Weekend Wisdom Quiz

From Augustan to Austen

Dear Classical Wisdom Reader,

It’s there, even if you think you can’t see it.

This week, we looked at how the influence of the Classics shows up everywhere: From the very origins of Christmas, to the Regency ballrooms of Jane Austen…

And now’s the time to show you know how with the Weekly Wisdom Quiz.

As always, all questions are based on articles and resources published this week here on Classical Wisdom.

A full roundup of them all is available just after the quiz, along with the answers.

So, are you ready? Then let’s go!

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1. The philosopher Heraclitus believed that the underlying substance that made up the cosmos was…?
A. Earth
B. Wind
C. Fire
D. Water

2. What Aristotelian concept is echoed in Jane Austen’s novels?
A. Moral character is inherited from a person’s parents and broader lineage
B. Contentment is achieved through acquiring wealth
C. Marriage is a social construct
D. Achieving virtue is understood as correcting imbalances in character

3. Plato believed the physical world around us was…?
A. An illusion created by Zeus
B. An imperfect shadow of the perfect and ideal world of the forms
C. Made of one substance
D. Fundamentally unknowable

4. How does Jane Austen’s work differ from the Roman comedies that influenced her?
A. The gods do not intervene or influence events; the action is entirely human.
B. The characters represent heroic ideals
C. The stories are directly based on Greek mythology
D. The plots are based on the playful reversal of social structures

5. Aristophanes appears as a character in which of Plato’s dialogues?
A. The Republic
B. The Symposium
C. The Apology
D. The Phaedo

6. What was the name of the Roman winter festival that served as a pagan precursor to Christmas?
A. Dionysia
B. Floralia
C. Saturnalia
D. Lupercalia

7. Where did the celebration of this Roman winter festival officially begin?
A. Circus Maximus
B. The Pantheon
C. The Colosseum
D. The Temple of Saturn

8. How did Aristophanes inaccurately portray Socrates in his play The Clouds?
A. As a Stoic
B. As a Cynic
C. As a Sophist
D. As an Epicurean

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Bonus Article:

Answers

1. C. Fire (Is Your Mind Just Matter?)

2. D. Virtue is understood as a form of correcting imbalances in character

3. B. An imperfect shadow of the perfect and ideal world of the forms (Is Your Mind Just Matter?)

4. A. The gods do not intervene or influence events; the action is entirely human.

5. B. The Symposium (Where Comedy Meets Philosophy)

6. C. Saturnalia (Io Saturnalia!)

7. D. The Temple of Saturn (Io Saturnalia!)

8. C. As a Sophist (Where Comedy Meets Philosophy)

The Wisdom Scale

🌱 Novice (0–2 correct)
You’ve planted the seed of wisdom but it’s just beginning to sprout.

🔥 Aspiring Seeker (3–4 correct)
Your knowledge burns brighter. You’ve lit the first torch on the road to enlightenment.

🏛️ Learned Citizen (5–6 correct)
You walk among marble halls of Rome and Greece with confidence, well-versed in the ancients.

🌞 Master of the Classics (7–8 correct)
Zeus crowns you with glory. You embody the harmony of myth, history, and philosophy!

So, how did it go this week? Let us know in the comments below!

All the best,

Sean Kelly

Managing Editor

Classical Wisdom