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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who does the messenger say gave him the infant Oedipus?
(a) one of Laius' shepherds
(b) an old man he cannot identify
(c) one of Laius' soldiers
(d) Jocasta's young maid

2. What children did Polybus have before Oedipus?
(a) a son who was stolen away
(b) a daughter who died
(c) none
(d) a son who died

3. What does Jocasta advise Oedipus about his fears?
(a) to act to try to avoid the prophecy
(b) to ignore prophecies and live life as best he can
(c) to accept the prophecy, since he can't change the future
(d) to act to try to fulfill the prophecy

4. Who asks the old shepherd whether he gave an infant baby to the messenger years ago?
(a) Oedipus
(b) the messenger
(c) the chorus leader
(d) Jocasta

5. What gives Oedipus hope that he did not kill Laius?
(a) The survivor may see Oedipus's face and be able to identify that he's not the killer.
(b) The murder seems to have taken place at a different time than Oedipus remembers.
(c) The survivor reported being attacked by a band of thieves, not one man.
(d) The description of the carriage does not match the one Oedipus remembers.

6. What does Oedipus ask, when Jocasta tells Oedipus the messenger's news?
(a) He asks a servant to bring Creon to him.
(b) He asks a servant to bring Teiresias to him.
(c) He asks the messenger to tell him the news himself.
(d) He asks Jocasta to leave him and go to the palace.

7. Who is with the approaching shepherd?
(a) servants of Oedipus
(b) a priest of Apollo
(c) no one
(d) Teiresias

8. What does Creon accuse Oedipus of?
(a) being power hungry and greedy
(b) being stupid and not the one to answer the Sphinx's riddle
(c) framing him to cover Oedipus's own crimes
(d) being stubborn and forgetting common sense

9. How long would the shepherds stay in the fields each year?
(a) nine months
(b) three months
(c) one month
(d) six months

10. Does the chorus leader recognize the approaching shepherd?
(a) Not at first, but then the old man begins to look familiar.
(b) No, he has never seen the old man.
(c) Yes, but he can't remember who the old man was.
(d) Yes, he identifies the old man of a servant of Laius.

11. Who does Jocasta say told her about Laius' death?
(a) three of the injured men
(b) a servant who escaped
(c) Creon
(d) Teiresias

12. Where does the messenger want Oedipus to go?
(a) away from both Thebes and Corinth
(b) to his mother on the outskirts of Thebes
(c) into the mountains of Thebes
(d) back to Corinth

13. What does Creon say can validate a man who is true?
(a) time
(b) prophecy
(c) nature
(d) the gods

14. When Jocasta begs him to stop his investigation and runs off, how does Oedipus say he feels about potentially discovering something bad about his natural parents?
(a) Oedipus is not concerned and wants to know his true origin.
(b) Oedipus is afraid that he will find out that the prophecy is already fulfilled.
(c) Oedipus believes that his natural family will turn out to be even better than his adopted one.
(d) Oedipus is afraid that if he finds out his true heritage, the people may not want him as king.

15. What does Oedipus say the chorus' position will result in?
(a) Creon becoming a tyrannt
(b) destruction of Thebes
(c) Oedipus' exile or death
(d) war with Corinth

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Oedipus react to the chorus' pleas?

2. What does Creon say his current position brings?

3. What nationality does Oedipus say the mother who raised him was?

4. Where did Laius order his infant child to be put?

5. What did Oedipus' parent say about the accusation that Oedipus was not their son?

(see the answer keys)

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