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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. 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 interview between Oedipus and Teiresias
(d) the progress toward finding Laius's murderer

4. 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 and his entourage tried to force Oedipus off the road.
(c) The stranger insulted Oedipus as they passed each other.
(d) The stranger's entourage tried to arrest Oedipus for being a vagrant on the road.

5. What is Oedipus' initial reaction when Creon asks to explain himself?
(a) Oedipus is eager to hear Creon's explanation.
(b) Oedipus says he'll listen, but he's afraid of Creon's smooth tongue.
(c) Oedipus refuses to listen to anything Creon has to say.
(d) Oedipus says that he'll listen, and he hopes he can trust Creon.

6. What does Creon say his current position brings?
(a) power and benefits without fear
(b) royal benefits but no freedom
(c) freedom from fear but no power
(d) fear and power but no freedom

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

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

9. What nationality does Oedipus say the mother who raised him was?
(a) Aeolian
(b) Ionian
(c) Dorain
(d) Macedonian

10. What does Oedipus ask Creon about Teiresias?
(a) why Teiresias didn't give the identity of Laius' murderer at the time of the death
(b) how long Teiresias has been blind
(c) whether Teiresias makes a profit from the town because of his prophesies
(d) how long Teiresias has lived in Thebes

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

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

13. 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 Polybus' son after all
(d) that he's of low social status

14. What does the old shepherd fear will happen to him if he tells the truth?
(a) He'll be cast from the kingdom.
(b) He'll be cursed by Apollo.
(c) He'll die.
(d) He'll be outcast among the people.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. 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?

3. What does Jocasta say about human prophecy?

4. Who does Jocasta say told her about Laius' death?

5. How does the messenger say Jocasta will feel about his news?

(see the answer keys)

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