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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. About whom was the oracle's vision?
(a) Orestes and the Furies.
(b) Electra.
(c) Clytemnestra.
(d) Agamemnon.

2. What does Apollo tell the court about his decree to Orestes?
(a) He cursed Clytemnestra and was passing on judgment.
(b) He favored Agamemnon and was avenging his death.
(c) He was not acting upon any other's will but his own.
(d) He was passing on Zeus's judgment about justice.

3. Where does the second part of "The Eumenides" take place?
(a) Sparta.
(b) Athens.
(c) Mycenae.
(d) Delphi.

4. What do the Furies demand to know in court from Orestes?
(a) They demand to know how he keeps getting favored by the gods.
(b) They demand to know whether he loved his mother or not.
(c) They demand he explain what he did and why.
(d) They demand to know why he was exiled for so many years.

5. What would happen to Orestes if he did not take revenge upon his mother, according the oracle?
(a) Agamemnon would suffer in Hades.
(b) Electra would die.
(c) Orestes' own life would be cursed.
(d) Aegisthus would murder Clytemnestra.

6. In what state is Orestes' old nurse, Cilissa, upon hearing that Orestes was murdered?
(a) She is distraught.
(b) She is confused.
(c) She is happy.
(d) She is relieved.

7. According to Apollo in the first part of the third play, where must Orestes travel?
(a) Athens.
(b) Mycenae.
(c) Crete.
(d) Sparta.

8. What do the Furies claim about Orestes to Athena?
(a) He is unfit to speak for himself.
(b) He will kill all women if allowed to live.
(c) He will taint his sister's grace if allowed to live.
(d) He is cursed by his mother.

9. Where does the beginning of "The Eumenides" take place?
(a) Mycenae.
(b) Athens.
(c) Sparta.
(d) Delphi.

10. What does Orestes wonder about Aegisthus after he has murdered his mother?
(a) He wonders if Aegisthus was repenting his sins in the last moments of his life.
(b) He wonders if Aegisthus suffered during his death.
(c) He wonders if Aegisthus was truly guilty.
(d) He wonders if Aegisthus is receiving an adulterer's punishment.

11. Why does Apollo appear at his altar?
(a) He appears at his altar daily.
(b) He senses the presence of the Furies.
(c) He wants to help Orestes.
(d) He is called down by the oracle.

12. What do Orestes and Electra ask of their father's spirit?
(a) They ask for strength and guidance.
(b) They ask for release.
(c) They ask for forgiveness.
(d) They ask for safe passage to the castle.

13. What does Apollo claim about mothers and fathers in the last part of "The Eumenides"?
(a) The mother is much more important than the father.
(b) The mother and father are always equal, except in the case of Clytemnestra.
(c) The father is much more important than the mother.
(d) The mother and father are equal.

14. What does Orestes believe about the vision he is having at the end of "The Libation Bearers"?
(a) His father is cursing his son's actions.
(b) Aegisthus will try to avenge his death upon Electra.
(c) His mother will haunt him for all his days.
(d) The Furies are going to take revenge upon him for his mother.

15. What is heard from inside the palace after Aegisthus enters it?
(a) Electra screaming as Aegisthus murders her.
(b) Aegisthus screaming as he is being murdered.
(c) Orestes screaming as he is murdered by Aegisthus.
(d) Pylades is screaming as Aegisthus murders him.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do the Furies complain about when Athena leaves in the second part of the third play?

2. Who commanded Orestes to seek vengeance for his father's death?

3. What does the chorus instruct Cilissa to do instead of following Clytemnestra's orders?

4. What does Clytemnestra call out for when she hears the noise from inside the palace in the third part of "The Libation Bearers"?

5. To whom does Orestes pray when he arrives at the destination Apollo sent him to?

(see the answer keys)

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