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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 Orestes promise Zeus if he succeeds in his revenge?
(a) He will build a grand altar for Zeus.
(b) He will live anonymously and wisely.
(c) He will worship the gods as humbly as he can.
(d) He will restore the glory of their name.

2. What happened to Clytemnestra in her dream when she tried to nurse what she'd been birthed?
(a) The goat ran away.
(b) The snake bit her and drew blood.
(c) The gorgon turned her to stone.
(d) The lion mauled her.

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

4. What does Athena name the judges who will vote on whether Orestes is guilty or not in the last part of the third play?
(a) The Areopagus.
(b) The oracles.
(c) The Colopagus.
(d) The Eumidagos.

5. Why does Apollo claim that Clytemnestra needed to be killed?
(a) Iphigenia was wrongly murdered.
(b) She was an adulteress.
(c) She would have murdered her own children had she not been killed.
(d) She killed her husband.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Athena proclaim before the judges announce their vote at the end of "The Eumenides"?

2. What does Orestes hold up as proof that his father has been avenged?

3. What is the main conflict between Athena and the Furies?

4. What does Athena decide about the case presented to her by Orestes and the Furies?

5. What does Orestes realize about his mother's dream?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Clytemnestra's dream significant to Orestes?

2. According to what he tells Electra and the chorus, why is Orestes seeking vengeance for his father's death?

3. What does Orestes find ironic about the deaths of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra?

4. How do Orestes and Pylades get inside the palace?

5. After he is freed at the end of "The Oresteia", what does Orestes claim to want for the future?

6. What are the Furies and why are they tormenting Orestes at the end of "The Libation Bearers"?

7. Why is it important that Orestes tell Athena who his father was when the goddess comes to him?

8. What does Orestes mean when he cries out to Zeus in the second part of "The Libation Bearers"?

9. How does the chorus know that Aegisthus is being murdered?

10. Why does Apollo appear to Orestes while at Delphi?

(see the answer keys)

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