oedipus the king - kenai peninsula borough school...

Oedipus the King

Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex• probably the most famous tragedy ever written. 

• It is known by a variety of titles (the most common being Oedipus Rex), including Oedipus the Kingand Oedipus Tyrannus. 

Ancient Greek TragedySophocles first produced the play in Athens around 430 B.C. at the Great Dionysia, a religious and cultural festival held in honor of the god Dionysus, where it won second prize. In the play Oedipus, King of Thebes, upon 

Ancient Greek Theatre.flv 

• Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNAM3Pz

Gcow&feature=related

Three Theban plays: Not a trilogy• Oedipus the King  Oedipus at ColonusAntigone.

• Antigone was first performed in 442 BCE.• Oedipus the King was first performed c. 429 BCE.

• Oedipus at Colonus was written shortly before Sophocles' death in 406 BC and produced by his grandson (also called Sophocles) at the Festival of Dionysus in 401 BCE.

People and places to know:

• Oedipus• Jocasta• Laius• Polybus• Corinth

• Sphinx• Teiresias (Tiresias )• Apollo• Delphi• Mount Cithaeron• Thebes

a winged female monster in Greek mythology having a woman's head and a lion's body and noted for killing anyone 

unable to answer its riddle

an ancient Egyptian image in the form of a recumbent lion having a man's head, a ram's head, or a hawk's head

The structure of Greek Tragedy

• Prologue,• Parodos, entry chant of the

chorus• First Episode, Scene 1• First Stasimon, choral

comment about events so far

• Second Episode, Scene 2• Second Stasimon, choral

comment

• Third Episode, Scene 3• Third Stasimon, choral

comment• Fourth Episode, Scene 4• Fourth Stasimon, choral

comment • Exodos,

Introduction

The setting of the Oedipus the King as in the case of most Greek tragedies, does not require a change of scene. Throughout the play the skene with at least one door represents the facade of the royal palace of Thebes.

Prologue  ‐ Oedipus, Priest and Creon

Prologue, (Priest, Oedipus, Creon)

• The priests of Thebes appear before Oedipus as suppliants, entreating him to find some end to the plague.

• Oedipus has already sent Creon to Delphi, who arrives to report that the killer of Laius must be sought out and banished.

• Oedipus vows to find the killer and summons the people of the city.

Prologue (1‐150) ‐ Oedipus, Priest and Creon

• What is the purpose of the prologue?

• How does Oedipus characterize himself?

• What is his attitude toward the suppliants (priest and children)?

Pollution/ miasma 

• blood pollution that infects the family, and for a royal family the city itself

• The Plague of Thebes, oil on canvas,

Charles François Jalabeat (French,

1819-1901)

Oedipus

• "Oidi‐pous“ in Greek means "swollen footed”

• Man of action, caring but haughty “whom all men call the Great” 

• Seeker of the truth• Solver of riddles

Parodos ,  Choral Comment

• The Chorus of Theban citizens offer prayers to Zeus, Apollo, Athena for release from the plague.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wcqRm_loB0&feature=related

Delphi

• The Pythia was the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus.

Priestess of Delphi(1891) by John 

Collier

chorus is an "act‐dividing song":

–allows for entrances and exits –allows for the scene to change –marks the passage of time–chorus comments directly or indirectly on what is going on

First Episode , Scene I

First Episode , 216‐462.

• Oedipus appeals for information and pronounces his curse on the murderer. 

• Teiresias is summoned: at first he refuses to tell what he knows, but aroused by Oedipus' taunts he declares Oedipus the murderer. 

• Oedipus declares a conspiracy by Creon. Teiresias declares that the murderer is present, and will be found son and husband to his mother.

First Episode ‐ Oedipus, Chorus and Teiresias

• Explain three ironies in Oedipus's speech. • Dramatic Irony – when the audience knows

more than the character• Verbal Irony – character words that have a

deeper meaning to the audience than the character

• Situational Irony – difference with what is expected to happen and what actually happens

I must know. Know thyself!

• But knowing is itself problematic in Oedipus: central to the text is not only what is known and by whom, but what it means to "know"-- what is "true" knowing.

• Insight and blindness

Apollo versus Oedipus: • divine versus human knowledge• Apollo

– sun, day, clear, blazing, burning – fever, blazing, burning: sender of plague and the Healer

– intelligence, clear, seeing –brilliance, poetry– truth (knowledge), clear, seeing –divine prophecy, clear, seeing 

Prophet/ Tiresias

• South Italian Red‐figure bowl. Detail: Tiresias seated holding sacrificial knife as Odysseus (left) stands by him 

First Stasimon, Choral comment

• What is the Chorus's view of Teiresias's accusations against Oedipus ?

Suffering= pathos• What has Oedipus done to deserve

such awful suffering? Why must he suffer?

Tragedy=an aesthetic question mark

• The dramatic expression of an inquiry into suffering, an aesthetic question mark performed in enacted pain.

• While representing an instance of suffering in dramatic form, always asks why it has occurred.

• Pathology= the study of diseases• Etiology= the causes of diseases or a study of causes

hubris

• "ungodly pride" (hubris) or "tragic flaw"(hamartia)

First Stasimon , choral comment

• The Chorus are fearful of the pronouncement of the seer, but declare their loyalty to their king.

Second Episode , Scene 2(Creon, Oedipus, Chorus; Jocasta)

Second Episode , (Creon, Oedipus, Chorus; Jocasta)

• Creon is indignant at Oedipus' accusations. • They argue over the charge. Jocasta tries to intervene. • The Chorus advise restraint and Oedipus lets Creon

go, though he declares him an enemy. Oedipus tells Jocasta the source of the dispute.

• Jocasta tells the story of Laius' death, and Oedipus recognizes many details: but he was a lone killer, whereas a band of killers was reported.

• Oedipus worries about the oracle; Jocasta denounces its truth, sharing about the prophesy about her son.

Second Stasimon , Chorus comments

Second Stasimon , (Chorus)

• Ode to the sanctity of divine law. • The tyrant who ignores justice and reverence for the gods will fall. 

• The oracles must be true.

Third Episode , Scene 3(Jocasta, Messenger, Chorus; Oedipus)• A messenger arrives from Corinth announcing the death of Polybus and Oedipus' rise to the throne of Corinth. 

• He eases Oedipus' fear of the oracle (that he will marry his mother) by telling him of his true birth. 

• Over Jocasta's objections Oedipus vows to continue his search for the truth. Jocasta runs into the palace.

Third Stasimon , Chorus Comments

• Ode to Mt. Cithaeron: we will soon know the parentage of Oedipus.

Fourth Episode , Scene 4(Oedipus, Shepherd, Chorus)

• The shepherd arrives who exposed the infant of Laius and escaped when Laius was killed. Oedipus' parentage becomes clear. Oedipus rushes into the palace.

Fourth Stasimon , Chorus Comments

• No man is blest: happiness is but an illusion, for even the great power and blessings of Oedipus have come to a fall.

Exodos ,  (Messenger, Chorus; Oedipus, Creon

Exodos , (Messenger, Chorus; Oedipus, Creon)

• A messenger announces the suicide of Jocasta and the self‐inflicted blinding of Oedipus. Oedipus appears to lament his fate. Creon appears. 

• Oedipus begs him to take care of his children; Antigone and Ismene (mute) arrive to comfort their father. Creon persuades Oedipus to return to the palace, and assumes the kingship.