24 Jan. The Eumenides

I’ll pass around the quizzes and then you will have 20 mins to complete them. All the questions are short answer. Your answers do not need to be incomplete sentences, and you do not need to include direct citations from the text.

• 1.Does Orestes murder of his mother justify the torment the Furies have inflicted on him and want to inflict on him after his death—hound him to a mad grave?
• 2. What are some major themes of Pythia’s opening prayer? Why can’t she recognize the furies?
• 3. How does Apollo describe the Furies and what advice does he give to Orestes?
• 4. How does the account that the Furies give of Clytemnestra’s murder differ from the account that Orestes gives?
• 5. Why does Athena decide to “appoint the judges of manslaughter” (500) instead of deciding the case for herself?
• 6. What argument does Apollo make to persuade Athena and the court to find in favor of Orestes? Are you convinced, why or why not?
• 7. Why does Athena vote to acquit Orestes?
• 8. What exactly happens to the Furies? Given the whole scope of the Oresteia, are you satisfied with this ending? OR, does the conclusion solve the problems raised in the first plays?

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