Question

7
this thought oppressed him. freedom was so sweet, that he resolved to keep it, and, coolly stepping up to hercules, announced that he would carry the golden apples to eurystheus, and leave him to support the heavens in his stead. feigning a satisfaction which he was very far from feeling, hercules acquiesced, but detained atlas for a moment, asking him to hold the heavens until he could place a cushion on his shoulders. good - natured, as giants proverbially are, atlas threw the apples on the grass beside him, and assumed the incumbent weight; but hercules, instead of preparing to resume it, picked up the apples, leaving atlas alone, in the same plight as he had found him, there to remain until some more compassionate hero should come and set him free.

excerpt from myths of greece and rome by h. a. guerber

17
how does the characterization of hercules in paragraph 7 contribute to the meaning of passage 1?
a by showing how clever he can be
b by describing examples of his courage
c by revealing how much he fears failure
d by demonstrating his lack of awareness

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option A: Hercules tricks Atlas by asking for a cushion, then leaves with the apples, showing his cleverness in outwitting Atlas to keep his freedom.
• Option B: The paragraph focuses on trickery, not courage examples.
• Option C: There's no indication of Hercules fearing failure; he's cleverly avoiding the burden.
• Option D: Hercules is aware of his actions (tricking Atlas), so lack of awareness is incorrect.

Answer:

A. by showing how clever he can be