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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does the priest tell the people that they can leave at the end of the scene?
(a) He says Oedipus is not the one to help.
(b) He says the people will never get salvation.
(c) He says the people have what they've come for.
(d) He says the people have been ignored in favor of Creon.

2. What does the chorus leader rebuke both Oedipus and Teiresias for?
(a) being angry and quarrelling instead of finding the murderer
(b) not listening to each other and talking at cross purposes
(c) not talking with Creon
(d) not talking with Jocasta

3. What argument does Oedipus offer that Teiresias is not really a prophet?
(a) Teiresias changes his prophesies from one day to the next.
(b) Teiresias is only faking blindness.
(c) Teiresias did not answer the Sphinx's riddle.
(d) Teiresias's prophecies conflict with the oracle.

4. What does the priest say that Oedipus will be king of, if he doesn't solve the town's problems?
(a) a mountain
(b) an ocean
(c) a forest
(d) a desert

5. How does Teiresias respond when Oedipus says the prophet speaks in riddles?
(a) that the truth is as complex as a riddle
(b) that life is a riddle
(c) that Oedipus is good at solving riddles
(d) that Oedipus will wish this riddle were never solved

6. What does the priest call pestilence?
(a) a sinister snake
(b) a thundering beast
(c) a fiery god
(d) a roaring lion

7. What does Teiresias say about the murderer's financial condition?
(a) that he is rich but not in spirit
(b) that he is rich but will be poor
(c) that he is rich but cannot buy contentment
(d) that he is rich with wealth but not love

8. What does Teiresias say Oedipus doesn't know?
(a) the true wishes of the gods
(b) the power of prophecy
(c) the name of the murderer
(d) the family he's come from

9. What does Oedipus accuse Creon of?
(a) trying to overthrow him for the sake of power and riches
(b) setting the Sphinx upon Thebes
(c) killing Laius and causing the plagues
(d) wanting to marry Jocasta himself

10. What is Oedipus' attitude toward Teiresias when he first speaks to the prophet?
(a) defensive and annoyed
(b) deferential and complimentary
(c) angry and ironic
(d) derisive and snide

11. What does Oedipus say he has to fear from Laius' murderer?
(a) The murderer may want to kill the new king, too.
(b) The murderer may want to kill the queen, Laius's wife.
(c) The murderer may seek revenge on Oedipus for trying to find him.
(d) The murderer may flee quietly and leave the town to suffer the gods' wrath.

12. What reason does Teiresias give for not answering Oedipus' questions?
(a) He doesn't want to cause them both grief.
(b) He isn't sure about what he knows.
(c) He knows the truth, but the gods have told him not to say.
(d) He does not believe his own visions.

13. What does Oedipus wish for himself, if he unknowingly hosted the murderer at his home?
(a) to be ripped from his land and family
(b) all the bad things he wished upon the murderer
(c) a life of solitude and sobriety
(d) eternal damnation

14. What does Oedipus ask of the citizens of Thebes?
(a) He orders them to gather together and stay in their houses.
(b) He orders them to hold a great celebration in the town.
(c) He orders them to reveal the murderer, if they know who he is.
(d) He orders them to go to the shrines and give offerings to the gods.

15. What does Oedipus first say to Creon as he approaches?
(a) He asks why Creon looks so strange.
(b) He asks why Creon is so late.
(c) He asks what message the gods sent.
(d) He asks who Creon has spoken to.

Short Answer Questions

1. Before he leaves, what does Oedipus say will happen?

2. What does Oedipus say the killers had to have?

3. Where does Creon say the murderer of Lauis is?

4. What is Creon's relationship to Oedipus?

5. How does Oedipus react to Teiresias' unwillingness to speak?

(see the answer keys)

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