Greek Drama: Oedipus Rex and Antigone Review
Part I: Fill in the Blank / Short Answer
Each question will be worth one and a half points.
The first forty questions on the short answer section of the test will be based on the general
introduction to Greek drama, Oedipus Rex, and Antigone. In order to study for this section, you
should review the handouts provided, your class notes from my PowerPoint Presentation and our
class discussion. Be familiar with characters and plot developments in both plays. You should also
be able to describe the pattern that Sophocles establishes in Oedipus Rex and the confrontations in
Antigone.
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Greek Theater - What it looked like, its origins, scenery and costumes
Greek Religion - Polytheistic, Dionysus and his relation to the theater, know the sacred places of their religion
Playwrights - Know their names and major contributions to the development of Greek drama
The Grand Century (5th century BC) – major achievements of Greek culture and society of that era.
Chorus and Choragos – be able to identify their roles and functions in the plays.
Structure of Greek drama – (Prologue, Parados, Episodes, Odes, and Exodos)
Be able to define and recognize examples of elements of Greek tragedy: (types of irony, hamartia, hubris,
anagnorisis, peripetia, catharsis, tragic character, stichomythia, character foil, comic relief)
Part II: Paragraphs
Each paragraph will be worth twenty points.
You will have a choice of five topics and should choose two of those topics and write two wellorganized paragraphs. YOU MUST CHOOSE ONE PARAGRAPH FOR EACH OF THE PLAYS. Your
paragraph should begin with a clear topic sentence, include supporting examples and adequate
discussion, and end with a concluding sentence. You should be able to discuss the balance between
individual responsibility and fate, the view of the afterlife, tragic characters, the debate between
public and private morality, and/or the role of dramatic irony in the plays. You should also be able
to interact with the following quotations as some of them may surface in conjunction with a
paragraph topic.
“But I am the king now
I hold the throne that he held then, possess his bed
and a wife who shares our seed…why, our seed
might be the same, children born of the same mother
might have created blood-bonds between us
if his hope of offspring hadn’t met disaster –
but fate swooped at his head and cut him short.
So I will fight for him as if he were my father,
stop at nothing, search the world
to lay my hands on the man who shed his blood…”
“So, you mock my blindness? Let me tell you this.
You with your precious eyes,
you’re blind to the corruption of your life,
to the house you live in, those you live with - ”
“What I did was best – don’t lecture me,
no more advice. I, with my eyes,
how could I look my father in the eyes
when I go down to death? Or mother, so abused…
I have done such things to the two of them
crimes too huge for hanging.”
“Now as we keep our watch and wait the final day,
count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last.”
“As I see it, whoever assumes the task,
the awesome task of setting the city’s course,
and refuses to adopt the soundest policies
but fearing someone, keeps his lips locked tight,
he’s utterly worthless. So I rate him now,
I always have. And whoever places a friend
above the good of his own country, he is nothing:
I have no use for him.”
“No, it’s no disgrace for a man, even a wise man,
to learn many things and not be too rigid.
You’ve seen trees by a raging winter torrent,
how many sway with the flood and salvage every twig,
but not the stubborn – they’re ripped out, roots and all.
Bend or break…
Oh give way. Relax your anger - change!
I’m young, I know, but let me offer this:
it would be best by far, I admit,
if a man were born infallible, right by nature.
If not – and things don’t often go that way,
it’s best to learn from those with good advice.”
“Then too,
we’re underlings, ruled by much stronger hands,
so we must submit in this, and things still worse.
I, for one, I’ll beg the dead to forgive me –
I’m forced, I have no choice – I must obey
the ones who stand in power.”
“Nor did I think your edict had such force
that you, a mere mortal, could override the gods,
the great, unwritten, unshakable traditions.
They are alive, not just today or yesterday:
they live forever, from the first time,
and no one knows when they first saw the light.”
“Take these things to heart, my son, I warn you.
All men make mistakes, it is only human.
But once the wrong is done, a man
can turn his back on folly, misfortune too,
if he tries to make amends, however low he’s fallen,
and stops his bullnecked ways. Stubbornness
brands you for stupidity – pride is a crime.”