A. Identifications (answer all) (15%) 2 pts each

1. Phocian

2. hamartia [extra credit only]

3. Thespis

4. City Dionysia

5. “drama”

6. kommos

7. orchestra

8. ekkyklema [extra credit only]

9. Atreidae

10. agon

Bonus question:

11. alastor

B. What were the origins of Greek tragedy? (be brief) (10%)

C. Who speaks the following lines, or to whom do they apply? Give 1 brief sentence of identifying context, including the speaker, the play, and the place in the action. Answer all 4 questions. (20%) 5 pts each [1.66 x 3: speaker, play, place in action]

1. “Where henceforth shall be the oracles of Loxias

declared at Pytho, and the covenant you pledged on oath?

Count all man your enemies rather than the gods!”

2. “In time does this expedition capture Priam’s city,

and all the abundant herds

of the people before the walls

shall Fate violently ravage. . . .

For in pity holy Artemis is angry

with the swift hounds of her father

that sacrifice the wretched hare with all her young before the birth;

she loathes the feast of the eagles.”

3. “She who is called the child’s mother is not

its begetter, but the nurse of the newly sown conception.

The begetter is the male, and she as a stranger for a stranger

preserves the offspring, if no god blights its birth.”

4. A. “Well, since you wish to act and speak thus, you shall soon learn!”

B. “Come now, dear comrades, the work to be done is near at hand!”

A. “Come now, let each make ready his sword with hand on hilt!”

B. “I too have hand on hilt and do not refuse death.”

D. Short essay questions. Answer each question briefly, taking a short paragraph for each.

Answer 3 out of 4 questions. (55%)

1. What is the changing meaning of pathei mathos (“learn by suffering”) in each of the three plays of the Oresteia?

2. “On trial in the Eumenides is not Orestes or Clytemnestra, but the very idea and possibility of human justice as an institution. Therefore, the specific guilt or innocence of these two characters is of lesser significance than the larger outcome of the trilogy.” Do you agree or disagree? Why?

3. “The plot of the Oresteia is a straightforward tale of hatred, revenge and murder. The imagery, however, is often the medium through which the dramatic action finds expression.” Take a position on this quotation, but be very specific with your arguments. Give at least 2 examples to substantiate your response.

4. How would you characterize the role of women in the Oresteia?Are they more or less significant than the male characters? Give 3 examples to substantiate your answer.