Trivia can be a question and answer game or contest.
Trivia is a term that does not appear in the dictionary prepared by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ). The concept, in any case, is linked to another notion that appears in the publication: trivial , whose first meaning refers to something that is known by everyone .
The idea of trivia can also be associated with trivio , which is a path that divides into three different paths. Trivia , furthermore, is the divinity of crossroads in Roman mythology .
Trivia as a game
From all these definitions, we can understand how the word trivia is used today. A trivia is a series of questions that are asked within the framework of a contest or a game , the answers to which must be chosen from different options.
As can be seen, what we understand by trivia is linked to shared knowledge (since the questions usually point to general knowledge), to a path divided into different branches (the different tentative answers that are presented for each question) and to a crossroads (linked to the doubt that arises about what is the correct answer in each case).
An example
Suppose that a television program presents a question and answer contest to the participants. In this way, each of them must answer a question correctly to advance to the next level. If you answer ten questions correctly, you win an important prize.
The trivia begins with the following question: "In what year did Christopher Columbus first arrive on the American continent?" . The options are: "1460" , "1492" , "1496" and "1501" . If the contestant answers "1492" , which is the correct answer, they advance to the next question.
Trivia can be associated with a crossroads.
Goddess Trivia
Returning to Roman mythology, according to which Trivia is the goddess of crossroads , we find a very interesting story . First of all, we must say that the Roman poet Publius Ovidio Nasón mentioned it in some of his works. Trivia is a figure that generally does good, as it helps people achieve success in their businesses; However, if you want, you can also lead them to failure. His power is truly considerable, so much so that Jupiter himself (the most important god in Roman mythology, equivalent to Zeus) shows him respect.
Depending on the version of Trivia we find, we can appreciate different facets of this goddess: some present her as a benevolent being, while others show her as someone sinister. As is the case in more than one case, Greek mythology also has a goddess of crossroads, Hecate, and many consider them equivalent. Hecate's role at the crossroads that open in three (called trivios ) was of special importance, and the Greeks placed posts at these points on the roads that showed each of her three heads facing in a different direction .
Before embarking on one of the three routes, travelers had to make some sacrifice to implore Hecate for safety along the way, and this is related to another of Hecate's roles, the original one, which defined her as goddess of the wild lands , and also unexplored regions . In the magical texts of Greek mythology, such as the defixios (also known as curse tablets , they were means in which people could ask the gods to harm their enemies) and the magical papyri, Hecate was the goddess who was mentioned more frequently.
As a curious fact, it is known that throughout the 7th century, Bishop Saint Eligius, born in the year 588 in the ancient French region of Limousin, used to repeat to his followers that Christians should never show devotion to any of the goddesses. of the trivia.