Theatre History Midterm Greek Theatre
(worth 120 points)
Dear Student
This test is divided into sections; Medea Questions, Lysistrata
Questions, General Questions about Greek theatre, two sets of matching
questions and finally a series of essay questions. You are required to
complete 5 essay questions. However, you may complete more for extra
credit.
Each multiple choice or true/false question is worth two points. One
question asks for more than one answer, so each answer is a point each.
Matching questions are worth 5 points each
Essay questions are worth 10 points each. However, because I am
offering extra credit, Etudes will show them as being worth 5 points
each. They are worth 10 and the full credit will be given when I
correct the work.
I reserve the right to give more than 10 points for exceptional work. I
also reserve the right to give 0 points for inferior work or for work
that is simply copied without your personal input. These essays are not
formal, you are telling me what you know and or think about a given
topic. Have fun with them and they will be easy.
Some questions are harder than others, but to make the system work I
needed to give them all the same 5-point value. If you attempt harder
questions, I will be easier than I would be on easier questions that we
have covered in class. So you are encouraged to take risks, choose
thoughtful questions and start writing about something you don't know
much about. By the time you finish, you will know more.
You have no time limits, except the due date. You are allowed multiple
retakes. This will allow you to get the highest possible score on your
multiple-choice questions. Unfortunately, it will not help you with
your essays as the computer does not grade them, I do.
You are free to use books, notes and internet searches, but all of your
work must be in your own words and if you use sources, please site
them. It does not have to be in MLA or APA format, but just site your
sources. Please work alone and do not colaborate with others on this
exam.
Any questions
general, such
message board
question. You
regarding the exam can be emailed to me. If it is very
as you do not understand a question, post it on the
because other people will probably have the same
can also ask in class on Monday.
Good luck to you all.
JG
Part 1 of 5
Medea
(worth 20 points)
1. Medea is about a Greek woman who is unfairly treated
by the Gods True or False
2. Jason immediately became King after he married
Creon's daughter. True or False
3. By Creon's orders, Medea is sentenced to
A.
Death
B.
Banishment from Cornith
C.
Banishment from Greece
D.
Giving up her two children to Jason and his
new wife
4. In the play Medea, Aegeus offers Medea
A.
one day more in the city
B.
help with taking revenge on Jason
C.
a promise of safe refuge
D.
to take the children with him to his palace.
5. The action in Medea takes place over a longer time
period than most Greek tragedies covering two days.
True or False
6. The play Medea ends with Medea
A.
being chased out of the city by an angry mob
B.
escaping in a chariot drawn by dragons
C.
making a final violent attempt on Jason's life
D.
escaping to Thebes
7. As a consequence of Medea's plan
A.
Creon and his daughter dies
B.
Jason dies
C.
the Messenger is killed
D.
Aegus and his daughter die
E.
Jason's daughters die
8.Medea plans on taking revenge on Jason by (choose all
that apply, more than one answer is possible)
A.
Poisoning the food at the banquet
B.
Killing the bride with a poisoned robe or gown
C.
killing Jason's sons
D.
casting an evil spell on Jason's bride
E.
leaving the city with Jason's sons and living
in Thebes.
9. Euripides is most often criticised as a dramatist
for
A.
Supporting the male point of view in every
play
B.
Making fun of people who are not Athenian
C.
Writing a play about a foreigner
D.
using deus ex machina (God of the machine) to
provide
improbable conclusions to his plays
E.
Writing a play about a woman
10. Medea reveals how she will take revenge on Jason to
the chorus (and the audience) immediately following the
scene between Medea and..
A.
Creon
B.
Jason
C.
her children
D.
Aegeus
E.
the messenger
PART 2 OF 5 LYSISTRATA
(WORTH 20 POINTS)
THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT LYSISTRATA
11. How does Lysistrata propose the women will be able
to make the men declare peace?
A.
The women will refuse to cook until war ends
B.
Abstinence for a month
C.
Abstinence until peace is declared
D.
By killing their children
12. A chorus of young women take over the Akropolis.
True or False
13. When
by
A.
B.
him
C.
out
D.
Myrrhine's husband arrives, she torments him
doing a striptease
making out like she is going to have sex with
but doesn't
hiding in the Acropolis and refuses to come
talking in a very high voice
14. When the women make their oath, they decided to
make a sacrifice. What do they sacrifice?
A.
A bull
B.
A sheep
C.
A white horse
D.
A big jug of wine
15. Who is from Sparta?
A.
Kinesias
B.
Kalonike
C.
