Quiz 044

Episode 44 Quiz

Welcome to the quiz for Episode 44: Homo Sum. See what you remember about the Roman author Terence and his play The Brothers by clicking “START” below!

1 / 15

Many sources concur that Terence was from:

Cyrenaica

Epirus

Galatia

Noricum

Carthage

2 / 15

Dramatic irony is when:

A play comments on contemporary events in a compelling or memorable way.

A play borrows so heavily from another play that its spontaneous departure from its analog causes surprise and delight.

The audience knows something that a character or characters don't.

A movement late in New Comedy when the philosophy of cynicism began to influence the Greco-Roman stage.

The pitch of emotional intensity in a play is incommensurate with the events that engender it.

3 / 15

In which decade did Terence produce his six plays?

The 140s BCE

The 210s BCE

The 180s BCE

The 210s BCE

The 160s BCE

4 / 15

Homo sum; humani nil a me alienum puto, a famous line from Terence’s play The Self Tormentor, means:

Humanity is thus: emptiness and a joy.

Being human, we are alienated from one another.

I'm human, so any human interest is my concern.

The sum of humanity is nothingness and alienation.

Life is a range of experiences that bring us all into contact with one another.

5 / 15

The older father figure in The Brothers, a staunch, thrifty man, is called:

Phaedria

Laches

Demea

Chremes

Parmeno

6 / 15

The two older brothers in Terence’s The Brothers symbolize which dichotomy in republican Roman culture?

Plebeians vs. patricians

Praetors vs. consuls

Roman traditionalists vs. philhellenes

Equestrians vs. optimates

War hawks vs. pacifists

7 / 15

Which of the following is NOT true of Terence’s illustrious friend Scipio Aemilianus?

He was the father of the famous statesman Cato the Elder.

His biological father Lucius Aemilianus Paulus had won the war with Macedon.

He was the adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus.

He had a wide circle of literary and intellectual friends.

He won the Third Punic War.

8 / 15

At the outset of The Brothers, what does young Ctesipho’s biological father think of him?

That Ctesipho has enlisted with a band of Peloponnesian mercenaries.

That Ctesipho is a wholesome and upright young man.

That Ctesipho has squandered his inheritance in a business venture in Corinth.

That Ctesipho has wasted his life in service to the priestess at Eleusis.

That Ctesipho has made a fortune for himself up in the city of Amphipolis.

9 / 15

Aeschinus marries:

Phidippus' wife Myrrhina

The slave Mysis

The prostitute Bacchis

The neighbor girl Pamphila

Pamphila's sister Thais

10 / 15

The character who has been adopted and taken to the city in Terence’s The Brothers is named:

Pamphilus

Crito

Charinus

Phidippus

Aeschinus

11 / 15

The younger father in The Brothers – the one who lives in the city and adopts his older brother’s son, is called:

Micio

Menedemus

Thraso

Davus

Dromo

12 / 15

This line, spoken by Micio, is a pivotal one in The Brothers that introduces a longer explanation of his conduct and philosophy.

A benediction passes, but a curse is forever.

The life of man is a game of dice.

All men, regardless of origin, are subject to the gods.

The sea fills the coves and the sea blankets the beaches.

Free falls the rain, but not in the deep summer.

13 / 15

Augustus, Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius have what quality in common that we discussed in this episode?

They were all provincials.

None of them had military experience prior to being emperor.

None of them served as consul before or after being ordained as emperor.

Each served as Pontifex Maximus prior to ruling as emperor.

They were all adopted.

14 / 15

Terence’s prologues were innovative because they:

Were spoken by the playwright himself, rather than an actor playing a divine being or character from the play.

Were accompanied by the music of the tibia or dual reed pipes.

Were directly translated from New Comedy writers, rather than being written freshly for a Roman staging.

Appeared after a preliminary scene, so that the audience would be able to put names to faces.

Served as miniature artistic manifestos allowing the playwright to defend and explain his work.

15 / 15

The occasion of The Brothers‘ first staging was that it was staged for:

The victory games celebrating Roman victories in Thrace and Asia.

The aftermath of a speech by the writer and statesman Cato the Elder.

The birth of the poet Caecilius' second son, Gaius.

The estranged brother of the Greek historian Polybius.

The funeral of the biological father of Terence's friend Scipio Aemilianus.

Your score is