Name: Course & Year: Score:

EN40003 HC308 1-2pm

I. Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. Write the letter on the
line provided before the number.

Comprehension
The questions below refer to the selection Oedipus Rex.

____ 1. Who is Oedipus?

a. A messenger c. Jocastas brother
b. The king of Thebes d. Laiuss shepherd
____ 2. Oedipus left Corinth, the home of his youth, in an effort to avoid
a. fulfilling a terrible prediction c. participating in the great war
b. having his ankles pinned together d. finding out the true identity of his parents
____ 3. Why are the people of Thebes in despair at the beginning of the play?
a. A seer has predicted a flood. c. The Sphinx is holding the city captive.
b. A king has just been murdered. d. A plague is killing people and livestock.
____ 4. How did Oedipus save Thebes once before?
a. By answering a riddle c. By building a new temple
b. By sacrificing a goat d. By killing a criminal
____ 5. Creon learns what is causing the citys current trouble from
a. a dream c. the Theban elders
b. a shepherd d. the oracle at Delphi
____ 6. What is the cause of the citys troubles?
a. The city has been sheltering a murderer.
b. The king has insulted Apollos messenger.
c. The queen has plotted to overthrow the king.
d. The people have failed to worship the gods.
____ 7. Who is Teiresias?
a. Oedipuss father c. A blind prophet
b. A member of the court d. The leader of the chorus
____ 8. According to Teiresias, who killed King Laius?
a. Jocasta c. Creon
b. Choragos d. Oedipus
____ 9. Who, along with Teiresias, is accused of conspiring for the throne of Thebes?
a. Jocasta c. the Theban elders
b. Creon d. the king of Corinth
____ 10. At the beginning of Part 2, what important news does the messenger from Corinth bring Oedipus?
a. King Polybus has died. c. Merope has fled the country.
b. Zeus has lifted the plague. d. The Sphinx has seized Creon.
____ 11. Upon hearing the news, Oedipus still fears the prediction about
a. his daughter c. his father
b. his brother d. his mother
____ 12. What truth does Oedipus learn from the shepherd?
a. Apollo has commanded his death. c. Laius and Jocasta are his real parents.
b. He has escaped the curse of his birth. d. Creon has succeeded in taking the throne.
____ 13. What eventually happens to Jocasta?
a. She hangs herself. c. Creon rescues her.
b. Oedipus kills her. d. She dies of the plague.
____ 14. What does Oedipus, in his sorrow and shame, do?
a. He stabs Creon. c. He blinds himself.
b. He attacks Choragos. d. He kills his children.
____ 15. Near the end of the play, Oedipus requests that he be
a. given a new trial c. banished to a mountain
b. publicly executed d. allowed to rule a smaller city
II. Read lines 14721475 again.

Let every man in mankinds frailty

Consider his last day; and let none
Presume on his good fortune until he find
Life, at his death, a memory without pain.
These are the final lines of the play. What lesson do they contain? Does Oedipuss life bear out that
lesson? Use details from the play to support your answer.