Transcript File - English Rocks!

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Born outside Athens, Greece,
between 500-494 BCE
Belonged to an affluent
Athenian family
Wrote at least 120 plays,
90 of them tragedies
Died 406-405 BCE
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Athenian government was an “exclusionary
democracy,” run by elected officials in the
form of an open assembly.
◦ Only about 10% of the population was eligible to
participate.
◦ Women, slaves, & “non-citizens” were excluded.
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Although Sophocles was a member of the
ruling class, he was aware of the social
inequalities in Athenian society.
His plays include repeated attempts to warn
his fellow Greeks of the divine retribution that
would come to them as a result of their
prejudices & injustice to the poor.
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The Greek pantheon consisted of hundreds of
deities in a complex hierarchy.
The familiar “Olympian” gods - closest to
humans - were a relatively small part of the
overall scheme.
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While immortal & powerful, the gods
were not all-powerful in the sense of our
modern concepts of God.
The gods themselves were subject to
FATE and to each other’s will.
◦ In Oedipus Rex, the Delphic Oracle is the
prophet of Oedipus’s doomed fate, but she’s
not the cause of it - nor is Apollo.
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The Greeks did, to some extent, believe in
FREE WILL.
Still, FREE WILL was not more powerful than
DESTINY.
◦ Oedipus is a perfect example of the belief that, try
as they might, people cannot avoid the destinies to
which they are born.
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Nonetheless, as Oedipus’s FATE is the result
of his father’s earlier misdeed, human FREE
WILL cannot be completely dismissed either.
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Laius - Oedipus’s birth father - was raised by
a single mother who ruled Thebes as her
dead husband’s regent.
Laius’s two young cousins usurped the
throne & plotted to kill young Laius.
So, Laius was smuggled out of Thebes and
given to Pelops, King of Pisa, to raise.
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Laius became the tutor of Pelops’s favorite
son, Chryssipus, whom he abducted and
took back to Thebes.
The two cousins having died, Laius claimed
his throne & held Chryssipus captive.
Pelops raised an army & demanded the
return of his son, but it was discovered
Chryssipus was already dead.
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Laius & his house were cursed because of
his poor treatment of Pelops & Chryssipus.
When Laius married Jocasta, he was warned
NOT to have children by her because his
son by Jocasta would one day kill him.
One night, while drunk, Laius imprudently
disregarded the prophecy* - and Oedipus
was conceived.
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Thus, while Oedipus is, to a large extent, a
pawn of FATE, at the root of that ill destiny is
an act of FREE WILL that went against nature
and angered the gods.
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Oedipus came to rule Thebes by solving the
riddle posed by the Sphinx and thus saving
Thebes from chaos and destruction.
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The Greek Sphinx was a demon of death
and destruction and bad luck.
It was a female creature, sometimes
depicted as a winged lion with a feminine
head, and sometimes as a female with the
chest, paws and claws of a lion, a snake
tail and bird wings.
She sat on a high rock near Thebes and
posed a riddle to all who passed.
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The riddle was: "What animal is that which
in the morning goes on four feet, at noon
on two, and in the evening upon three?”
She strangled those who could not solve the
riddle.
Finally, Oedipus came along to save the
day.
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Oedipus was the only who could answer
that it was ”man, who in childhood creeps
on hands and knees, in manhood walks
erect, and in old age with the aid of a
staff.”
The Sphinx was so mortified at the solving
of her riddle that she cast herself down
from the rock and perished.
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So, how did Oedipus’s story end up on the
stage in play form?
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Sixth Century BCE
◦ According to legend & recorded by Aristotle,
Thespis essentially invented acting by stepping in
front of the chorus & performing a solo.
◦ The word “thespian” has come to mean “actor.”
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Fifth Century BCE
◦ Athens made tremendous advances in philosophy,
rhetoric, literature, science, architecture, and visual
arts.
◦ Tragedies were performed in annual competitions
that were a part of the Lenaia and the Great
Dionysia, religious festivals held in honor of
Dionysis.
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One of the twelve
Olympian gods
God of wine &
ecstasy
Inspirer of ritual
madness
Patron of theater &
agriculture
Theatre of Dionysus, Athens
Theater of Epidaurus
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Each competing playwright produced 3
tragedies & a satyr-play.
The three best submissions were approved &
given a chorus for performance.
On the last day of the festival, a prize was
awarded to the tragic playwright voted best
of the year.
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Aeschylus - wrote the Oresteia, a tragic
trilogy, & introduced the use of a second
actor onstage, interacting with the first. He
also began to develop a more complicated
plot. He won 13 festival competitions.
