ANSWERS TO MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ

TEST 2

1. C

11. In answering this question focus on the divisions of the play. (How are these divisions apparent in your text?) Pinpoint where the action of the play begins, in relation to the original legend. Then go through each of these sections: the Prologue; the Parados; each of the alternating scenes and choral odes; and the Exodus. Show how each one fits into the dramatic rhythms of the play, and explain what action takes place in it. Discuss in detail where the climax of the play comes, and how the action of the play is resolved.

12. Devote a paragraph to each of these characters. Briefly summarize who they are and what they might look like. Discuss their relationships with Oedipus and their attitudes toward him. What is each character's basic objective in the play? Then in a final paragraph compare the three characters. How are their actions similar? In what ways are they different?

13. Refer to Oedipus' dialogue with Teiresias in Scene I of Oedipus the King to define what blindness means at the beginning of the play. Then compare this to Oedipus' dialogue in the Exodus to show what blindness has taught Oedipus. Discuss Oedipus' blinding himself as an action: What do other characters, such as Creon and the Chorus, think of it? What does Oedipus himself feel he has accomplished with this act? Then discuss how Oedipus' blinding resolves the blindness imagery that has run through the play. Show how that imagery develops, how it relates to major themes, and what Oedipus' climactic blindness means thematically.

14. First discuss the traditional use of the Chorus in Greek drama. How did Sophocles change that in Oedipus the King, and to what effect? Next look at the sections where the Chorus appears alone, such as the Parados, Exodus, and stasima. What is the effect of these scenes? What function does the Chorus fulfill at these moments? Finally look at how the Chorus behaves in scenes with other characters. How do they interact with Oedipus, and why is this important? What is the effect of their speeches in these scenes? End with a definition of the "ideal spectator," and explain how it fits-or doesn't fit-the Chorus.

15. First state what the Athenian audience would already have known about Oedipus before the plays began. Then select three specific moments where the legend of Oedipus is used to advance the plot. How is information, which was standard from the legend, introduced into the action at each of these points? What is the effect of this information on Oedipus? How does this move ahead the action of the plot?

Finally discuss why Sophocles chose this legend to express his moral message. Do you think Oedipus' fate determines his destiny in the original legend? If so, show how Sophocles highlighted that in his plays. If you think this theme wasn't contained in the original legend, show how Sophocles added it in his dramatic treatment.