oedipus rex

1. oedipus rex

2. oedipus rex • Sophocles – born 495 BC Athens, Greece died 405BC • Golden Age of Athens – 5th Century BC • Of 123 plays Sophocles is credited with, only 7 survive – 3 being the Theban Tragedies – Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, & Antigone. • Antigone first, followed by his greatest work, Oedipus Rex, and then his most poetic work, Oedipus at Colonus. • Often performed as a trilogy, but each independent plays. Each is its own modification of the tragic view.

3. oedipus rex • Golden Age of Athens. Beginnings of history and political theory, political democracy, and the development of philosophical thought. • The Festival of Dionysia - Dionysus honored with play performances - comedies and tragedies. • State sponsored production - Writers submit plays for performance, state supplied the actors. Even when paying admission became necessary, the state paid for those who weren’t able. Why?

4. The Greater Dionysia • A contest. Three dramatists on three successive days presented their plays for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd prize. • Sophocles won 18 times in his life, winning 1st place his first year! • Mostly subject was mythology, which for the ancient Greeks served as their history and their religion. • The audience knows Oedipus’s story. • But Sophocles was the master of dramatic irony, so the audience realizes that every statement made has a second and sinister meaning.

5. Greek Dramatic Theory • Aristotle cites Oedipus Rex as the best example of Greek tragedy. • Basic element of tragedy – according to Aristotle: The TRAGIC HERO – 1. Important – high status 2. Tragic flaw, error in judgment, usually hubris 3. Reversal of fortune or a peripity 4. Downfall 5. Anagnorisis, epiphany • Oedipus’s tragic flaw - excessive pride (hubris) and self-righteousness. • Audience - Catharsis, from watching a noble man suffer. Arouses pity and fear.

6. Greek Dramatic Theory • The UnitiesUnity of Time – play takes place in one dayUnity of Place- one settingUnity of Action - the scope of the play is limited to the main character • Heighten the emotional intensity of the play and help build suspense and intrigue. • Also, direct the audience toward the moral of the play by revealing that our lives are as fleeting as one day, and you must consider the moral consequences of who you are, here and now.

7. Oedipus Rex • A masterpiece of Greek theater. • Everyone would have known the story, and the horror, of a man who commits two of the most taboo crimes in almost every human society – killing his father and marrying his mother. • But the focus of the play is not on his crimes, but on his DISCOVERY of the truth – He doesn’t discover it by fate, but by his own free will and persistence. • The gods don’t interfere. The hero of the play is thus his own destroyer. The detective tracks down the criminal – who turns out to be himself.

8. Oedipus Rex • “Tragedy of fate” – according to Freud. • Its tragic effect lies in contrast between the supreme will of the gods and the vain attempts of mankind to escape the evil that threatens them. • We are supposed to learn “submission to the divine will and realization of our own impotence.” • “His destiny moves us because it might have been ours- because the oracle laid the same curse upon us before our birth as upon him. It is the fate of all of us, perhaps, to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother, and our first hatred and our first murderous wish against our father. Our dreams convince us that this is so.” Freud

9. Oedipus Rex • Echoed by Jocasta in line 1074, “Many a man before you, in his dreams, has shared his mother’s bed. Take such things for shadows, nothing at all – Live Oedipus, as if there’s no tomorrow!” • Relevance to modern audience - Psychoanalytic theory dooms the male infant to “guilt and anxiety from his mother’s breast,” - which is why the play serves us with the sense of being caught in a trap. • Also, terror of the unknown – the future we cant control – our deep fear that every step on what we think is the road of progress may be a step toward a predetermined rendezvous with disaster.

