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

2. What does Creon advise Oedipus to do after the former relays the message from the murdered king?
(a) Renounce the throne.
(b) Commit suicide.
(c) Pray to Zeus.
(d) Consult with Tiresias.

3. Who is Oedipus' father in Corinth?
(a) King Atreus.
(b) King Polybus.
(c) King Priam.
(d) King Menelaus.

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

5. In the fourth act of "Oedipus," what does the titular character recall before his arrival in the city?
(a) He was arrested.
(b) He killed a man on his way there.
(c) He nearly died on his journey to the city.
(d) He was warned away from Thebes by Zeus.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the messenger reveal that Oedipus refuses to do in the fifth act?

2. What deception must Helen play on Polyxena?

3. Who does Andromache blame for the fall of Troy?

4. What is Talthybius' station among the Greeks?

5. Why is Oedipus fearful of returning to his homeland?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Hector and why is he important to the Trojans and Greeks?

2. How did Oedipus become king of Thebes?

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

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

5. Describe Hecuba's mocking of the Greeks throughout "Troades."

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

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

8. How and why does Jocasta commit suicide?

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

10. Why does Tiresias summon Laius' ghost?

(see the answer keys)

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