Euripides - wrote Medea. He won 4 festival
competitions.
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Sophocles
◦ brought a third actor on-stage, created scene
design, and enlarged the chorus from 12 to 15.
◦ wrote the “Theban plays,” Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at
Colonus, and Antigone.
◦ won 20 festival competitions.
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While Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus,
and Antigone are often anthologized
together and in “chronological” order, they
are not a trilogy.
Antigone was written first and Oedipus at
Colonus last - about 40 years later.
Each work should be considered a separate
work, NOT episodes in a serial.
Dramatic Irony
◦ The audience was already familiar with the plots,
taken from well-known myths.
◦ Therefore, they always had more information about
the action than the characters onstage did.
◦ Suspense was in HOW the well-known events would
transpire & in the audience’s watching the events
unfold in “real time.”
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Plays were acted in the daytime, with minimal
sets and props.
Actors were all male.
Actors wore masks, wigs, and high-heeled
boots, which increased their visibility to the
audience & added to the formality of the
experience.
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To increase dramatic intensity, the plays
observed the THREE UNITIES described by
Aristotle…
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All the action of the play took place within
twenty-four hours, in continuous time.
Dialogue and the Chorus provided
background information.
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All of the action was limited to a single
setting.
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One single main plot focused on the main
character. There were no sub-plots.
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Due to the religious intent and dignified style,
no violence was shown on stage.
The messenger ran on stage and spoke to the
audience of any deaths or killings.
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Was used to present exposition & to provide
commentary on the action & characters:
◦ 15 men represented the citizens.
◦ They were always on stage, and they frequently
sang and danced.
◦ They always had a leader who carried on a dialogue
with the main characters or with the rest of the
chorus.
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The function of the chorus was to…
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Set the tone
Give background information
Recall events of the past
Interpret and summarize events
Ask questions
Offer opinions
Give advice, if asked
Stay objective
Act like a jury of elders or wise men who
listened to the evidence and reached a
moralistic conclusion at the end of the play
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Performed in song with a highly formal and
stylized back-and-forth movement that
heightened the emotion of their performance:
◦ Strophe - first part of a choral ode
◦ Antistrophe - follows the strophe
◦ Epode - completes the chorus’s movement
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Aristotle said tragedy aroused the emotions
of PITY and FEAR.
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Ideally, tragedy brings about a purging of
these emotions.
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This release of feelings = Catharsis.
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The release was/is thought to produce
emotional relief and encourage psychological
health.
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Tragedy heals.
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Catharsis = the end goal of tragedy.
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Tragedy is not true in the sense that history is
true.
It’s not a duplication of life, but a
representation.
Plot consists of a self-contained and
concentrated single action.
Only those incidents integral to the action are
included in the play.
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Peripeteia / Reversal of fortune
Anagnorisis / Recognition
Scene of suffering / Pathos
1. Peripeteia - “reversal of fortune” from
good to bad.
2. Anagnorisis - a change from ignorance to
knowledge, producing love or hate between
the persons destined for good or bad
fortune.
This recognition = discovery of true identity
or involvement, establishment of guilt or
innocence, & revelation of previously
unknown details.
*In the best tragedies, the peripeteia (reversal) &
anagnorisis (recognition) occur together and create
suspense.
3. Scene of Suffering - a destructive, painful
action, such as death, bodily pain, or
wounds. This destructive or painful action
should be caused by loved ones. This will
arouse the most fear & pity.
*All 3 of these elements appear near the play’s
conclusion because they are the probable &
inevitable results of the exposition & complications.
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The tragic condition is often the result of
the tragic hero’s hamartia, often defined as
the tragic flaw that leads to the hero’s
downfall.
More accurately, hamartia is an error in
judgment or perception, the hero’s inability
to see his flaw or to accurately foresee the
consequences of his decisions or actions.
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A common trait associated with hamartia is
hubris (or hybris).
Hubris = exaggerated self pride or self
confidence, which often results in fatal
retribution.
Hubris against the gods is generally
regarded as a character flaw of the heroes
in Greek tragedy and the cause of their
destruction.
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The tragic hero’s misfortunes are not caused by
vice or depravity - but by some great error.
The error makes him human to the audience;
thus, he arouses fear and pity in us because we
can see ourselves in his place.
We - the audience - are able to sympathize with
the protagonist because he is imperfect, just
like us, and his suffering exceeds what he
deserves.
This sympathetic identification makes catharsis
possible.
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As you read Oedipus Rex, consider Oedipus
as a tragic hero…
Do you believe he is a pawn of FATE? How
much blame does he bear for his situation?
Do you feel fear & pity for him?
Does the play move you to a cathartic
response?