Libation Bearers Study Guide

1. Aeschylus was a citizen of

• Athens
• Sparta
• Mycenae
• Troy

2. Aeschylus' innovation, which led to the birth of Western drama, was the addition of

• the Chorus
• the second actor, making possible the staging of a dramatic story
• the third actor, making possible the staging of more complex dramatic situations
• the audience

3. How many Greek trilogies (plays performed together in groups of three at the Dionysia) have survived?

• six, five of which were written by Aeschylus
• five, including the <i>Oresteia</i>
• one: the <i>Oresteia</i>
• two: the <i>Oresteia</i> and the Oedipus trilogy

4. Greek drama could best be described as

• part of a religious celebration
• stylized, with masks and a Chorus
• very naturalistic, with efforts to make the representation as realistic as possible
• both stylized, with masks and a Chorus and part of a religious celebration

5. Greek actors wore

• nothing
• togas
• masks
• all black and red

6. Greek plays feature a group of performers who sing, dance, provide exposition and interact with the other characters. This group is called

• the Chorus
• the Bacchae
• the nymphs of Artemis
• Sappho's "maidens"

7. Who killed Agamemnon?

• Iphigeneia and Helen
• Clytaemestra and Aegisthus
• Atreus and Pylades
• Orestes and Electra

8. The Curse on the House of Atreus began with

• the murder of Agamemnon
• the sacrifice of Iphigeneia
• the improper burial of Polyneices
• the murder and ingestion of Thyestes' children

9. Agamemnon was the commander-in-chief of the Greek forces in

• the Argive civil war
• the Trojan War
• the Athenian war
• the Theban civil war

10. Before the Greek forces set sail from Aulis, they had to appease the goddess Artemis by

• setting Odysseus adrift on a canoe
• sacrificing Agamemnon's daughter, Iphigeneia
• attacking Troy
• killing Thyestes' children and eating them