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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the second act of "Oedipus," what knowledge does Creon relate that will end the plague?
(a) Jocasta must bear another child.
(b) Oedipus must seek out a special herb.
(c) Laius' murder must be avenged.
(d) Oedipus must make a human sacrifice to Hera.

2. What actions did the old shepherd perform before the beginning of "Oedipus"?
(a) He blessed Oedipus upon his birth.
(b) He cursed Oedipus with the prophecy.
(c) He took Oedipus as a baby to the Corinthian messenger.
(d) He killed Laius.

3. Why does the messenger in the fourth act urge Oedipus to leave the city?
(a) Oedipus must flee the plague.
(b) Oedipus is the reason for the plague.
(c) Oedipus must take Polybus' throne.
(d) Oedipus is about to be betrayed.

4. Why can Ulysses not spare Astyanax?
(a) Astyanax needs to join his father in the afterlife.
(b) Ulysses will be killed by Agamemnon if he does not comply with orders.
(c) Calchas demands the sacrifice.
(d) Astyanax can rightfully claim to be an heir to the Spartan throne.

5. From where does the messenger in the fourth act come in "Oedipus"?
(a) Sparta.
(b) Troy.
(c) Corinth.
(d) Thebes.

6. What course of action does Tiresias propose he take in order to help avenge the king's murder?
(a) He will sacrifice himself to the gods for the end of the plague.
(b) He will summon the king's ghost.
(c) He will go to the Oracle himself.
(d) He will pray to Zeus for guidance.

7. How does Ulysses trick Andromache into revealing Astyanax's location?
(a) He watches her eyes as she looks around for him.
(b) He claims Hector's tomb must be torn down.
(c) He pretends to leave but watches her walk into the tomb.
(d) He suggests that the boy is a coward.

8. What does Oedipus wish upon the murderer of Jocasta's late husband?
(a) Torment from Hades.
(b) Subjection to an angry mob of Laius' subjects.
(c) His prophecy from Apollo.
(d) Death.

9. Where does Andromache hide her son?
(a) The caves by the edge of the city.
(b) Hector's tomb.
(c) The temple of Apollo.
(d) The marketplace.

10. What is significant about Hecuba's exit at the end of the play?
(a) It infers that she has committed suicide.
(b) It infers that she will be staying in Troy.
(c) It infers that she is going to murder Ulysses.
(d) It infers that the gods have taken her away with them.

11. What does Agamemnon claim as being forbidden, due to shame and honor?
(a) Dishonoring the graves of the fallen Trojans.
(b) Claiming the Trojan women as concubines.
(c) Abandoning their dead warriors.
(d) Sacrificing a maiden for Achilles.

12. What has happened to the Trojan widows after their army was defeated?
(a) The women took up arms to defend themselves.
(b) The women escaped the city.
(c) The women have all been prepared for suicide.
(d) The women have all been claimed by the Greeks.

13. What did the Greeks admire about Polyxena?
(a) Her courage.
(b) Her piety.
(c) Her ability as warrior.
(d) Her anger.

14. Because of the plague, what does Oedipus consider doing because he is unable to stop it in the first act of the play?
(a) Raise the ghost of the murdered king.
(b) Sacrifice himself to Zeus.
(c) Abdicate the throne.
(d) Leave Thebes.

15. How did Astyanax defy the Greeks at his death?
(a) He stabbed himself so that they cannot throw him from the tower.
(b) He escaped from the Greeks and threw himself in the sea.
(c) He prayed to Zeus as he died.
(d) He jumped out of the tower before they could throw him out.

Short Answer Questions

1. What deception must Helen play on Polyxena?

2. What is revealed about Troy in the background of "Troades"?

3. For what purpose does Tiresias wish to take a particular action after he is unable to clarify the Oracle's message?

4. Whose priests gave Oedipus the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother?

5. Who kills Polyxena?

(see the answer keys)

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