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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Leeming describe the mythic concern with creation?
(a) As a metaphor for maturity.
(b) As a metaphor for storytelling.
(c) As a metaphor for history.
(d) As a metaphor for birth.

2. What does Leeming say was the central organizing principle of the Christian Creation myth?
(a) Free will.
(b) Reason.
(c) Logos.
(d) Morality.

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

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

5. What does Leeming say happened to the figure of the Great Mother over time?
(a) It became merely decorative.
(b) It lingered at the periphery of industrial culture.
(c) It acquired new faces.
(d) It lost significance.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Leeming describe the trickster gods?

2. When was the New Testament book of Revelation likely composed?

3. What evidence does Leeming cite to argue for a single matriarch at the beginning of the Greek pantheon?

4. What does Leeming say the Hebrew creation myth was concerned with?

5. Where does Leeming say the Great Mother began to play a role over time?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Leeming say the figure of the trickster?

2. Why does Leeming say that cosmogonies are predominantly feminine?

3. Describe the Hebrew creation myth.

4. Describe the stages through which the Greek pantheon developed, in Leeming's account.

5. How does Leeming say that cultures still worship the Great Mother?

6. Who are the primary gods in the Egyptian pantheon?

7. How does Leeming define the cosmic myth?

8. How does Leeming address the fall from grace or perfection in creation myths?

9. Describe the Indian creation myth.

10. What relationship does Leeming describe between politics and religion in the myths of the Egyptian pantheon?

(see the answer keys)

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