Antigone Reading Quiz pgs 6-14

What is the author’s main purpose in having Creon state, “by right of kinship to the Prince’s dead, I claim and hold the throne and sovereignty”?

• To inform the audience that Polyneices and Eteocles are dead.

• To show Creon defending himself against folks trying to fire him.

• To explain why Creon is literally hugging a throne.

• To explain that Creon is the rightful king of Thebes.

Answer explanation

Creon is explaining that because the two male heirs to the throne are dead, he is the rightful King of Thebes.

Why does the guard hesitate to tell Creon the news when he arrives?

• The guard worries that Creon will punish him for bearing bad news.

• The guard didn’t actually have any news and needed time to make something up.

• The guard was star-struck at meeting the king.

• The guard did not want to interrupt Creon.

Answer explanation

The guard reminds that king that he is “innocent of the crime” and prefaces his information by asserting that he “neither did the deed nor saw it done”.

What is the meaning of inveterate as it is used in the following text?

"GUARD Where, my lord? Is it thy ears that suffer, or thy heart?

CREON Why seek to probe and find the seat of pain?

GUARD I gall thine ears--this miscreant thy mind.

CREON What an inveterate babbler! get thee gone!

GUARD Babbler perchance, but innocent of the crime."

• having a particular habit that is unlikely to change; incurable, irredeemable

• an animal lacking a backbone

• a person who has served in the military

• offering the promise of an attractive or enjoyable experience

Answer explanation

Creon tells the Guard that they repeatedly talk too much, that their rambling is a habit.

According to Creon, what is the worst evil on earth?

• war

• money

• Teiresias the seer

• Zeus

Answer explanation

Creon states, “of evils current upon earth/ the worst is money”.

Which of the following inferences is best supported by the passage below (page 10):

GUARD Our quest was at a standstill, when one spake

And bowed us all to earth like quivering reeds,

For there was no gainsaying him nor way

To escape perdition:

Ye are bound to tell

The King, ye cannot hide it ; so he spake.

And he convinced us all; so lots were cast,

And I, unlucky scapegoat, drew the prize.

So here I am unwilling and withal

Unwelcome; no man cares to hear ill news.

• The guards are afraid to tell King Creon bad news.

• The guards use goats to assist them on their watch.

• The “prize” won was the privilege of getting to leave work early.

• The guard was hoping to gain something by telling Creon the truth.

Answer explanation

The guards were so reluctant to tell Creon what happened, they drew names to see who had to go tell him.

Which selection from the text best supports the correct answer to question 5?

• So lots were cast

• Our quest was at a standstill

• Ye are bound to tell the king.

• So here I am unwilling and withal Unwelcome; no man cares to hear ill news.

Answer explanation

The guard is “unwilling” to tell King Creon because he knows he does not like hearing “ill news”.

What is most closely the central idea of the passage below (page 7)?

CREON For Polyneices 'tis ordained that none

Shall give him burial or make mourn for him,

But leave his corpse unburied, to be meat

For dogs and carrion crows, a ghastly sight.

• Polyneices’ burial is mandatory.

• Creon wants to ordain Polyneices so he becomes a priest.

• Polyneices is not to be buried.

• Polyneices loved dogs and birds.

Answer explanation

Creon is banning Polyneices’ burial and insisting that he be left out for animals to feast on.

Which passage from the text best supports the correct answer to question 7?

• “None shall give him burial”

• “to be meat For dogs and carrion crows”

• “a ghastly sight”

• “For Polyneices 'tis ordained”

Answer explanation

This passage explicitly states that Creon is banning Polyneices’ burial.

Match the synonym to its corresponding vocabulary word:

Options:

A. Brazen

B. Perchance

C. Dispose

D. Culprit

E. Suffice

Definitions:

1. To throw or cast away

2. by luck; perhaps

3. Person who has done a crime

4. Made of brass; Bold

5. To be what is needed; to be enough

Put the following events in the correct order from 1-4:

A. Creon speaks to the elders of Thebes (the Chorus) explaining his decision not to bury Polyneices.

B. Creon threatens to punish the Guard for Burying Polyneices.

C. Guard tells Creon someone buried Polyneices.

D. Antigone is brought in, having been caught burying her brother.