grow massive enough to level mountains.
Q20. Which fearsome Slavic witch lives in a forest hut that stands and spins on giant chicken legs?
Answer: Baba Yaga
💡 Her hut is said to be fenced in with human bones and will only stop turning if a visitor commands it properly.
Q21. Which Polynesian demigod fished up islands from the sea floor with a jawbone hook?
Answer: Maui
💡 In Māori tradition, the fish he hauled up became the North Island of New Zealand.
Q22. This Roman god of doorways and beginnings is shown with two faces — one back, one forward.
Answer: Janus
💡 January is named after Janus, fittingly the god of beginnings.
Q23. Which legendary bird bursts into flame and rises reborn from its own ashes?
Answer: Phoenix
💡 No ancient writer gave the phoenix a lifespan shorter than 500 years.
Q24. Which sea-women's song lured sailors, so Odysseus plugged his crew's ears with wax?
Answer: Sirens
💡 Some myths say a Siren who failed to enchant a mortal would fling herself into the sea.
Q25. Which solitary Irish fairy is a shoemaker said to guard a hidden pot of gold?
Answer: Leprechaun
💡 Leprechauns weren't linked to green clothing and rainbows until the 20th century.
Q26. Which wailing female spirit's cry is said to foretell a death in the family?
Answer: Banshee
💡 Her Irish name, bean sidhe, literally means 'woman of the fairy mound.'
Q27. Which Shinto god was born from Izanagi's nose after his purifying bath?
Answer: Susanoo
💡 Susanoo's siblings Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi were born from Izanagi's left and right eyes.
Q28. Which sun goddess is worshipped as the mythical ancestress of Japan's imperial line?
Answer: Amaterasu
💡 Amaterasu's grandson Ninigi carried down the sword, mirror, and jewel that became Japan's imperial regalia.
Q29. Which fiery realm is home to the giants who will help destroy the world at Ragnarök?
Answer: Muspelheim
💡 Muspelheim and icy Niflheim are the two primordial realms said to exist before all others.
Q30. Which flickering ghost-light lures night travelers off safe paths into bogs?
Answer: Will-o'-the-wisp
💡 Science now blames the light on marsh gas from decaying plants, but 13th-century folklore blamed a wandering soul.
Q31. Which Scottish water spirit poses as a horse to drown unwary riders?
Answer: Kelpie
💡 One giveaway sign of a kelpie in horse form is its hooves — they point backward, unlike a real horse's.
Q32. Which Connacht queen started a war over a bull named Finnbhennach?
Answer: Medb
💡 Medb went to war only after realizing her husband owned one bull more valuable than any in her own herd.
Q33. Which Japanese god of fishing and luck is the only native-born member of the Seven Lucky Gods?
Answer: Ebisu
💡 He's usually shown grinning and holding a fishing rod with a red sea bream tucked under his arm.
Q34. Which Japanese god of wealth is shown holding a magic mallet atop bales of rice?
Answer: Daikokuten
💡 His mallet, the uchide no kozuchi, is said to grant any wish when shaken.
Q35. Which Egyptian funerary rite let a mummy magically eat, breathe and speak again?
Answer: Opening of the Mouth
💡 Priests touched ritual tools to the mummy's face to reawaken its senses for the afterlife.
Q36. Which witch turned Odysseus's sailors into pigs on her island?
Answer: Circe
💡 Odysseus resisted Circe's magic by first eating the herb moly, a gift from Hermes.
Q37. Which Hawaiian goddess is said to live inside the Kilauea volcano?
Answer: Pele
💡 Kilauea's ongoing eruptions have added hundreds of acres of new land since 1983.
Q38. Which Chinese goddess flew to the moon after drinking an elixir of immortality?
Answer: Chang'e
💡 She is said to share the moon with a white rabbit companion named Yu Tu.
Q39. Which Roman goddess is the equivalent of the Greek Hera?
Answer: Juno
💡 Juno also headed the Capitoline Triad alongside Jupiter and Minerva.
Q40. Krishna earned the nickname 'Makhan Chor' for stealing what as a child?
Answer: Butter
💡 In Hindu tradition, butter symbolizes devotion — Krishna 'steals' true devotees' hearts.
Q41. Who is the Greek god of the sun and music?
Answer: Apollo
💡 Apollo is one of the most complex Olympian gods — also god of prophecy, healing, archery, and poetry. His twin sister is Artemis. The Oracle at Delphi spoke for Apollo.
Q42. Who is the Greek god of the underworld?
Answer: Hades
💡 Hades is also known as Pluto (his Roman name). He rarely left the underworld. The ancient Greeks often avoided saying his name, referring to him as 'The Unseen One' or 'The Wealthy One.'
Q43. Who ferries souls across the River Styx to the underworld?
Answer: Charon
💡 The dead had to pay Charon an obol (coin) for the journey — which is why Greeks buried their dead with a coin over the eye or in the mouth. Those without coins wandered for 100 years.
Q44. What guards the entrance to the Greek underworld?
Answer: Cerberus
💡 Cerberus is a three-headed dog who keeps the dead in and the living out. Heracles's 12th labor was to capture him.
Q45. In Greek myth, Prometheus stole what from the gods to give to humanity?
Answer: Fire
💡 As punishment, Zeus chained Prometheus to a mountain where an eagle ate his liver each day — which regenerated overnight since he was immortal. He was eventually freed by Heracles.
Q46. What was the labyrinth built to contain in Greek mythology?
Answer: The Minotaur
💡 The Minotaur was half-man, half-bull, offspring of Crete's Queen Pasiphae and a bull. Theseus slew it using Ariadne's thread.
Q47. What is Achilles' only vulnerable spot?
Answer: His heel
💡 Thetis dipped baby Achilles in the River Styx to make him invulnerable, but held him by his heel — leaving it vulnerable. He was killed by an arrow to the heel, guided by Apollo, shot by Paris.
Q48. What was the 'Golden Fleece' that Jason and the Argonauts sought?
Answer: The fleece of a winged golden ram, kept in Colchis (modern Georgia)
💡 Jason and the Argonauts (named after their ship, Argo) journeyed to Colchis. Medea, the witch princess, fell in love with Jason and helped him obtain the fleece. The myth may reference real Bronze Age gold-panning using sheepskins.
Q49. Which Greek hero completed 12 Labours as penance for killing his family?
Answer: Heracles (Hercules)
💡 The 12 Labours included slaying the Nemean Lion, the Lernaean Hydra, and capturing Cerberus. Heracles's Roman name Hercules is more widely recognized. He was the son of Zeus and mortal Alcmene.
Q50. Who is Eros (Cupid) in Greek mythology?
Answer: The god of love, son of Aphrodite
💡 Eros shoots arrows that make people fall in love. The tale of Eros and Psyche is one of mythology's great love stories.
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