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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To what does Leeming say the oldest myth refers?
(a) Caves where men are reunited with the earth.
(b) Plains where men sow seeds that unite earth and water.
(c) Oceans where life first developed.
(d) Primeval gathering places or mounds that become fused with the sun.

2. What problem or question does Leeming say cultures were addressing in cosmogonies?
(a) The question of how life forms evolved and differentiated.
(b) The question of why men are stronger than women are.
(c) The question of birth from nothing.
(d) The question of how man rose to the summit of power over nature.

3. Whom does Leeming say parallels the serpent in the Christian garden in the Norse pantheon?
(a) Thor.
(b) Odin.
(c) Loki.
(d) Hel.

4. For what does Leeming say the struggle among gods in the Egyptian pantheon is a metaphor?
(a) Historical political and religious conflicts in 4,000 BCE.
(b) The expansion of trade in the Mediterranean.
(c) The human struggle against evil.
(d) The invasion of Ethiopians in 2,200 BCE.

5. How does Leeming say earth religions still worship the Great Mother?
(a) In the constellations.
(b) In modern agriculture.
(c) In the seasons.
(d) In the form of nature.

6. Where does Leeming say the Greek name Zeus comes from?
(a) The Sanskrit for light or day.
(b) The Egyptian for thunder.
(c) The Sumerian for death.
(d) The Persian for power.

7. What does Leeming say about cosmogonies?
(a) That they are typically allegorical.
(b) That they are typically female.
(c) That they are typically moral.
(d) That they are typically linear narratives.

8. What does Leeming say the Egyptian pantheon is centered on?
(a) The balance between free will and fate.
(b) Redemption.
(c) Death and resurrection.
(d) The possibility of self-fulfillment.

9. What does Leeming say the Hebrew creation myth was concerned with?
(a) The indifference of the creator to his creation.
(b) The role of humanity in the universe.
(c) The morality of human beings.
(d) The possibility of justice in dealings with people.

10. When were the hieroglyphs made that contain the oldest myth Leeming cites?
(a) 2200-2000 BCE.
(b) 1800-1500 BCE.
(c) 3000-2200 BCE.
(d) 1500-1200 BCE.

11. For what does Leeming say the gods are metaphors?
(a) The collective unconscious.
(b) Timeless laws of the universe.
(c) Earth, wind, water and fire.
(d) Elements of society, as well as human emotions.

12. How does Leeming say the Zeus and Hera represented humanity in Greek culture?
(a) In an essentializing portrait.
(b) In a realistic yet skeptical portrait.
(c) In a caricature of male and female spirits.
(d) In an idealized portrait of man and wife.

13. What does Leeming say the Hebraic people's monotheistic god focused on?
(a) The sublimity of God.
(b) The importance of proselytizing.
(c) The dangers of disobeying God.
(d) The importance of being on a mission.

14. What does Leeming say the gods function as in myth?
(a) Masks and metaphors.
(b) Self-portraits.
(c) Ciphers.
(d) Mirrors.

15. What creation myth does Leeming say modern people favor?
(a) Intelligent design.
(b) Creation ex nihilo.
(c) Evolution.
(d) The Big Bang.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Leeming say the Great Mother represents?

2. Who was the sun god of Heliopolis?

3. What does Leeming say the Roman pantheon is rife with?

4. How does Leeming describe the Greek people's pantheon?

5. What does Leeming say happened to the figure of the Great Mother over time?

(see the answer keys)

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