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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To whom does Phaedra confide her desire for Hippolytus?
(a) Theseus.
(b) Hippolytus' nurse.
(c) Hippolytus' sister.
(d) Her daughter.

2. Whom does Tantalus attempt to warn about their impending deaths?
(a) His grandsons.
(b) His cousins.
(c) His nephews.
(d) His sons.

3. What is Phaedra's relationship to Hippolytus?
(a) She is his mother.
(b) She is his stepmother.
(c) She is his sister.
(d) She is his stepsister.

4. Of what does Phaedra's nurse attempt to convince Hippolytus in the second act of "Phaedra"?
(a) He should become more sociable and try to find love.
(b) He should never come back to the city.
(c) He should try to bring his father back from the Underworld.
(d) He should seek Athena's counsel.

5. In the first act of "Thyestes," why does Tantalus initially refuse to unleash chaos?
(a) He is not meant to abet punishment on others.
(b) He does not believe in his capabilities to be cruel.
(c) He does not believe they deserve to be punished.
(d) He does not wish to be punished by Zeus.

6. How does Hippolytus feel when he learns that Phaedra desires him?
(a) Aroused.
(b) Repulsed.
(c) Humiliated.
(d) Elated.

7. What is Phaedra doing in the beginning of the fifth act?
(a) Mourning Hippolytus.
(b) Cutting and burning her hair.
(c) Seducing Theseus.
(d) Attempting suicide.

8. In the fourth act of "Phaedra," what new character enters the play?
(a) Theseus' brother.
(b) Diana.
(c) Hippolytus' wife.
(d) The messenger.

9. What is Atreus angry about being unable to avenge?
(a) His son's death.
(b) His brother's insults.
(c) His father's death.
(d) The pestilence deaths of his subjects.

10. Upon what were Thyestes' sons sacrificed?
(a) A pyre.
(b) The weapons of their ancestors.
(c) An altar.
(d) Their grandfather's tomb.

11. Who is the father of Tantulus?
(a) Hades.
(b) Poseidon.
(c) Zeus.
(d) Pan.

12. Upon whom must Tantalus loose the Fury?
(a) The House of Aeneas.
(b) The House of Menelaus.
(c) The House of Priam.
(d) The House of Pelops.

13. For what does Theseus pray at the end of the third act of "Phaedra"?
(a) Wisdom to deal out justice.
(b) Healing for Phaedra.
(c) The death of his son.
(d) Forgiveness for his failure to stop the assault.

14. What does Phaedra's nurse lament in the beginning of the second act?
(a) Phaedra's planned suicide.
(b) Hippolytus' disdain of women.
(c) Phaedra's plan to seduce Hippolytus.
(d) Theseus' death.

15. Why does the nurse claim to be dressed in a particular manner in the third act of "Phaedra"?
(a) She is joining the hunt.
(b) She is going to be wed.
(c) Phaedra wants to die.
(d) She has joined the temple of Apollo.

Short Answer Questions

1. At the end of the third act of "Phaedra," the chorus cries, "Why dost thou dwell afar,/ All too indifferent to men,/ Not anxious to bring blessing to the good,/ And to the evil, bane"? About what is the chorus lamenting?

2. How does Atreus protect his sons from sharing the blame for his plot against Thyestes?

3. What does the chorus sing about at the end of the first act of "Phaedra"?

4. What does Phaedra finally admit to Theseus at the end of the play?

5. In what state is Tantalus in the first act of "Thyestes"?

(see the answer keys)

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