10. Oedipus Rex • Nothing in the play itself is supernatural – no gods, monsters, etc… there is nothing that isn’t human. • Destiny, fate, the will of the gods loom ominously behind the action. Prophecy is an integral part of the play, but the ancient Greeks equated prophecy with the very existence of the gods – not supernatural. • Contemporary audiences for the play had begun to QUESTION prophecy, and it was one of the great controversies of the day. • Sophocles makes the chorus ASK the gods to fulfill their prophecy in response to Jocasta & Oedipus’s dismissive attitude – lines 972-976, 983-984

11. Oedipus Rex • Oedipus – fully contemporary in his presentation – not a mythical figure from the past. He is the epitome of the Athenian Character as the Greeks understood, and their enemies recognized. • Characteristics – 1) Man of Swift and Vigorous Action – 2) Courageous – esp when the situation calls for it. 3) Anticipates Advice and Suggestion – 4) Adaptable 5) Dedicated to the City’s needs • Characteristics recognized in Athenians of the day show in Oedipus’s character – on purpose. If this can happen to a man such as Oedipus, this can happen to you…

12. Oedipus Rex • He is “the dramatic embodiment of the creative vigor and intellectual daring of the 5th century Athenian spirit.” • He is the enforcer of the law, investigator, prosecutor, and judge of a murderer. • As the story progresses, his pride and power are broken down. • MATH AND MEDICINE – Oedipus is portrayed as a hunter, sailor, and a plowman – steps that lead Athens from savage history to the center of culture and learning. The enlightenment of 5C BC is seen in Oedipus – Questioner, Researcher, Discoverer – exemplified in Math and Language imagery. THUS…

13. Oedipus Rex • THE CATASTROPHE OF THE TRAGIC HERO BECOMES THE TRAGEDY OF 5TH CENTURY MAN. • All of his energy and intellect lead him to the terrible discovery of fundamental ignorance that comes through his own energy. • He is a victim of fate, but HE is the one that discovers his sins. If he wouldn’t have acted and pushed so hard, he would have died not knowing and not falling, and in mind, sinless. • This poses the question of free will and human freedom – for the classical audience and modern reader. • For how much is Oedipus responsible??? Religious and psychological implications…

14. Oedipus Rex • Being pre-destined to kill his father and marry his mother, and the fact that he does fulfill this prophecy is NOT what makes this play a tragedy. • There is nothing tragic in watching someone do something he cant control. • THEREFORE – FREE WILL makes this play a tragedy. • The hero cant be predestined to fall, or we wont care about him. • BUT Oedipus IS RESPONSIBLE for his fall – the plot addresses not his previous sins, but his arrogance and anger during the play. Oedipus was free to discover the truth, and he does so unrelentingly.

15. Oedipus Rex • HOW???? This is a subject for Soc Circle and much criticism of the play is based on this! • One trait doesn’t change – his STRENGTH and COURAGE in the face of disaster. He doesn’t lose resolve. Courage and strength help him endure. • All he can do in the end is live out his destiny, but he does it with dignity and heroism that shows that there is nobility in despair and suffering (like Jane??) • He earns our respect and sympathy when he chooses to live rather than die, - his life is an example to others of how guilt and pride can lead to self- knowledge.

16. Oedipus Rex • SYMBOLIC BLINDING – Ignorance brings Oedipus’s fall, but that can be remedied because man can LEARN. • Symbolically, when Oedipus has his sight, he cannot see the truth, and when he sees the truth, he is blind.

17. The Chorus • Important character - acts as an emotional bridge between the actors and the audience. • Sophocles radically changed the role of the chorus in Oedipus Rex – he made it the ideal spectator in that the Chorus acted as the Theban citizens. • The relationship of the chorus to Oedipus becomes the gauge of his moral progress throughout the play. • See how the Chorus reacts to Oedipus as the play progresses. • See the irony in what Oedipus says to the members of the chorus – acting as the citizens of Thebes.

18. The Role of The Chorus • Like Tireseus, the ideal spectator. • Like a jury – 12-15 members – wise and honest men who listen to the facts presented. • The “verdict” at the end of the play is presented by the Chorus as objective truth, based on evidence. • Presents opinions, questions characters, and offers advice when requested. • Never leaves the stage – reminding us that Oedipus’s tragedy has very public implications. • When it speaks freely to the audience, presents moral and ethical issues. Choral odes set the mood and help the audience understand characters’ emotions.