Myrrhine
D.
Lampito
E.
Lysistrata
16. Who is Lysistrata's neighbor?
A.
Kinesias
B.
Kalonike
C.
Lampito
D.
Myrrhine
E.
Antigone
17. Who's the man?
A.
Kinesias
B.
Kalonike
C.
Myrrhine
D.
Lampito
E.
Ismenia
18. Why does Lysistrata bring out "Reconciliation"?(or
in some editions of the play "Peace")
A.
She gives "Reconciliation" to the Spartan
ambassador
B.
"Reconciliation" tells the men why they should
agree to peace.
C.
"Reconciliation" shows the men how to divide
up Greece in fair and equal parts
D.
"Reconciliation" creates greater urgency in
the men to agree to peace.
Review
Check to review before finishing (will be flagged in
Table of Contents)
19. The differences between the way Lysistrata and
Lampito speak betray
A.
Spartan attitudes toward Thebes. Thebians are
dim wits.
B.
Athenian attitudes toward Sparta. Athenians
are elegant and have sharp wits. Spartans are not very
bright and a bit crude.
C.
the positive relationships between women in
Athens and Sparta, they are both very intelligent.
D.
all the women speak the same which highlights
how Aristophanes felt all women were equal and should
be respected despite being from different states.
E.
Spartan superiority over Athens, foreshadowing
the eventual Athenian defeat of Sparta.
20. Speaking with the Commissioner, Lysistrata compares
the Athenian master plan with
A.
cleaning smelly socks
B.
spinning wool
C.
bad sex
D.
washing the dishes
E.
keeping an eye on young children
Part 3 of 5 General Questions about Greek Theatre
(worth 20 points)
21. Orchestra comes from the Greek and means the
A.
Hearing place
B.
Music place
C.
Dancing place
D.
Seeing place
22. Which god or goddess is most closely associated
with Greek Drama.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Dionysus
Athena
Zeus
Oedipus
23. Who is commonly credited with being the first
tragedy writer who changed the form by stepping out of
the chorus and taking a solo part. With this act, he is
also credited with being the first actor in Western
theatre.
A.
Thespis
B.
Socrates
C.
Homer
D.
Aristotle
24. An Ode is a dignified three part song sung by the
protagonist in Greek drama. True or false.
25. Dithyramb is
A.
an Ancient Greek choral hymn sung and danced
to honor Dionysus
B.
the playwright's choice of words or the match
between language and subject matter.
C.
a Greek God
D.
Aristotle's word for plot
26. The parts of an Ode include all of the following
EXCEPT
A.
Strophe
B.
Antistrophe
C.
Interlude
D.
Epode
27. The skene in Greek Theatre was
A.
the "speaker" or the narrator in Greek plays
B.
the "Seat" or the place for the audience
C.
the building directly behind the stage used
to raise characters and provided a place for actors to
get changed and provided a background that often
represented a palace or home.
D.
the place where the actors danced
28. Theatron
A.
the
B.
the
C.
the
D.
the
29. What
Oedipus?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
means
seeing place
sitting place
actor's place
listening place
happens to Oedipus at the end of the play
he blinds himself
he is no longer king
his wife kills herself
he asks Kreon to care for his children
All of the above
Only A, B and D
30. What is mechane?
A.
The Greek word for imitation. Aristotle
believe this gave people pleasure
B.
A Greek treat, often served with olives and
served at the theatre
C.
What the masks were made from.
D.
The Greek for machine. Cranes were used back
stage to lift actors who often represented Gods,
hence he expression deus ex machina
31. Make a match - Match Aristotle's Six Elements with
their definitions
Match
Choice
1.
Everything you can see on stage
2.
The most important of Aristotle's
A.
Plot
six elements
B. Music
3.
the agent for the action,
C. Character
4.
everything you can hear on stage
D. Spectacle
5.
the selection of words and the order
they are put in
6.
E. Diction
the universal truth that
we can learn from the play
F. Thought or
meaning
Match the lettered area of the Theatre Epidaurus
with the appropriate term
Theatron, Parados, Mechane, Skene, Paraskene, Orchestra
32.
.
A.
C.
E.
picture
Part 5 of 5
B.
D.
F. ________ is not shown in this
Short answer/essay
(worth 50 points)
You must answer five of the following questions.
You are encouraged to answer more than 5 for extra
credit.
I reserve the right to award more than 10 points for
exceptional work and to give 0's to work of poor
quality.
Some questions are harder than others, and that will be
considered when I grade work.
