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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What does Jocasta ask Oedipus to do regarding her brother?
(a) hold Creon in prison until he can discover the truth
(b) trust that Creon is telling the truth
(c) make her responsible for Creon
(d) send Creon away instead of killing him

3. 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

4. Who does Jocasta send for after hearing the messenger's news?
(a) Teiresias
(b) Oedipus
(c) the oracle
(d) Creon

5. Why does the messenger tell Oedipus he is not Polybus' son?
(a) The messenger wants to prove prophecies are meaningless.
(b) The messenger wants to stop Oedipus from offending Apollo.
(c) The messenger wants to frighten Oedipus.
(d) The messenger wants to relieve Oedipus's fear.

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

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

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

9. What does Creon say Oedipus should do to get proof of Creon's innocence?
(a) speak with Teiresias again
(b) look inside his own heart
(c) question his sister Jocasta
(d) talk to the oracle at Delphi

10. What made Oedipus angry, when he encountered the stranger's carriage on the road?
(a) The stranger asked Oedipus why he had left his parents' home.
(b) The stranger insulted Oedipus as they passed each other.
(c) The stranger and his entourage tried to force Oedipus off the road.
(d) The stranger's entourage tried to arrest Oedipus for being a vagrant on the road.

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

12. What did Oedipus' parent say about the accusation that Oedipus was not their son?
(a) They told Oedipus that it was true.
(b) They were angry, calling it an insult.
(c) They said it was untrue, but they seemed to be lying.
(d) Oedipus's father denied it, but his mother admitted it.

13. What was the messenger's profession when he found the infant Oedipus?
(a) tailor
(b) shepherd
(c) priest
(d) farmer

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Jocasta come to pray to Apollo?

2. How long would the shepherds stay in the fields each year?

3. Why does Oedipus say he must remain afraid?

4. What does Oedipus first say to Jocasta, after questioning the messenger about Polybus' death?

5. What does the old shepherd fear will happen to him if he tells the truth?

(see the answer keys)

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