Quiz Clytemnestra Costanza Casati

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati – 20-Question Quiz

Quiz Overview

This 20-question quiz covers the entire novel Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. Questions are divided into four categories: Plot/Sequence (8 questions), Character Motivation (5 questions), Theme/Symbol (4 questions), and Synthesis (3 questions). Formats include multiple-choice and short-answer. After the questions you will find a complete answer key with brief explanations drawn from the book.

Questions

Plot/Sequence (Questions 1–8)

  1. (Multiple Choice) After Tantalus is murdered, whom does Clytemnestra marry?
    a) Menelaus
    b) Agamemnon
    c) Odysseus
    d) Aegisthus

  2. (Short Answer) What natural phenomenon stalls the Greek fleet at Aulis, forcing the army to wait?

  3. (Short Answer) Who ultimately kills the seer Calchas?

  4. (Short Answer) Why does Clytemnestra send her son Orestes to Sparta?

  5. (Short Answer) Describe how Agamemnon dies.

  6. (Short Answer) What is the gender of Clytemnestra’s first child, born to Tantalus?

  7. (Multiple Choice) Who kidnaps Phoebe and Hilaeira, the daughters of Leucippus?
    a) Theseus and Pirithous
    b) Idas and Lynceus
    c) Castor and Polydeuces
    d) Agamemnon and Menelaus

  8. (Short Answer) After killing Agamemnon, what does Clytemnestra do in the dining hall?

Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)

  1. (Short Answer) Why does Clytemnestra swear vengeance against Agamemnon? Name the specific crime.

  2. (Short Answer) According to the novel, why does Helen choose to marry Menelaus?

  3. (Short Answer) Why does Clytemnestra appoint Kyros, the man who once assaulted her daughters, as a warlord?

  4. (Short Answer) What motivates Aegisthus to help Clytemnestra kill Agamemnon? Give two reasons.

  5. (Short Answer) Why does Clytemnestra murder Cynisca years after Tantalus’s death?

Theme/Symbol (Questions 14–17)

  1. (Short Answer) What does the recurring image of a “bird with crushed wings” symbolize in the novel?

  2. (Short Answer) How does the oath of the suitors function as a plot device?

  3. (Short Answer) In what context does Clytemnestra use the myth of Actaeon?

  4. (Short Answer) What does the anemone flower represent in Clytemnestra’s relationship with Tantalus?

Synthesis (Questions 18–20)

  1. (Short Answer) How does Casati’s portrayal of Clytemnestra differ from the traditional Greek myth where she is often depicted as a one-dimensional villain?

  2. (Short Answer) Compare Clytemnestra’s act of vengeance with that of one other mythological figure (e.g., Medea, Orestes, or Electra).

  3. (Short Answer) Why does the author include an Ancient Greek glossary at the end of the book? What purpose does it serve?

Answer Key

  1. b) Agamemnon – After murdering Tantalus and the baby, Agamemnon forces Clytemnestra to marry him to secure the Spartan alliance. (Outline chapter 13)

  2. Lack of wind / windlessness – The Greek fleet is becalmed at Aulis, which leads to the sacrifice of Iphigenia. (Outline chapter 24)

  3. Clytemnestra – She kills Calchas in the temple of Hera after he taunts her about Iphigenia. (Outline chapter 34)

  4. To marry Hermione and build an alliance – Clytemnestra decides Orestes should wed Hermione to strengthen political ties. (Outline chapter 32)

  5. Clytemnestra stabs him repeatedly in the bathhouse – She fights him, breaks his grip, and stabs him in the chest multiple times. (Outline chapter 34; Evidence chapter 35)

  6. A son – The baby is a boy, killed by Agamemnon along with Tantalus. (Outline chapter 12)

  7. c) Castor and Polydeuces – They kidnap the two women, who are already pregnant by them. (Outline chapter 20)

  8. She confesses to the murder and justifies it – Clytemnestra admits she killed Agamemnon and explains it as revenge for Tantalus, her baby, and Iphigenia. (Outline chapter 35; Evidence chapter 36)

  9. Agamemnon murdered her first husband Tantalus and their infant son – This is the primary crime she cannot forgive. (Outline chapter 12, 13)

  10. Out of jealousy and manipulation – Helen admits she married Menelaus because she was jealous of Clytemnestra and was manipulated by Agamemnon. (Outline chapter 11)

  11. To demonstrate that the disloyal can have a second chance and to secure his family’s loyalty – Clytemnestra uses the appointment to control the elders. (Outline chapter 28; Evidence chapter 29)

  12. Personal revenge for his father Thyestes and his love for Clytemnestra – Aegisthus was sent to kill Thyestes and later Atreus; he also confesses he wants to protect her. (Outline chapter 31, 35)

  13. Cynisca helped Agamemnon kill Tantalus and the baby – Clytemnestra learns of her involvement and kills her at Tyndareus’s funeral. (Outline chapter 13, 16)

  14. Clytemnestra’s crushed spirit and the loss of her family – The image comes from the chapter titled “The Bird with Crushed Wings,” referencing her grief after Tantalus’s murder. (Outline chapter 12)

  15. It binds the Greek kings to accept Helen’s choice of husband, forcing them to join the Trojan War when she elopes with Paris – Odysseus proposes the oath. (Outline chapter 9)

  16. To teach her daughters self-defense and to warn them about the danger of the male gaze – She invokes Actaeon’s story of being punished for seeing Artemis naked. (Outline chapter 18)

  17. Desire, love, and the awakening of female agency – Tantalus tells the myth of anemones and touches Clytemnestra’s hair, symbolizing her independent attraction. (Outline chapter 3)

  18. Casati gives Clytemnestra a clear motive, intelligence, and emotional depth, portraying her as a complex heroine rather than a scheming murderer – The author’s conversation emphasizes reclaiming the myth from a feminist perspective. (Outline chapter 39)

  19. For example, like Medea, Clytemnestra kills her husband; however, Clytemnestra’s act is political and retributive for multiple murders, whereas Medea’s is more personal and includes killing her own children – Both are driven by betrayal, but Casati’s Clytemnestra acts to avenge her family. (Outline chapters 35, 39)

  20. To clarify cultural and linguistic context for modern readers – Terms like xenia, hubris, and moira are defined to help readers understand character motivations and themes. (Outline chapter 37)

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