---
title: By what means did the seer Tiresias declare that the defence of the… — Berens' Myths and Legends, The Seven A… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the seer Tiresias declare that the defence of the city could be preserved? Exam question 3 of lesson 550 «Berens' Myths and Legends, The Seven Against Thebes, part 56: the Argives fight for Thebes and the heroes die» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency
---

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# Exam question 3 · Berens' Myths and Legends, The Seven Against Thebes, part…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the seer Tiresias declare that the defence of the city could be preserved?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** seer · **What happens:** mean, do, declare, preserve, defend · **To what, where:** defence, city · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 550 «Berens' Myths and Legends, The Seven Against Thebes, part 56: the Argives fight for Thebes and the heroes die» of the books course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/550-pg22381-part56/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:550-pg22381-part56:e3:1
# text = By what means did the seer Tiresias declare that the defence of the city could be preserved?
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	seer	seer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	Tiresias	Tiresias	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	_
8	declare	declare	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	defence	defence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	preserved	preserve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **declare** *speech: other* | present | the seer |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **preserve** | could · passive |  | the defence of the city |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Beneficiary |
| 5 | **defend** |  |  | the city |  |  |  |  | nom defence «process transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By the voluntary death of the youngest of Cadmus' house, offered together with the eldest daughter at dawn on the walls

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:550-pg22381-part56:e3:o1:1
# text = By the voluntary death of the youngest of Cadmus' house, offered together with the eldest daughter at dawn on the walls
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	voluntary	voluntary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	youngest	young	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	Cadmus	Cadmus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	'	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	offered	offer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
14	together	together	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	with	with	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	eldest	eld	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	18	amod	_	_
18	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
19	at	at	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	dawn	dawn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
21	on	on	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **offer** | participle · passive |  | the youngest |  | the walls | dawn | with the eldest daughter; together *property* | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By a voluntary sacrifice of the youngest of the house of Cadmus

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:550-pg22381-part56:e3:o2:1
# text = By a voluntary sacrifice of the youngest of the house of Cadmus
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	voluntary	voluntary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	sacrifice	sacrifice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	youngest	young	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	0	root	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Cadmus	Cadmus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By abandoning the city to the Argive army and their gods

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:550-pg22381-part56:e3:o3:1
# text = By abandoning the city to the Argive army and their gods
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	abandoning	abandon	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	Argive	argive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	army	army	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	gods	god	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **abandon** | gerund |  | the city |  | the Argive army and army's gods |  |  | vn leave-51.2 «NP V NP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Theme city=Source to army=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By the willing death of the youngest son of the house of Creon

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:550-pg22381-part56:e3:o4:1
# text = By the willing death of the youngest son of the house of Creon
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	willing	willing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	youngest	young	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
8	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	Creon	Creon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** |  | the youngest son of the house of Creon |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: of=agent |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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- ← previous: [Berens' Myths and Legends, The Seven A…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/550-pg22381-part56/e2/)
- next →: [Berens' Myths and Legends, The Seven A…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/550-pg22381-part56/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Berens' Myths and Legends, The Seven Against Thebes, part 56: the Argives fight for Thebes and the heroes die](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/550-pg22381-part56/)