19. Tireseus • A wise old man who has the power to interpret the past and predict the future. • Blindness makes his “vision” more mysterious and leads to Oedipus’s denial of his ability to see the “truth.” • Since T is a holy man, and appears as a character in many Greek plays, the classical audience would have seen the attack on T as an attack on the gods and the man who does it as being in danger of blasphemy. • The chorus is quick to point out that Oedipus is sealing his doom when he does this.

20. Tireseus • Tireseus’s brief appearance sets the tone of the moral and religious beliefs of the gods. • Acts as the ideal spectator – observes the scene and comments when characters need guidance or direction. • Think back to his role in the Odyssey – Odysseus had to seek him in Hades in order to get DIRECTION - in this case literal direction – to Circe’s island. • Tireseus gives Oedipus direction in OR, which he decides to ignore, and this leads to his doom.

21. CREON • Oedipus’s brother in law, trusted advisor, 3rd in command. • Honest, reliable, trustworthy, and sensible. • Chorus defends him when Oedipus accuses him of conspiracy. • He even suggests to the audience that he be put to death if Oedipus questions his loyalty. • Audience should be outraged that he is banished from Thebes – • But when he returns, he is like the Oedipus at the beginning of the play, suggests that even kind men become corrupt when placed in a position of power.

22. Jocasta • Is she innocent? • Did she figure out that Oedipus was her son a long time ago? • What specifically is the source of her shame? - That she married her son and bore children with him? - That she abandoned her child when she ordered his death many years ago? • Her urge to stop Oedipus from finding the truth should make us question her morality. WHY does she want him to stop his pursuit of truth? What guilt leads to her suicide?

23. The Role of messengers • Messengers deliver crucial plot twists – • We don’t see the action on stage because of the unity of place and action – it would be distracting. • But the events are important and heavily influence the events of the play relating to the tragic hero and catastrophe. • Messages – - The messenger announces for example, that the King of Corinth is dead. This should be good news – because it means that Oedipus wouldn’t kill his father. But we know that he isnt Oedipus’s real father. Messenger also reveals this news…

24. Themes • The destiny of man is uncertain – • The role of fate in a man’s life is unavoidable. • The spiritual bankruptcy of the state, as seen in the play through Oedipus, serves as a warning to all states. • Excessive power and pride lead to the fall of man. • Man will constantly search for truth, and sometimes will live to regret finding it. • Sacrifice and salvation are tied together by the motive of honor and dignity. • Suffering leads to wisdom and self-knowledge (like Jane)

25. Metaphor and Motif • SHIP of STATE – This is a metaphor for Thebes. The Captain is responsible for command, navigation to safe ports. When captain is unreliable, the ship flounders and may sink. • FIRE and WATER - birth of Dionysus – raging passion and cooling reason of Oedipus. • BLINDNESS and SIGHT – physical and spiritual blindness

26. Archetype #1 - The Quest • Every Trip is a Quest – Except When it’s Not… from How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster • The quest consists of 5 things: • 1) A Quester 2) A Place to Go 3) A stated reason to go there 4) Challenges and trials en route 5) A real reason to go there

27. Archetype #1 - The Quest • Items 2 (a place to go) and 3 (a stated reason to go there) usually go together. Someone assigns our “hero” the task. Doesn’t have to be a noble one! • But the real reason for the quest (item 5) never involves the stated reason. More often than not, the quester fails at his task. • Often, the quester believes that the stated reason is the real reason, but the real reason for the quest is ALWAYS SELF-KNOWLEDGE. • This is why often questers are young, inexperienced, immature, and/or sheltered.

