Transcript Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex
What you didn’t know you needed to
know about Oedipus et al.
Athens
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Century BCE
“exclusionary democracy”- run by elected
officials in the form of open assembly.
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Only 10% of population could participate
Women, slaves, and non-citizens excluded
Sophocles
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Born in Athens, Greece, in 496 BC
Best-known of Greek playwrights
Aware of inequalities in Athenian society
His plays warned fellow Greeks of divine
retribution as a result of prejudices and
injustices to the poor.
Religious Ideas
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Greek pantheon consisted of hundreds of
deities in a complex hierarchy.
While immortal and powerful, gods were not
all-powerful (like modern concepts of God).
Gods subject to Fate and each other’s will
Greeks believed, to some extent, in Free Will,
though [FW] was not more powerful than
Destiny.
Origins of Greek Drama
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Sixth century BCE
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According to legend and recorded by Aristotle,
Thespis essentially invented acting by stepping in
front of the chorus and performing solo. (Thespis
 Thespian  Actor)
Origins of Greek Drama
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Fifth century BCE
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Athens made tremendous advances in
philosophy, rhetoric, literature, science,
architecture, and visual arts. Tragedies were
performed in competition as part of the Great
Dionysia, in honor of the god Dionysus.
Sophocles won 20 competitions (Aeschylus 13
and Euripedes 4).
Conventions of Greek Theater
The Three Unities described by Aristotle:
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3.
Unity of time- all the action of the place took
place within 24-hours, in continuous time;
dialogue and Chorus provided background info.
Unity of place- all of the action was limited to a
single setting.
Unity of subject- one single main plot focused
on the main character. There were no subplots.
Conventions of Greek Theater
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Dramatic irony- audiences were already
familiar with plots, thus suspense was in how
the events would transpire in “real time”.
Plays were acted in daytime with minimal
sets and props.
Actors were male. They wore masks, wigs,
and high-heeled boots which increased
visibility.
No violence was shown on stage.
Conventions of Greek Theater
Chorus was used to present exposition and
commentary. Performed in song with a highly
formal and stylized back-and-forth
movement:
Strophe- the first part of a choral ode or kommos, during
which the Chorus moves from left to right, or east to
west, across the stage.
Antistrophe- the part of a choral ode (kommos) that follows
the strophe and during which the Chorus performs its
return steps from right to left (or west to east)
Epode- the third part of a choral ode, following the strophe
and antistrophe and completing the Chorus’s movement.
Tragedy
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Greek tragedy focuses on reversal of fortune
(peripeteia), downfall of the tragic hero, and
the events leading to that downfall.
Both fate (destiny) and free will (tragic flaw)
play a role in the tragedy of Oedipus Rex.
As the hero accepts the consequences of this
errors, the audience has a catharsis (feeling
purged or drained of emotions), and is better
able to understand life.
Tragic Hero
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The tragic condition was often the result of
the tragic hero’s hamartia (or, simply, the
tragic flaw).
One common trait associated with hamartia is
hubris—excessive pride or self-confidence.
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Ex: Achilles’ dragging Hector’s corpse around the
wall of Troy in Homer’s Iliad.
Oedipus Backstory
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Long before the play opens Laius, Oedipus' father,
kidnaps the young boy Chrysippus and is then cursed by
Chrysippus' father, Pelops. The weight of this curse
bears down onto Oedipus himself.
An oracle foretells that Laius’ son will kill his father and
marry his mother. When Oedipus is born, Laius has the
infant's ankles pierced with a brooch and placed in the
wilderness to die. His servant, however, cannot carry out
Laius' order and hands the boy to a shepherd who
presents the child to King Polybus and Queen Merope of
Corinth, who raise him as their own son.
At a party, a drunk guest calls Oedipus a bastard.
Seeking to confirm his lineage, Oedipus seeks out the
Oracle at Delphi. The Oracle relates the prophecy that
he will kill his father and marry his mother.
Oedipus Backstory
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After descending the mountain, on a road where three roads
meet, he meets a man with a staff, riding a chariot. The man in
the chariot demands that Oedipus stand aside so he can pass,
finally hitting Oedipus with his staff. Oedipus, as the times
permitted, kills the stranger and all but one of his entourage. The
man he kills was King Laius, Oedipus' real father.
Oedipus decides not to return home in order to avoid Polybus.
As he travels, Oedipus encounters a mythical creature that
terrorizes Thebes. Oedipus saves the city by answering the
riddle of the Sphinx. Q: "What walks on four legs in the morning,
two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?" Since
Oedipus answers the Sphinx's riddle correctly, he is offered the
now-vacant throne of Thebes and the now-widowed queen's
hand in marriage. Oedipus accepts both.
Within a short time, divine signs of misfortune and pollution
descend on Thebes. The people of Thebes beg the new king for
help. Oedipus swears to find the person responsible for the
pestilence and execute him.
Themes
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people have a great desire to discover and to know the truth
the truth is often painful
human greatness lies within capacity to suffer, in one's readiness
to accept the truth no matter how painful, in being responsible for
all of one's actions, in the nobility of self-sacrifice. . .
gods exist and must be revered, despite our inability to know and
understand everything about them
Humans are not equal to the gods (in knowledge, understanding,
strength, authority), but he is not helpless, either
 (for example, man is not in complete control of his own destiny,
nor can he hope to know all he needs to know in order to make
the "right" decision, but he is capable of great and noble actions)
man's humanity to man (Oed.'s concern for the people of
Thebes, for his daughters)
sight vs. blindness- work out your own wording for this one
Oedipal Complex
(compliments of Freud)
 Freud coined The Oedipal complex to explain the origin of a
common childhood neuroses.
 Male child's unconscious desire for the exclusive love of his
mother. This desire includes jealousy towards the father and
the unconscious wish for that parent's death.
 This complex DOES NOT mean boys want to have sex with
their moms.
 Oedipus himself, as portrayed in the myth, did in no way
suffer from this neurosis - at least, not towards Jocasta, whom
he only met as an adult. However, Freud reasoned that the
ancient Greek audience, which heard the story told or saw the
plays based on it, did know that Oedipus was actually killing
his father and marrying his mother; the story being continually
told and played therefore reflected a preoccupation with the
theme.