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Tragic dramas written in Greece during the fifth century B.C. engender considerable scholarly debate over the relative influence of individual autonomy and the power of the gods on the drama's action. ███

Debate · Power of the individual v. gods

Greek tragedies engender debate on the relative influence of individual autonomy and the power of the gods.

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Individual: Snell · Aeschylus demonstrates personal autonomy

Snell argues that Aeschylus (a playwright) demonstrates the power of the individual in his plays. His characters are said to make "free" and "personal" decisions which drive the drama of his plays.

Individual: Barbu · Agrees with Snell

Barbu further concludes that the Greeks had conception of individual as a free agent.

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Gods: Rivier · Disagrees with Snell

Divine forces compel character to make their "choices." Hence, it's not so much a choice as much as a "recognition" that there is only one option.

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Both: Lesky · Disagrees with both camps

Lesky thinks both the gods and the individual have power. The gods constrain the decision space but the individual does make a real choice. The tension between the two forces is what creates the tragedy.

Passage Style

Critique or debate

Which one of the following ███████████ ████ ██████████ ████████ ███ █████████ ████ █████████ █████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ██████████

Question Type

Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)

Structure

This is a Meaning in Context question concerning the quote from Agamemnon. Read before and after the quote for a better sense of its meaning. The quote means something like, “If the death of my daughter will help bring my ships to battle, then I’m allowed to desire the death of my daughter.”

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Agamemnon isn’t trying to “evade battle.” He wants to get into the battle, not avoid it.

If the goddess ███ ████████ ████ ███ ████ ███ █ ███ ███ █ ████ ██ ████ ██ █████ ██ ██████ ██ ██ ██████████ ████ ██████████ ████ ██ ██ █████████ ███████████ ███ ██ ██ ██████ ██████ ███████ ██ ███████

Close, but wrong because of the last part – “it is perfectly appropriate for me to deeply desire victory in battle.” What Agamemnon is saying is appropriate is the desire to sacrifice his daughter – this is appropriate because it will help bring him to a battle that he wants to win.

11%

Agamemnon wants to win a battle. But the only way he can get his ships to the battle is by killing his daughter. The quote expresses the idea that it’s OK for him to desire the death of his daughter because it’s the only way to get into the battle.

82%

As I alone ████ ██████████ ████ ████ ████ █████████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████ █ ████ ███████ ███ ███████ █████████████

Agamemnon didn’t “alone” determine anything. His choice is influenced by the gods.

As I have ██████████ ████ ████ ██████ ████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ████ █████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████ █ ████ ███████ ███ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ████████

The desire for victory doesn't guarantee the success of the sacrifice. Rather, the sacrifice is something that allows Agamemnon's ships to join the battle, which is something that Agamemnon thinks increases his chances of success in the battle. Agamemnon's saying that he's allowed to desire the sacrifice because it will bring his ships to battle.

PrepTest 110 - Section 4 - Passage 2 - Question 8

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