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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What does Creon do initially when he hears Oedipus charged him with causing Teiresias to lie?
(a) flees the city of Thebes
(b) makes a counterclaim of treason against Oedipus
(c) challenges Oedipus to a fight
(d) talks to the people of Thebes

3. 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) back to Corinth
(d) into the mountains of Thebes

4. 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) Oedipus whipped the stranger.
(c) The stranger whipped Oedipus.
(d) The herald struck Oedipus with his sword.

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

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

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

8. How does the messenger say Jocasta will feel about his news?
(a) sad and regretful
(b) glad and happy
(c) both glad and sad
(d) enraged

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

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

11. What simile does Jocasta use to describe the people of Thebes?
(a) like soldiers who see their commander slain
(b) like people on a ship who see the helmsman is afraid
(c) like children who see their father's fear
(d) like people in a carriage who see the driver terrified

12. Where did Laius order his infant child to be put?
(a) on a mountain
(b) in a field
(c) in a river
(d) in the ocean

13. What is Oedipus' initial reaction when Creon asks to explain himself?
(a) Oedipus says he'll listen, but he's afraid of Creon's smooth tongue.
(b) Oedipus is eager to hear Creon's explanation.
(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.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the position of the chorus, as stated by the chorus leader, in the conflict between Oedipus and Creon?

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

3. Why does Oedipus say he must remain afraid?

4. What does Jocasta say about human prophecy?

5. Who does Jocasta send for after hearing the messenger's news?

(see the answer keys)

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