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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Ulysses trick Andromache into revealing Astyanax's location?
(a) He claims Hector's tomb must be torn down.
(b) He pretends to leave but watches her walk into the tomb.
(c) He suggests that the boy is a coward.
(d) He watches her eyes as she looks around for him.

2. Whom does Oedipus defeat before the start of the play?
(a) Medusa.
(b) The Sphinx.
(c) The Furies.
(d) The Sirens.

3. What does Agamemnon claim as being forbidden, due to shame and honor?
(a) Abandoning their dead warriors.
(b) Dishonoring the graves of the fallen Trojans.
(c) Sacrificing a maiden for Achilles.
(d) Claiming the Trojan women as concubines.

4. According to Andromache, what is the worst fate for a Trojan woman?
(a) Exile from their home.
(b) Marriage to a Greek.
(c) Abandonment by their husbands.
(d) Death in the name of the Greeks.

5. What does Oedipus wish upon the murderer of Jocasta's late husband?
(a) Subjection to an angry mob of Laius' subjects.
(b) Torment from Hades.
(c) His prophecy from Apollo.
(d) Death.

6. How did Astyanax's bravery affect Ulysses and the Greeks?
(a) They mocked him.
(b) They cried out of pity,
(c) They saluted him.
(d) They prayed to the gods for mercy.

7. Where does Andromache hide her son?
(a) The marketplace.
(b) The caves by the edge of the city.
(c) Hector's tomb.
(d) The temple of Apollo.

8. From where does the messenger in the fourth act come in "Oedipus"?
(a) Thebes.
(b) Troy.
(c) Sparta.
(d) Corinth.

9. What is Tiresias unable to do in the second act of "Oedipus"?
(a) Raise Laius' ghost.
(b) Explain the Oracle's prophecy.
(c) Authenticate Oedipus' royal blood.
(d) Save Jocasta's life.

10. What is Talthybius' station among the Greeks?
(a) Herald.
(b) Priest.
(c) Prophet.
(d) Weaponsmith.

11. What deception must Helen play on Polyxena?
(a) Helen must suggest Polyxena pray to the wrong god so that she becomes cursed.
(b) Helen is going to switch places with Polyxena to escape her husband.
(c) Helen must lure Polyxena to be sacrificed under guise of a wedding.
(d) Helen must talk Polyxena into committing.

12. What course of action does Tiresias propose he take in order to help avenge the king's murder?
(a) He will summon the king's ghost.
(b) He will sacrifice himself to the gods for the end of the plague.
(c) He will go to the Oracle himself.
(d) He will pray to Zeus for guidance.

13. What does the messenger reveal that Oedipus refuses to do in the fifth act?
(a) Tell Jocasta the truth about their relationship.
(b) Free the imprisoned Creon.
(c) Commit suicide.
(d) Flee Thebes.

14. Who is Hecuba?
(a) Queen of the Amazons.
(b) Queen of Sparta.
(c) Queen of Troy.
(d) Queen of Thebes.

15. For what purpose does Tiresias wish to take a particular action after he is unable to clarify the Oracle's message?
(a) The ghost can reveal his murderer.
(b) Zeus will listen to and answer his prayers.
(c) Tiresias' willing sacrifice will end the plague.
(d) The Oracle can explain herself to him.

Short Answer Questions

1. Because of the plague, what does Oedipus consider doing because he is unable to stop it in the first act of the play?

2. Who does Andromache blame for the fall of Troy?

3. Who kills Polyxena?

4. What has happened to the Trojan widows after their army was defeated?

5. Whose priests gave Oedipus the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother?

(see the answer keys)

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