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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who confirms Odysseus' suspicions that Ajax slaughtered a herd of cattle?

2. Tecmessa and Ajax's son leave the stage when Ajax shuts himself into what?

3. When Tecmessa confirms, to the Chorus, that Ajax slaughtered cattle, what does the Chorus say it might be time to do?

4. Who is Tecmessa?

5. What does Athena say she will do to Odysseus before having Ajax appear?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why would Sophocles have the Chorus enter, in Part 4, complaining?

2. What does Odysseus believe about burying Ajax?

3. Why does Ajax refuse to go home?

4. What does Teucer, after seeing Ajax's dead body, say his father will do?

5. What does Athena say when she first appears to Odysseus and why does she appear?

6. How does Ajax plan to use the sword to kill himself?

7. What does Ajax do with his armor, and why?

8. How, and why, does Athena protect Odysseus when she brings Ajax out of his tent?

9. What do Menelaus and Teucer use to support their positions about Ajax's burial?

10. Ajax says that the rules of nature must be obeyed, and so must what?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do Odysseus and Ajax present different qualities of a warrior? What are those qualities, and what do they mean for the actions of the characters? Cite specific examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

What two types of authority are in conflict in this play, and what does the conflict mean for the characters in the play? Use the play to find examples to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

What, according to the characters in the play, are important qualities in friendship? What role does friendship have in the play? Cite specific examples from the story to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 688 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample