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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Oedipus do to Creon at the end of the third act?
(a) He tortures him.
(b) He imprisons him.
(c) He kills him.
(d) He exiles him.

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

3. 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 go to the Oracle himself.
(c) He will summon the king's ghost.
(d) He will pray to Zeus for guidance.

4. Who was murdered before the beginning of "Oedipus"?
(a) King Polybus.
(b) King Priam.
(c) King Laius.
(d) King Agamemnon.

5. For what purpose does Tiresias wish to take a particular action after he is unable to clarify the Oracle's message?
(a) The Oracle can explain herself to him.
(b) Zeus will listen to and answer his prayers.
(c) Tiresias' willing sacrifice will end the plague.
(d) The ghost can reveal his murderer.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is significant about Polyxena being given a quick death?

2. How does Ulysses trick Andromache into revealing Astyanax's location?

3. What news does the messenger give Oedipus in the fourth act?

4. How are the Greeks dividing the captive Trojan women among themselves?

5. Who is Creon?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Creon sent to Delphi and what does he learn?

2. How does Ulysses trick Andromache at Hector's tomb and why?

3. How did Oedipus become king of Thebes?

4. What does Pyrrhus demand for Achilles and why?

5. What does Oedipus reveal about his journey to Thebes in the fourth act?

6. Why does Andromache hide her son from the Greeks?

7. Why did Oedipus leave Corinth?

8. For what reasons does Agamemnon claim to forgo sacrificing a maiden?

9. Why is Creon reluctant to give Oedipus the information from Laius' ghost?

10. Why does Oedipus refuse to commit suicide?

(see the answer keys)

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