the literature of antiquity greek drama: oedipus rex

The Literature of The Literature of AntiquityAntiquity

Greek Drama: Greek Drama:

Oedipus RexOedipus Rex

Learning Objectives

• Learn about the elements of Greek theatre.• Explore Aristotle’s contribution to our understanding

of Greek drama.• Understand Nietzsche’s viewpoints on the Apollonian

and Dionysian influences in Greek culture/theatre. • Learn about the tragic story arc.• Get the background knowledge about Oedipus and his

family that we need to know to understand the action of the text.

Greek theater arose from the worship of the god Dionysus. Religious songs called dithyrambs attempted to reenact Dionysus’ life, death, and resurrection. These songs, performed by a chorus, became the first plays.

Tragedy – comes from the Greek word tragoidia meaning “goat-song.” It is considered the highest form of drama.

ComedyAlso called satyr plays.

It is considered the lowest form of drama due to

bawdy or vulgar content.

Chorus•Chanted dithyrambs in unison.•Men only – no females performed.•Meant to provide commentary on the actions of the actors. Show audience how to react.•Lead by the choragos

Thespis

• Introduced the first actor apart from the chorus – someone who played a role other than himself.

•Where the word thespian comes from.

Aeschylus

•Introduced a second actor

•2 actors allowed for conflict between characters (and the beginnings of tragedy).

Sophocles

• Introduced the third actor

•Reduced the importance of the chorus – focused on plot.

•Most famous & successful tragedian

City Dionysia

Religious festival held annually in Athens to honor Dionysus. The best playwrights

performed their tragedies and comedies in hopes of winning the prize.

Maskwith built-inmegaphonein the mouthaperture forincreasing thevolume of thevoice.

KorthornoiRaised shoesto increasethe height oftragic actors in order to show their importance.

Aristotle’s Poetics:

•335 B.C.

•The very first bit of literary theory! Hurrah!

•Vocabulary•Mimesis – imitation/representation•Catharsis - purgation•Peripeteia - reversal•Anagnorisis - recognition•Hamartia – miscalculation/flaw•Catastrophe – final tragedy

Six Elements of Tragic Drama:

1. Plot – complex, yet realistic (3 unities)2. Character – good, but flawed, and consistent3. Thought – should be spoken aloud4. Diction – elevated and poetic, but simple5. Melody – chorus should be integrated well6. Spectacle – costumes, backdrop, special

effects should blend well

The Three Unities:

Unity of Time

Play must occur within a single day. Tragedy strikes quickly.

The Three Unities:

Unity of Place

Setting will be in one place

The Three Unities:

Unity of Action

There are no subplots– the plot will drive consistently to its tragic end.

The Tragic Hero

• Must be noble and honorable • Must suffer a downfall due to an error in judgment or character flaw (hamartia)• Usually lives in order to learn from his/her mistakes• Downfall evokes pity and fear in audience

•Francis Fergusson: Greek tragic theatre is “a solemn rite of sacrifice that purges the community of its collective guilt by punishing a scapegoat, one man who perishes for the good of the people.”

Aristeia = moment of greatness

Hubris = pride and arrogance

Hamartia/Ate = fatal mistake/flaw

Peripeteia = reversal of fortunes

Anagnorisis = understanding

Catastrophe = final tragedy

Catharsis = emotional cleansing

MapMapof of

Tragic Tragic ActionAction

The Birth of Tragedy

•Written in 1886

•A work against nihilism and pessimism

•Tragic drama allowed the Greeks to see themselves as worthy—it reaffirmed existence and meaning.

•The universe understood in terms of the Apollonian vs. the Dionysian.

•Man must be able to participate in art

• chaos• music• destruction• intoxication• sexual license• group mentality / loss of

individuality / mob• fragmentation / dismemberment• Nature / Wilderness• Non-reality• emotional/intuitive/ecstatic• unpredictable / absurdity/meaningless

• order• sculpted/plastic arts• creation• sobriety• chastity• individualization

• wholeness/sanity •city / civilization• Reality• rational / logical / calm• pattern / meaning

• According to Nietzsche, the ancient Greeks used tragic theatre as a safe way of experiencing the ecstasy and abandonment of the Dionysian with all the built-in safety/sanity features of the Apollonian.

•Sophocles, 429 B.C.

•Wins first prize at City Dionysia

•Considered by Aristotle to be the prime example of tragic drama.

•King Laius and Queen Jocasta learn from an oracle that their newborn son will one day kill Laius. To prevent this fate, Laius orders the baby’s ankles to be bound and for the child to be exposed.

•A shepherd finds the child and pities him. He takes itto his king and queen in Corinth for protection. Since they were childless, they decide to adopt the boy as their own. They name him Oedipus or “Swollen Foot.”

•Later on, Oedipus answers the riddle of the Sphinx and kills the monster laying siege to Thebes.

•As reward for saving the city, Oedipus is made king (since the last one mysteriously died) and married to the existing queen – Jocasta.

•When Apollo sends a plague upon Thebes, Oedipus vows to root out the source of the god’s displeasure… which ends up being himself.

Sigmund Freud’s theory:

•Children are torn between feelings of love for one parent while feeling a sense of competition with the other.

• According to Freud, this tension is one possible cause of neuroses in later life.

• According to Freud, the boy wishes to possess his mother and replace his father, who he views as a rival for his mother's affections.

desire for mother / jealously and anger towards his

father.

Themes and Motifs in Oedipus Rex

•Freud: “The lesson which, it is said, the deeply moved spectator should learn from the tragedy is submission to the divine will and realization of his own impotence.”

•Robert Fagles:“Terror of the unknown future which we fear we cannot control—our deep fear that every step we take forward on what we think is the road of progress may really be a step toward a foreordained rendezvous with disaster.”

•Sophocles: “Count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last.”

•To what extent is man responsible for his own actions? How do we reconcile a need for divine order and meaning with our need for individuality and free will?

•Sight, blindness, vision, hunters, plowmen, sailors, detectives, prophecies

Literary Terms to know:

Dramatic Irony