Classics-360 Greek and Roman Comedy Test 1 Name: __________________

Choose the correct answer. Mark your answer on the scantron with no. 2 pencil

GENERAL

1. The genre of comedy probably takes roots in the rituals of: A- mourning over the dead; B-
communal purification; C- placation of the angry spirits; D- agrarian fertility.
2. The first recorded elements of comic genre come from: A- epic; B- lyric; C- tragedy; D- comedy.
3. ‘Homeric Laughter’ is the laughter of: A- gods; B- warriors; C- women; D- theatrical audience.
4. Women’s laughter is a peculiar feature of the cult of: A- Apollo; B- Artemis; C- Demeter; D-
Dionysus.
5. Comic performances in classical Athens celebrated the worship of: A- Athena; B- Apollo; C-
Demeter; D- Dionysus.
6. ‘Iambos’ is (mark 2): A- an early comediographer; B- the place of comic performances; C- the
genre of magical scolding; D- poetic meter.
7. ‘Kordax’ is: A- choreographer’s name; B- comical dance; C- a legal code; D- theatrical machine.
8. ‘Stichomythia’ is: A- the art of story-telling; B- mythical examples; C- exchange of one-line
remarks in an intense dramatic dialogue; D- poetic meter.
Match the genre terms with their meanings: A- agon; B- comos; C- hilarotragoedia; D- parabasis; E- satyr
play:
9. Dramatic conflict/altercation.
10. Hilarious short drama with a chorus of satyrs, anticlimactic appendix to a set of three successive
tragedies.
11. Comic parody of mythical subjects, especially popular in the Western Greek colonies.
12. Festive procession, ritual source of the literary genre of comedy.
13. Structural part of the Old Comedy when the chorus crosses over the orchestra and addresses the
audience directly on behalf of the author.
Match the scenic terms with their meanings: A- orchestra; B- proscenium; C- scene; D- thymele:
14. Back stage decorated with scenery proms and three front doors.
15. Platform of the dialogue parts action.
16. The “dancing floor,” place of the choral parts action.
17. The altar of Dionysus in the middle of the action.
18. Peculiar feature of the Attic Comedy: A- masks; B- phallic costumes; C- chorus; D- stock
characters.
19. Women were allowed to perform in the genre of: A- comedy; B- hilarotragoedia; C- mime; D-
satyr play; E- tragedy.
20. Open personal invective and on-stage political debates are characteristic of the: A- Old Comedy; B-
New Comedy; C- satyr play; D- tragedy.
Match the names of the .Greek authors with their respective genres: A- Aristophanes; B- Euripides; C-
Herondas; D- Menander:
21. Mime.
22. New Comedy.
23. Old Comedy.
24. Tragedy.

1
 ARISTOPHANES

25. Aristophanes belongs to the period of: A- Archaic Greece; B- Classical Greece; C- Hellenism; D-
Roman times.
26. Political climate of Aristophanic comedy: A- democratic polis; B- monarchy; C- anarchy; D-
tyranny.
27. The most important public issue of the time of Aristophanes: A- Persian Wars; B- Peloponnesian
War; C- the rise of Macedonian hegemony; D- the rights of women; E- abolition of slavery.
28. In his comedies Aristophanes consistently and urgently advocates: A- war against Sparta; B- peace
with Sparta; C- redistribution of private property; D- educational reform.
29. Dramatic persona typically sharing Aristophanes’ moral sympathies: A- a soldier; B- a sophist; C- a
poet; D- a farmer.
Match the titles of Aristophanes’ comedies with their main themes: A- Acharnians; B- Clouds; C- Frogs; D-
Plutos:
30. Education.
31. Literature.
32. Peace.
33. Social justice.
In which of the comedies: A- Acharnians; B- Clouds; C- Lysistrata; D- Frogs, the following episodes occur?
34. Dikaiopolis signs his own private peace treaty with Sparta.
35. Women conspire to deny men sex until they stop the war.
36. Strepsiades sends his son to learn sophistic tricks in order to get rid of the creditors; instead, the boy
uses the argument to justify beating his father.
37. Dionysus descends to the Underworld to judge the contest between the dead poets.
38. Socrates appears.
39. Euripides appears (mark 2).
40. Aeschylus appears.
41. A Megarian sells his daughters as piglets.
42. Myrrhine teases her aroused husband.
43. The Right and Wrong Logic compete.
44. In Aristophanes, Aeschylus gets the pass from death due to his: A-poetic merits; B- seniority; C-
popularity; D- improving the public morale.
45. Strepsiades’ motivation to attend the school of sophistry is: A- to be a better citizen; B- to learn
wisdom; C- to satisfy personal curiosity; D- to outsmart his creditors.
Match the characters with the types: A- Dikaiopolis; B- Euripides; C- Lamachus; D- Lysistrata; E- Socrates:
46. Boastful soldier.
47. Concerned citizen.
48. Resourceful and determined woman.
49. Abstract-minded sophist.
50. Wacky poet.