View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What counter-example does Socrates employ as evidence that a state is flawed?
(a) "Rich" soldiers in other cities make poor soldiers and poor leaders.
(b) Diplomats make more money than labors in problematic regions.
(c) Poor doctors exist where there are poor statesmen.
(d) When innocent men are sentenced to death, a state is flawed.

2. What does Cephalus say to Socrates about old age?
(a) Aging takes the life out of one's body.
(b) Old age is the same as youth, it just depends on one's perspective.
(c) Most people think it is a curse, but one can enjoy freedom from youth's passions.
(d) Wisdom is not worth death.

3. When pressed by Socrates to explain his skill, Ion asserts which of the following?
(a) When he recites passage about military exploits he cannot tell if he does so with the candor of a general.
(b) When he recites poetry he feels like the poet himself.
(c) Socrates should not be asking him questions.
(d) He is unqualified to comment on the artistic value of the his recitations.

4. What is a symposium?
(a) An outdoor gathering of philosophers near a nobleman's residence.
(b) An all- night drinking party where various elite Greeks discuss the meaning of love.
(c) A small club of Sophists.
(d) An ancient restaurant.

5. How does Socrates defend the point that men and women are equal?
(a) Though they have different natures, they can perform the same tasks.
(b) Though they have different external organs, their internal ones are similar.
(c) Men need women to exist (and vice-versa), so man and woman are better regarded as parts of a whole rather than individuals.
(d) Though men are physically stronger, women are emotionally stronger.

6. What is the major point of Aristophanes' speech?
(a) Love is as complicated and confusing as good poetry.
(b) Men loving woman is necessarily better than men loving men, because the former allows for procreation.
(c) Love is the desire for unity, because man and woman were once a unified being.
(d) Everything eventually dies, so it is pointless to love anything.

7. One virtue that Socrates constantly refers to in his reasoning throughout Book III is_____________.
(a) Will.
(b) Balance.
(c) Courage.
(d) Originality.

8. Who gives the last formal speech at the symposium?
(a) Agathon.
(b) Pausanias.
(c) Socrates.
(d) Appolodorus.

9. In Socrates' ideal city, poets and soothsayers:
(a) Would not be allowed to speak falsely about the gods.
(b) Would be rich while the workers would be poor.
(c) Would be considered useless and expelled.
(d) Would lead religious ceremonies.

10. What poet is cited by Cephalus to explain the paradox of old age?
(a) Homer.
(b) Petrach.
(c) Pindar.
(d) Shakespeare.

11. In order to respond to Glaucon's objections, Socrates ___________________.
(a) Changes the subject completely.
(b) Tries to find justice in animals before finding justice in humans.
(c) Posits an ideal city so that he might discover where justice comes from.
(d) Analogizes justice to fine skills like woodworking and carpentry.

12. Who is the character who narrates Symposium?
(a) Alcibides.
(b) Socrates.
(c) Appolodorus.
(d) Agathon.

13. In the dialogue, Meno blames the confusion in his speech on which of the following?
(a) Himself, because he has not had ample time to prepare for a deep conversation.
(b) Socrates, because Socrates is not listening to Meno's points.
(c) Himself, because he does not think himself a good exemplar of what virtue is.
(d) Socrates, because Socrates is deliberately confusing Meno about a subject which Meno thought he knew.

14. Describe Meno's appearance and attitude when he meets Socrates.
(a) Middle- aged and curious.
(b) Young and handsome though impulsive and arrogant.
(c) Youthful, though ugly and shy.
(d) Old, thoughtful, and wise.

15. When Socrates meets Ion, Ion has just returned from which of the following?
(a) Socrates' trial.
(b) A game at the Coliseum.
(c) A poetry recital contest in Epidarus.
(d) Agathon's drinking party.

Short Answer Questions

1. What analogies does Socrates employ to refute Thrasymachus' position on justice?

2. In Book V, Socrates admits which of the following about his republic?

3. When he first meets Socrates, Meno asks the following question:

4. Socrates argues that laws are___________.

5. Which demographic of the Athenian population does Socrates single out for discussion?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 805 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample