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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What will be the first action taken when Orestes and Pylades infiltrate the palace?

2. For what does the chorus pray in the third part of the second play?

3. Why does Apollo appear at his altar?

4. What does Orestes claim has taken away the sin of his mother's murder away?

5. Why does Clytemnestra grieve after the false news of her son's death?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is revealed to be encouraging the Furies to hunt Orestes and why?

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

3. In the beginning of "The Eumenides", what is the oracle's vision and what does it mean?

4. How does Orestes defend himself in his trial?

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

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

7. How does Clytemnestra attempt to defend herself against Orestes in the last part of "The Libation Bearers"?

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

9. According to their words in the second part of the third play, what do the Furies believe about their rights?

10. What was Clytemnestra's dream?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the following options to write about. Cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

1) Electra as a passive character.

2) The herald's statements about the price of victory in war.

3) The curse on the house of Atreus.

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the following to write about:

1) Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's conflict about how he is welcomed home from war.

2) The role of the Furies in this tragedy.

3) Athena's decision that a council of mortals needs to decide Orestes' fate.

Essay Topic 3

Create a thesis centered around the argument that a good deal of the problems in "The Oresteia" are the results of a generational conflict. Cite specific examples from the text to support your arguments. Points to consider include:

1) The differing approaches to revenge and justice in each generation.

2) The conflict between the elder gods and the younger gods.

3) Athena's peace offering to the Furies at the end of the play.

(see the answer keys)

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