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

2. What does Agamemnon claim about Achilles' behavior during battle?
(a) He helped the Trojans whenever the Greeks angered him.
(b) He killed people on both sides of the battle.
(c) He won the war for them.
(d) He was a coward.

3. Who kills Polyxena?
(a) Agamemnon.
(b) Ulysses.
(c) Pyrrhus.
(d) Menelaus.

4. Why do the Greeks fear Hector's son?
(a) He is part god.
(b) They are afraid he will grow up to be as fierce as his father.
(c) He is prophesied to kill them all.
(d) He will be the last rallying point for the Trojans.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Oedipus' father in Corinth?

2. What is significant about Hecuba's exit at the end of the play?

3. What course of action does Tiresias propose he take in order to help avenge the king's murder?

4. Who is Hecuba?

5. Who is Creon?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Oedipus become king of Thebes?

2. Why is Oedipus summoned back to Corinth and why is he reluctant to go?

3. Why do the Greeks cry when they take Astyanax?

4. What do the shepherd and the messenger reveal to Oedipus about his past?

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

6. In the first act of "Troades," for whom does Hecuba lead the grief-stricken chorus and why?

7. Why are the Greeks unable to leave Troy in the beginning of "Troades"?

8. Why did Oedipus leave Corinth?

9. For what reasons do the Greeks want to sacrifice Astyanax?

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

(see the answer keys)

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