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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What part of her and Laius' infant child does Jocasta say Laius bound?
(a) his elbows
(b) his knees
(c) his wrists
(d) his ankles

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who asks the old shepherd whether he gave an infant baby to the messenger years ago?

2. What children did Polybus have before Oedipus?

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

4. What nationality does Oedipus say the mother who raised him was?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Jocasta feel about Polybus' death?

2. How does Creon seem to react to Oedipus leveling charges against him?

3. What is the shepherd's reaction to being questioned about the infant he gave away and being told that Oedipus is that infant?

4. What did the oracle at Delphi tell Oedipus about his parentage?

5. When Oedipus is questioning Creon, why does he ask Creon how long it's been since Laius was killed?

6. What main news does the messenger from Corinth bring?

7. What caused the scar on Oedipus' ankles?

8. What does the old shepherd say was his motive in giving the infant to the messenger, when they were both shepherds together?

9. What is the first thing Oedipus tells Jocasta, when he tells her about the argument between himself and Creon?

10. What is Jocasta's response, when Oedipus wants to find and question the shepherd that the messenger said gave him the infant Oedipus?

(see the answer keys)

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