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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is Thyestes doing at the end of the fourth act?
(a) Praying to Zeus.
(b) Preparing to kill his brother.
(c) Receiving counsel from the ghost of his father.
(d) Eating the feast from his brother.

2. What does Atreus do to his nephews' bodies?
(a) He feeds them to the pigs.
(b) He buries them.
(c) He prepares them as a meal for their father.
(d) He burns them.

3. How does Phaedra respond when Theseus demands to know why she is apparently suicidal?
(a) She begins to scream.
(b) She tries to throw herself out the window.
(c) She would rather die than confide in him about the "evil" someone did to her.
(d) She tries to make love to him.

4. What does Phaedra finally admit to Theseus at the end of the play?
(a) She was supposed to kill Theseus.
(b) She lied about the rape.
(c) She is pregnant by Hippolytus.
(d) She married Hippolytus.

5. How does Phaedra die?
(a) Theseus kills her.
(b) She dies from grief.
(c) Neptune's sea bull throws her in the sea.
(d) She commits suicide.

6. What does the nurse show Theseus when he demands to know why Phaedra is determined to die in the third act?
(a) Phaedra's torn dress.
(b) Hippolytus' armor.
(c) Hippolytus' sword.
(d) The blood on their bedsheets.

7. What does Phaedra wear in the second act?
(a) Mourning clothes.
(b) Hunting garb.
(c) Hippolytus' armor.
(d) A wedding dress.

8. At the end of the second act of "Phaedra," in what does the chorus hope Hippolytus will find comfort?
(a) His love of the outdoors.
(b) His beauty.
(c) His hunting skills.
(d) His prayers to Diana.

9. About what act is Theseus manipulated into believing occurred in his absence during the third act of "Phaedra"?
(a) Phaedra has attempted suicide.
(b) Hippolytus raped Phaedra.
(c) Hippolytus violently beat Phaedra for insolence.
(d) Phaedra had a miscarriage.

10. What does Phaedra's confidante try to dissuade her from doing?
(a) Suicide.
(b) Leaving the city to escape her desire.
(c) Ignoring her feelings for Hippolytus.
(d) Acting on her attraction to Hippolytus.

11. How does Atreus plan to lure Thyestes to his castle?
(a) He has sent word to Thyestes that he is dying.
(b) He has sent word to Thyestes that he wants to groom his oldest nephew to be his heir.
(c) He has sent word to Thyestes, falsely begging for a reconciliation.
(d) He has sent word to Thyestes that he wants to abdicate the throne.

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

13. What parts of Thyestes' sons are presented to Thyestes as a gift?
(a) Their hearts.
(b) Their hands.
(c) Their livers.
(d) Their heads.

14. To where is Thyestes traveling in the third act?
(a) Corinth.
(b) Troy.
(c) Argos.
(d) Thebes.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Upon what did Hippolytus' horses run when escaping the attacking creature?

2. What fate awaits the children of Thyestes?

3. In the first act of "Thyestes," why does Tantalus initially refuse to unleash chaos?

4. Why does the nurse claim to be dressed in a particular manner in the third act of "Phaedra"?

5. To whom does Phaedra confide her desire for Hippolytus?

(see the answer keys)

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