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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. Where was Orestes when he was told to avenge his father?
(a) Sparta.
(b) The oracle at Delphi.
(c) Athens.
(d) Ithaca.

2. What does Orestes firmly reinforce while protesting his innocence to the council?
(a) He was acting on his own will.
(b) He was acting on his father's will.
(c) He was acting on Zeus's will.
(d) He was acting on Apollo's will.

3. What do the Furies complain about when Athena leaves in the second part of the third play?
(a) The older gods.
(b) Humans.
(c) The Ancients.
(d) The younger gods.

4. What is revealed with Orestes in the fourth part of "The Libation Bearers"?
(a) Cilissa's body.
(b) His father's armor.
(c) Electra's body.
(d) Aegisthus's body.

5. What confuses Orestes about Clytemnestra's orders for the tomb?
(a) He does not know why she does not perform the ritual herself.
(b) He does not know why she is desecrating the tomb.
(c) He does not know why she cares.
(d) He does not know why libations must be poured over it.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do Orestes and Electra ask of their father's spirit?

2. To whom does Orestes pray when he arrives at the destination Apollo sent him to?

3. According to the chorus, to what did Clytemnestra give birth in her dream?

4. What does Orestes wonder about Aegisthus after he has murdered his mother?

5. What false news does the disguised Orestes give Clytemnestra?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Orestes mean when he cries out to Zeus in the second part of "The Libation Bearers"?

2. How does the chorus know that Aegisthus is being murdered?

3. What was Clytemnestra's dream?

4. Why does Orestes decide to go back to the oracle?

5. How does Orestes defend himself in his trial?

6. After receiving false news in the third part of the second play, what is Clytemnestra's reaction to news of Orestes' supposed death?

7. What does Athena decide to do about judging the case between Orestes and the Furies?

8. How do Orestes and Pylades get inside the palace?

9. Who is revealed to be encouraging the Furies to hunt Orestes and why?

10. After he is freed at the end of "The Oresteia", what does Orestes claim to want for the future?

(see the answer keys)

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