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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) three of the injured men
(b) Creon
(c) a servant who escaped
(d) Teiresias

2. What does the messenger ask the chorus when he first arrives?
(a) where to find Creon's home
(b) where to find Jocasta
(c) where to find Oedipus' home
(d) where to find Teiresias

3. 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 Jocasta to leave him and go to the palace.
(c) He asks the messenger to tell him the news himself.
(d) He asks a servant to bring Teiresias to him.

4. What is Jocasta's answer, when Oedipus asks how tall and old Laius was?
(a) Laius was small with a gray beard.
(b) Laius was old and bent, but tall.
(c) Laius was skinny and tall and young-looking.
(d) Laius was big and had white hair.

5. Where did the old shepherd grow up?
(a) in Corinth
(b) in a distant village
(c) in a poor house in Thebes
(d) in Laius' house

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

7. What gives Oedipus hope that he did not kill Laius?
(a) The murder seems to have taken place at a different time than Oedipus remembers.
(b) The survivor may see Oedipus's face and be able to identify that he's not the killer.
(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.

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

9. Who does the messenger say gave Oedipus to Polybus?
(a) Creon
(b) Laius
(c) a stranger
(d) the messenger

10. Does the shepherd identify the messenger as someone he's met?
(a) No, he says he doesn't remember the man at first.
(b) No, but it's clear he is lying and soon admits the lie.
(c) Yes, he identifies the messenger easily.
(d) Yes, but it's clear he is lying and soon admits the lie.

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

12. Who accused Oedipus of not being his father's real son?
(a) the local prophet
(b) a stranger passng through the town
(c) his cousin, son of his mother's sister
(d) a drunk man at a dinner

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

14. What does Oedipus seem to think Jocasta is afraid of learning about his birth?
(a) that he's not born of natural parents
(b) that he's older than they believed
(c) that he's of low social status
(d) that he's Polybus' son after all

15. What does Jocasta question the chorus about, after Creon leaves?
(a) what happened between Oedipus and Creon
(b) the state of the farms and the townspeople
(c) the progress toward finding Laius's murderer
(d) the interview between Oedipus and Teiresias

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Oedipus do when the messenger questions him about the prophecy that drove Oedipus away from his parents?

2. Why does the messenger tell Oedipus he is not Polybus' son?

3. Who does Jocasta say Laius had with him, as an escort?

4. What does Creon say Oedipus should do to get proof of Creon's innocence?

5. Does Oedipus want to see the person the messenger says gave him the infant Oedipus?

(see the answer keys)

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