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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who does Leeming say is the archetypal helper god in the Greco-Roman Pantheon?
(a) Athena.
(b) Prometheus.
(c) Pan.
(d) Epimetheus.

2. Where is the Norse pantheon first described in writing?
(a) The Nibelungenleid.
(b) The Elder and Younger Eddas.
(c) The Kalevala.
(d) Tacitus' Germania.

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

4. During whose reign was the first creation myth recorded, according to Leeming?
(a) Nebuchadnezzar.
(b) Hatshepsut.
(c) Solomon.
(d) Herod.

5. How does Leeming describe cosmogonies?
(a) As prophetic.
(b) As ritual.
(c) As nostalgic.
(d) As sacramental.

6. What does Leeming say ancient cultures realized through cosmogonies?
(a) That death is ubiquitous in life.
(b) That the world's spirit pervades all forms.
(c) That culture survives the deaths of its members.
(d) That the Great Mother makes all life possible.

7. What does Leeming say Horus represents, in the Egyptian pantheon?
(a) The rage of war.
(b) The playful nature of fate.
(c) The spiritual force governing the Pharaoh.
(d) The rebirth of the earth after winter.

8. Whose child is Horus, in the Egyptian pantheon?
(a) Isis and Osiris.
(b) Anubis and Isis.
(c) Isis and Amun.
(d) Isis and Geb.

9. When does Leeming say the older Genesis text was likely composed?
(a) 950 BCE.
(b) 500 BCE.
(c) 800 BCE.
(d) 110 CE.

10. What does Leeming say the Roman pantheon is rife with?
(a) Political metaphor.
(b) Prophecy of Christ.
(c) Legalistic language.
(d) Anxiety about the Greeks' supremacy.

11. What is a teleological reason for myth?
(a) To compensate for the loss of instinct.
(b) To understand the nature of language.
(c) To understand the cause and purpose of existence.
(d) To understand the origins of existence.

12. What does Leeming say dominates all myths?
(a) The concept of redemption.
(b) The concept of justice in the universe.
(c) The concept of God and Goddess.
(d) The concept of creation from nothing.

13. Whose behavior does Leeming say explains the behavior of the Olympian gods in the Greek pantheon?
(a) The Egyptians'.
(b) The Greek ruling class'.
(c) The Etruscans'.
(d) The Persians'.

14. How does Leeming say the Chinese describe the flood?
(a) As a way to help cultivate the earth.
(b) As a way to purge a preliminary form of humanity.
(c) As a punishment for sins against the gods.
(d) As an attempt to avert a war against the gods.

15. Who does Leeming say parallels Lucifer in the Norse pantheon?
(a) Hel.
(b) Odin.
(c) Loki.
(d) Thor.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Leeming say was the natural phenomenon at the heart of the Egyptian religion?

2. Which topic does not fall under cosmology?

3. What does Leeming say the Hebraic people's monotheistic god focused on?

4. What does Leeming say suggests a desire to escape from earthly existence?

5. How does Leeming describe the mythic concern with creation?

(see the answer keys)

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