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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

4. For what does Hecuba pray?
(a) Hope.
(b) Polyxena's soul.
(c) Death.
(d) Ulysses' death.

5. Why is Oedipus fearful of returning to his homeland?
(a) He does not want to abandon Thebes.
(b) He does not wish to leave his wife.
(c) He is still afraid of the prophecy.
(d) He does not want to be a king.

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

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

8. What does Oedipus believe about himself in the fifth act?
(a) He is not even human anymore.
(b) He deserves to live among the animals.
(c) The gods must hate him.
(d) He is fit to neither live or die.

9. According to Calchas, why must Polyxena and Astyanax die?
(a) They have the plague.
(b) They pose too much of a threat to the Greeks.
(c) Their deaths will ensure a safe voyage home for the Greeks.
(d) Apollo demands that they die or he will kill the Greeks.

10. What is revealed about Troy in the background of "Troades"?
(a) Troy has fallen to the Spartans.
(b) Troy is the mightiest city-state in the world.
(c) Troy is blessed by Zeus himself.
(d) Troy has been cursed.

11. How are the Greeks dividing the captive Trojan women among themselves?
(a) They are drawing lots.
(b) They are having a competition.
(c) They are letting the gods decide.
(d) They are taking the wives of the Trojans they have personally killed.

12. What does the old shepherd reveal to Oedipus about his parentage?
(a) Oedipus' mother died in childbirth.
(b) Oedipus' mother is the queen of Corinth.
(c) He is Oedipus' father.
(d) Oedipus' mother is his wife, Jocasta.

13. What is the chorus in the fifth act of "Oedipus" questioning when they learn about their king's punishment?
(a) The justice of fate.
(b) Humanity's tendencies to make mistakes.
(c) The self-fulfilling nature of prophecies.
(d) The hatred Oedipus must feel for himself.

14. Who does Andromache blame for the fall of Troy?
(a) Paris.
(b) Achilles.
(c) Agamemnon.
(d) Helen.

15. According to the ghost, what will end the plague?
(a) Jocasta's death.
(b) Creon's ascension to the throne.
(c) Oedipus sacrificing himself to Zeus.
(d) Oedipus' departure from Thebes.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was murdered before the beginning of "Oedipus"?

2. According to Hecuba, what also died on the same day as her warrior son?

3. Why does Helen claim she is in a worse position than the Trojan women?

4. How does Jocasta kill herself?

5. What happened when Polyxena was sacrificed in honor of Achilles?

(see the answer keys)

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