You are allowed to used resources such as your book,
notes and Internet searches, however put responses in
your own words and site any sources. It does not have
to be in MLA or APA format.
You can write your essays in Word and paste in your
work. If you do, you must use the Paste from Word
button, otherwise your work will be filled with HTML
code and I will not be able to read it. This button has
a little clipboard with a blue W (like the symbol for
MS Work. Alternatively, you can save the work as a text
file and paste from that document.
Good Luck.
33. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero should
* be of noble birth
* be initially neither more good or evil than
normal people
* meet their fate due to some "tragic flaw" which
is usually an error in judgment
* have a common tragic flaw, usually "hubris" or
excessive pride, which leads to their downfall
* make a discovery or "learn a lesson" usually as a
result of their downfall (Creon in Antigone for
example)
* face a turn in fortune
* face an inescapable fate (Oedipus with the
oracle)
* A final quality is that through watching the
tragic hero, the audience should experience catharsis.
They pity the hero and they fear facing a similar fate.
Through watching the tragedy, the audience learns a
lesson and fear and pity is purged, resulting in a
cathartic experience.
Aristotle considered Oedipus a perfect example of a
tragic hero. Using Aristotle's qualities of a tragic
hero, identify who is the tragic hero of Medea and why.
Or you may wish to argue there is no tragic hero is
Medea and you will explain why. You will not be docked
for your opinion but you will lose point for not fully
explaining and supporting your answer.
34. Imagine you are a Cornith lawyer you have a choice
of representing Medea or Jason in a court battle after
the events of the play have happened. To help you
decide, summarize Medea's argument against Jason below
and attempt to justify why she did what she did. Then
summarize Jason's argument.
Chose who you think has he best case. Which case would
you choose and why?
Briefly write out both sides of the case and summarize
at the end who has the strongest case and who you will
represent and why? (You wish to not chose the one with
the strongest case, it is up to you)
Questions to consider: Was Medea driven to do what she
did? Or do her actions outweigh any harm that Jason may
have caused? Is the love of a child more sacred than
the vows between husband and wife? Was Medea poorly
treated because she was a woman? A foreigner? Because
she was getting a little old? Explore and discuss.
35. Describe in detail a whole production cycle for the
City Dionysus from the end of the previous year's
festival to about two weeks after the festival you are
planning. Include:
Who and what will be performed on each of the five days
How the plays will be selected
Explain aspects of the rehearsal process for the
tragedies or the comedies
36. From the essay "Women's Parts Played by Men in the
Roman Theatre" by Goethe and "The Legacy of Goethe's
Mimetic Stance" summarize some of arguments in support
of "Goethe's basic premise-that in performance men make
better women" Include Goethe's arguments but also
include some other arguments from Cocteau and Jarry
provided in the second essay.
Do you believe Goethe's argument has some validity in
the theatre? Why or why not?
Lesley Ferris argues that this is an enduring example
of women hating in the theatre. Do you agree with this?
Why or why not?
37. You are on vacation with a friend
visiting Ancient Greek Theatres. Your
these seats in the front row that are
the rest of the seats in the theatre.
everything you could tell your friend
and why they are different.
in Greece
friend notices
different from
Write below
about these seats
38. You get a summer job at a museum. A tourist comes
to you and asks you to explain something about this
image. Based on your theatre history knowledge, write
down all the things you could tell them. What kind of
actor are they (Tragic, Comic) and what clues are there
to indicate this? What role might they have had in the
play? Tell them about his costume and what it means.
Try to give as much detail as you can.
39. Discuss the comic elements in Lysistrata. What
situations and relationships are inherently comic and
why?
40. Using Lysistrata as a model, discuss the potential
benefits and liabilities of using comedy for an antiwar
play.
41. Explain aspects of stage design (scenic, costume,
sound, lights) in Ancient Greece including Pinakes,
Periakotoi, Ekkyklema and Mechane; the use of the skene
and orchestra; light and sound, and any other aspects
that helped with the design aspects of the production.
(You may attach drawings to show your understanding and
better illustrate your explanation. Remember, you are
free to Google and do research for answering the
question but please answer in your own words.
42. Describe and discuss the Ancient Greek's treatment
of violent and aggressive acts in plays and on stage.
Provide examples from at least three plays. Does the
portrayal of violence differ in tragedy and comedy? How
is violence presented on stage? (Though action, text,
symbols, special effects) Are the Greek methods still
relevant for theatre productions today? How would you
stage these acts to a modern audience? Same? Different?
Discuss