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Sophocles Trivia

Sophocles Trivia Quizzes

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One of the great classical Greek tragedians, Sophocles wrote over 100 plays, of which only seven survive. These include the Theban plays, also called the Oedipus trilogy: 'Oedipus Rex', 'Oedipus at Colonus' and 'Antigone'.
9 Sophocles quizzes and 85 Sophocles trivia questions.
1.
Oedipus Rex
  Oedipus Rex   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is the first (chronologically) of Sophocles' Theban trilogy, dealing with Oedipus and his doomed family.
Average, 10 Qns, looney_tunes, Nov 06 22
Recommended for grades: 11,12
Average
looney_tunes editor
Nov 06 22
114 plays
2.
  Oedipus    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
A quiz about the man that married his mother.
Average, 15 Qns, Sithspawn, Dec 12 18
Average
Sithspawn
1931 plays
3.
  "Antigone"    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
I thought that I would hate this play when my English class read it, but ended up loving it!
Average, 10 Qns, regenbogen, Oct 28 16
Average
regenbogen
1211 plays
4.
  Oedipal Complexes    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
So you fancy yourself an expert on Greek theater? How much do you know about the first and last plays of Sophocles' Oedipus cycle, "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone"? Try this and see just how much you know!
Average, 10 Qns, SciFiChica, Oct 20 10
Average
SciFiChica
479 plays
5.
  Oedipus the King    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
I read this story in my Honors English II class. Very interesting story line.
Easier, 10 Qns, golfchic13, Feb 21 17
Easier
golfchic13
731 plays
6.
  The Oedipus Plays    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
A quiz covering all three plays: "Oedipus the King", "Oedipus at Colonus", and "Antigone".
Average, 10 Qns, daniel_floyd, Dec 26 07
Average
daniel_floyd
773 plays
7.
  Quiz on the Greek Tragedy "Antigone" by Sophocles    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
For those people who had to read this in Lit. class, this is for you. contains spoilers!
Average, 10 Qns, ABBARox123, May 08 08
Average
ABBARox123
620 plays
8.
  Sophocles' Ajax    
Multiple Choice
 5 Qns
Here is a short multiple choice quiz derived from Sophocles' Ajax. Good luck to you!
Average, 5 Qns, JCSon, Mar 01 04
Average
JCSon gold member
516 plays
9.
  Sophocles' Philoctetes    
Multiple Choice
 5 Qns
This quiz is based on Sophocles' Philoctetes. All spelling based on the translation.
Average, 5 Qns, JCSon, Mar 01 04
Average
JCSon gold member
423 plays
trivia question Quick Question
Who tells Oedipus that it was Oedipus himself who killed Laius?

From Quiz "The Oedipus Plays"




Related Topics
  Ancient Greek Drama [Literature] (7 quizzes)


Sophocles Trivia Questions
1. Antigone was punished for doing what act?

From Quiz Quiz on the Greek Tragedy "Antigone" by Sophocles

Answer: burying her traitor brother

Antigone was sentenced to die because she gave her brother Polynices a funeral. He was supposed to be left unburied because he went against his city in the war. The king made a law that whoever buried Polynices was to be punished.

2. What law did Creon make that Antigone broke?

From Quiz "Antigone"

Answer: No one could bury Polynices.

Creon said that no one could bury Polynices because he had betrayed the city, but Antigone buried him so that he could pass into the afterlife.

3. What does the name Oedipus mean?

From Quiz Oedipus the King

Answer: swollen foot

This is his name because his parents didn't want him, so they bound his feet and sent him away, which is why his feet got swollen, hence his name.

4. What does the name Oedipus mean in Greek?

From Quiz The Oedipus Plays

Answer: Swollen foot

In Greek, Oidipous means "swollen foot." Oedipus is named this because of the scars on his ankles, which were caused by his real father, Laius, who put nails through each of his ankles because of the prophecy that Oedipus would kill Laius.

5. Who were Oedipus' real parents?

From Quiz Oedipus

Answer: Laius and Jocasta

Oedipus was left to die by his real parents, and adopted.

6. How many years had Philoctetes been stranded on the island of Lemnos?

From Quiz Sophocles' Philoctetes

Answer: 10

7. Who was the father of Ajax?

From Quiz Sophocles' Ajax

Answer: Telamon

Teleutas was the father of Tecmessa, Eriboea was the mother of Ajax, and Eurysaces was his son.

8. When Oedipus consults the Delphic oracle about his parents, he is told that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Believing that this refers to Polybus and Merope, he leaves Corinth and travels to which city?

From Quiz Oedipus Rex

Answer: Thebes

On his voyage, he has a quarrel with an old man and kills him. This fulfills the prophecy, as the man was in fact Laius, the King of Thebes and his natural father. He arrives in Thebes, where he frees the city from the reign of terror imposed by the Sphinx be answering its riddle. while Sophocles does not give details of the question, it is popularly given as: "What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?" The answer is a human being, who crawls as an infant, walks upright for most of their life, and leans on a cane or other support when elderly. The Thebans are so grateful that he is declared their king, and given the hand in marriage of the dowager queen (his mother, Jocasta).

9. Which mythical creature did Oedipus save Thebes from? Hint: Think of riddles

From Quiz Oedipal Complexes

Answer: The Sphinx

When Oedipus correctly answered the riddle, (you know you know it: what walks on four legs in the morning, etc.) the Sphinx was so distraught that she ran and flung herself off a cliff. From which, she mysteriously ended up in Egypt. I wonder how that happened- truly one of the mysteries of the universe, I guess!

10. What did the prophecy say that made Oedipus's parents not want him anymore?

From Quiz Oedipus the King

Answer: He was going to kill his father

The oracle told this to his parents, and they wanted the boy killed and sent away so it wouldn't come true.

