The Theban Plays Test

The Theban Plays Test (150 points)
Open www.hoschworldlit.blogspot.com
Copy and paste the test to a word document. Save to the desktop as your last Name ThebanPlaysTest.doc (Thurm ThebanPlaysTest.doc). You must include a quotation for each question (four quotations total) cited correctly (Sophocles 81). Be sure to attach the Work Cited. Drop in khosch drop box.
You must answer questions 1 and 2.
Then choose 2 from among questions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Remember to time yourself carefully – 10 minutes per question. Delete the questions you do not answer. Be sure to add the Work Cited at the end of your test.
1. Which Blog do you want graded: “Conscientious Objection” or “Ignorance vs. Guilt”? (30 points) I want you to grade Blog #

2. Anaåålyze Oedipus as the Tragic Man. Use your handout and address all 7 elements in list form– 1. A Belief in His Own Freedom: 2. A Supreme Pride: (40 points)
Theme questions are worth 40 points each --- pick two.
3. One of the most significant rituals in Greek society was the “proper burial of the dead.” Discuss how this ritual is portrayed in Antigone.

4. A significant theme in The Theban Plays is the idea of free will vs. fate. Discuss how the purpose of prophecy and free will vs. fate are related.

5. At the end of both plays, the characters exhibit extreme despair. Compare the characteristics of the despair of Oedipus and Creon.

6. “Individual vs. State” is a question people often grapple with. We might call it “for the good of the whole.” Both Oedipus and Creon believe they must be strong rulers for the good of all citizens. Explain how the plays show that a ruler may not always do the right thing for “the good of the state” by ignoring individual rights.

7. Explain in detail the irony of this statement: “The blind see.”

8. In what ways do Oedipus, Creon, and Antigone show integrity?

Work Cited
Sophocles. The Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. NY: Penguin Books, 1984.