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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 does Clytemnestra remind the chorus to do after Aegisthus's outburst?
(a) Keep to their place.
(b) Never tell anyone what they witnessed.
(c) Pray to the gods.
(d) Make offerings for Agamemnon's soul.

2. When does the second play take place?
(a) Several years after Agamemnon's death.
(b) Hours after Agamemnon's death.
(c) Several days after Agamemnon's death.
(d) Weeks after Agamemnon's death.

3. To whom does Electra pray while at Agamemnon's tomb?
(a) Hades.
(b) Zeus.
(c) Hermes.
(d) Apollo.

4. What reasoning did Clytemnestra give for exiling a certain person before the events of "The Agamemnon"?
(a) She wanted to keep her son safe from Trojan assassins.
(b) She was afraid that gods would smite her son.
(c) She wanted him out of the way of her lover's ascension.
(d) She was afraid her daughter might tempt her lover.

5. In which city does "The Oresteia" begin?
(a) Mycenae.
(b) Delphi.
(c) Troy.
(d) Athens.

Short Answer Questions

1. For what does Aegisthus thank the gods in the fifth part of the first play?

2. In the first part of the first play, according to Clytemnestra, what does Agamemnon have yet to endure?

3. Why is the herald so joyful?

4. What did Apollo expect in return for the gift he granted to Cassandra?

5. Who accompanies Orestes to Agamemnon's tomb in the beginning of the second play?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Clytemnestra lose patience with Cassandra in the fourth part of "The Agamemnon"?

2. Why is Orestes praying to Hermes and Zeus at beginning of "The Libation Bearers"?

3. What dispute does Clytemnestra have with the chorus over the consequences of her murdering Agamemnon and Cassandra?

4. Why does Cassandra finally walk into the palace?

5. What do the chorus of women comment upon while bewailing their grief over Agamemnon?

6. How did Agamemnon make the winds blow so that they might sail to Troy before the events of the play?

7. What is the continuing theme among the chorus as to what happened to Troy and why?

8. What feelings does the Watchman have while on the roof in the beginning of the play?

9. Why does the chorus call out for Orestes to return home at the end of the first play?

10. What are the chorus's opinions on Paris and his actions in the second part of "The Agamemnon"?

(see the answer keys)

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