11. Where does the story take place?

From Quiz Oedipus

Answer: Thebes

Technically Oedipus did not inherit the throne from his father, the king, but he got it anyway.

12. What city was the birthplace of Neoptolemus?

From Quiz Sophocles' Philoctetes

Answer: Scyros

13. Menelaus was the king of what region?

From Quiz Sophocles' Ajax

Answer: Sparta

Teucer, addressing Menelaus, says, 'As Sparta's king you came, not as master over us'.

14. What trouble is afflicting Thebes at the start of the play?

From Quiz Oedipus Rex

Answer: plague

Oedipus took control of a city in turmoil due to the unexpected death of Laius, and the unsettling problem of the Sphinx eating the citizens. Things only got worse with a plague setting in, and widespread illness and death. Oedipus sent Creon, his brother-in-law (and uncle) to consult the oracle at Delphi, seeking for a solution to the problem. The play opens with a description of the sad state of events, and the anticipation of Creon's return.

15. What was Antigone's main reason for burying her brother?

From Quiz Quiz on the Greek Tragedy "Antigone" by Sophocles

Answer: reverence for gods

There was actually more than one reason. Antigone also wanted to honor her family, and said that she would be dead longer than alive (so if she was punished and killed, it wouldn't matter).

16. What was the cause of the plague afflicting Thebes at the beginning of "Oedipus Rex"?

From Quiz Oedipal Complexes

Answer: The murderer of Laius had not yet been brought to justice

To figure out the cause of the plague, Oedipus sent messengers to all the oracles in the surrounding area. This was the answer Creon, who went to the oracle at Delphi, returned with.

17. In "Antigone", whose body has Creon decreed that no one shall bury?

From Quiz The Oedipus Plays

Answer: Polynices

Creon says that no one shall bury Polynices' body because he attempted to overtake Thebes, and his body will serve as a reminder to the people of what happens to traitors.

18. What was the answer to the Sphinx's riddle?

From Quiz Oedipus

Answer: a man

The riddle was: What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening? This signifies man in his three stages of life- as an infant, crawling, as an adult, walking, and elderly, using a cane for support.

19. Who was the father of Philoctetes?

From Quiz Sophocles' Philoctetes

Answer: Poeas

20. Who was the prophet that warned of certain death once Ajax left his house and went abroad?

From Quiz Sophocles' Ajax

Answer: Calchas

'Calchus drew apart from the Atreidae...and strictly charged' Teucer to keep 'Ajax within the house...if he wished ever to see him alive...(that) day alone (would) the wrath of divine Athena vex him'.

21. How does the oracle tell the Thebans they need to do to alleviate their distress?

From Quiz Oedipus Rex

Answer: punish Laius' murderer

Creon returns from his mission, and announces that Apollo, through his oracle, has decreed that the plague will not be lifted until the moral abomination infecting its society is removed. They must find and punish the murderer of King Laius, which Oedipus vows to do.

22. When the soothsayer Tiresias was brought before Oedipus and told him the truth of his parentage, Oedipus declared him a liar. Whom did he accuse Tiresias of collaborating with in order to unseat Oedipus from the throne?

From Quiz Oedipal Complexes

Answer: Creon

Tiresias was reluctant to tell Oedipus the truth of who had killed Laius, but Oedipus kept pushing until Tiresias gave in. It turned out Oedipus had killed Laius in a confrontation on the road, and then come to save Thebes and marry Jocasta. Which wouldn't have been so bad, except Laius was his father and Jocasta was his mother. (He, having been raised by parents in another country, didn't know this.) Everybody say it with me now: ewwwwww!

23. Who does Creon initially blame for the burial of Polynices?

From Quiz "Antigone"

Answer: the sentry

The sentry was the one who told Creon about the burial, and Creon told him that he would have to accept the blame if he couldn't find out who did it.

24. Where did Oedipus kill his father?

From Quiz Oedipus the King

Answer: At the place where the three streets meet

We don't actually see this happening, which is normal for dramas. We just hear of it through the man that saw it happen. He was travelling with the king, and was the only survivor.

25. In "Oedipus at Colonus", who is the only person to see where Oedipus is buried?

From Quiz The Oedipus Plays

Answer: Theseus

Theseus, the king of Athens, vows to help Oedipus because Creon needs his body to help lift a curse that has been placed on Creon and Thebes.

26. Why was Oedipus left to die by his real parents?

From Quiz Oedipus

Answer: it was prophesized that he would kill his father

Laius was warned against having children because it was prophesized that if he ever bore a son, that son would kill him. He did not heed the warning, but when Oedipus was born, he knew he had to kill him. Not wanting to murder the child himself, he left him to die of exposure.

27. Who was the brave old friend of Pylos that Philoctetes inquired of?

From Quiz Sophocles' Philoctetes

Answer: Nestor

28. Whose sword had Ajax taken...the same sword by which he died?

From Quiz Sophocles' Ajax

Answer: Hector

'For since this hand took this gift from Hector, my worst foe, to this hour I have had no good from the Greeks'.

29. What is the name of the blind prophet who tells Oedipus that he himself is the man he seeks?

From Quiz Oedipus Rex

Answer: Tiresias

At first, Tiresias declines to answer Oedipus' questions, saying that he knows the answer but refuses to tell. When pressed, he identifies Oedipus himself as the murderer who must be brought to justice. This does not make sense to Oedipus, who accuses Tiresias of being the puppet of Creon, in an attempted coup. He summons Creon for a confrontation.

30. What happens to Antigone at the end of the play?

From Quiz Quiz on the Greek Tragedy "Antigone" by Sophocles

Answer: she hangs herself

In the end, after Creon punishes Antigone for burying Polynices, he realizes that he was wrong, and when he goes to free her, she is dead.

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