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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. What does the chorus leader say he does not know about Oedipus'scharges against Creon?
(a) whether Teiresias was there when Oedipus made the charges
(b) Oedipus's steadiness and state of mind when making the charges
(c) whether Creon understand the charges Oedipus made
(d) what charges Oedipus made against Creon

4. What sentence does Oedipus want to give to Creon for his crime?
(a) imprisonment
(b) death
(c) mutilation
(d) banishment

5. What gives Oedipus hope that he did not kill Laius?
(a) The description of the carriage does not match the one Oedipus remembers.
(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 survivor may see Oedipus's face and be able to identify that he's not the killer.

6. Who does the shepherd say gave him the infant child?
(a) Jocasta's maid
(b) Laius
(c) Laius's servant
(d) Jocasta

7. Where did the messenger find the infant Oedipus?
(a) in the valleys of Clithaeron
(b) on the doorstep of his home
(c) on the border of Corinth
(d) by the banks of a river

8. Who does the chorus think can help end the conflict between Creon and Oedipus?
(a) Jocasta
(b) Apollo
(c) Teiresias
(d) the oracle

9. In the encounter between Oedipus and the stranger in the carriage, what was the initial violent act?
(a) The stranger struck Oedipus with his sword.
(b) The stranger whipped Oedipus.
(c) The herald struck Oedipus with his sword.
(d) Oedipus whipped the stranger.

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

11. What does Jocasta chide Oedipus and Creon for?
(a) fighting when the town's in trouble
(b) making the gods upset
(c) not listening to each other
(d) not listening to the oracle

12. What does Jocasta say about human prophecy?
(a) Some human prophets are true and some are false.
(b) No human is skilled in prophecy.
(c) Human prophets are the voices of gods.
(d) Oedipus is a fool not to listen to human prophets.

13. When Creon turns the tables and begins questioning Oedipus, what is the first question he asks?
(a) whether Oedipus killed Laius
(b) whether Oedipus is married to Creon's sister
(c) whether the townspeople believe Oedipus is guilty
(d) whether there is some unknown explanation for Teiresias's information

14. What does Oedipus tell the messenger he regrets about leaving Corinth?
(a) not seeing his parents
(b) having taken on the burden of ruling Thebes
(c) having met Creon
(d) having met Jocasta

15. What does Oedipus ask about Polybus' death?
(a) whether his mother knows of the death
(b) what time of day he died
(c) what the cause of his death was
(d) what Polybus said before his death

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the messenger's profession when he found the infant Oedipus?

2. Who does the messenger say gave him the infant Oedipus?

3. Does the shepherd identify the messenger as someone he's met?

4. What is Jocasta's answer, when Oedipus asks how tall and old Laius was?

5. What does Jocasta say before she leaves?

(see the answer keys)

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