28. Archetype #1 - The Quest • Example – King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone • Beginning readers think of this story as a fairy-tale style legend, with no significant meaning. • There are elements of fantasy and legend that make this story highly unlikely, and readers must suspend their disbelief in order to study the story. • Cartoonish elements make the story seem literarily insignificant, except for the fact that it is an extremely old legend that has survived throughout the centuries.

29. Archetype #1 - The Quest • The Setup for King Arthur & the Sword in the Stone: 1) The Quester – Arthur, page to his adopted brother Kay, is assisting Kay in preparations for a tournament he entered. 2) A place to go – Arthur is sent to get him a sword because he left his at home. 3) A Stated Reason to go there - to get a sword for his brother – he must find one for him to use, or he will be humiliated publically. (note how #2 and #3 go together.

30. Archetype #1 - The Quest 4) Challenges and Trials – Arthur goes home to get Kay’s sword, and finds his home locked. No one is there, so he cant get it. He must find another one. He remembers seeing a sword in stone in the middle of town – he’ll try that one! Not knowing this sword is special, he pulls it (easily) from the stone, a feat which no one has been able to accomplish, and takes the sword to Kay. When Kay’s father (Sir Ector) recognizes the sword as the Sword in the Stone, and asks Kay where he got it, he lies, saying he pulled it from the stone. His father knows this is a lie and forces the truth from Kay.

31. Archetype #1 - The Quest 5)The REAL reason for the quest – Arthur, and the rest of the world for that matter, discover Arthur’s TRUE IDENTITY as the King of All England and the savior of the people. Of course he also goes through a series of other trials on the way to a secure throne, but his ultimate reason for this quest is SELF-DISCOVERY. Seem too simple? Then why does the stated goal fade away? We never hear again how Kay does in the tournament – it doesn’t matter. The reason was for Arthur to discover his real identity.

32. Archetype #1 - The Quest • Other quest tales – Huck Finn, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Hamlet, The Odyssey, Portions of the Canterbury Tales, Jane Eyre??? • Also most other stories of someone going somewhere and doing something, especially if the going and doing wasn’t his idea in the first place. • Is a quest always a quest – No! Not in literature. • As soon as something seems to always be true, some wise guy comes along and writes the opposite, just to throw us off. • So – when a character hits the road- pay attention

33. Marked for Greatness • Marked for Greatness – from How to Read Lit Like a Professor by Thomas Foster • Quasimodo – a hunchback • Shakespeare’s (literary) Richard III – hunchback • Frankenstein’s monster – you guessed it. • Oedipus – damaged feet and a limp • Grendel – again, a monster… • All are as famous for their shape as for their Behavior. • Their shapes tell us something about them or others in their stories.

34. Marked for Greatness • In real life, a scar, deformity, etc… doesn’t tell us anything about you thematically, metaphorically, or spiritually. Tattoos, scars, etc… just tell us about your experiences or cultural ideals. • BUT, if you put scoliosis on Richard III, you get something entirely different. He is one of the most repugnant characters in all literature – as morally and spiritually twisted as his back. • This is not very PC of writers, but it works. • To the Elizabethans, for example, this seemed acceptable and inevitable.

35. Marked for Greatness - ARchetype #2 • Elizabethans believed that proximity to God was manifest in external signs. Miscarriages were seen as products of sin and God’s displeasure. • The Puritans saw failure in business, ruined crops, bankruptcy, disease in one’s herd, etc. as evidence of God’s displeasure and therefore of moral shortcomings. • Biblically – famine equaled God’s displeasure – as did flood. And locusts. • In literature – physical deformity has to do with being different. Sameness doesn’t present metaphorical possibilities.

36. Marked for Greatness - ARchetype #2 • Vladimir Propp in Morphology of the Folktale (1920s) separates the story of the quester into 30 or so steps – one of the first - the hero is marked. Scarred, lamed, wounded, born with it, etc. The mark sets him apart. • Why does Harry Potter have a scar? Where did he get it? Where is it? What does it resemble? • Toni Morrison – Song of Solomon – one leg is shorter than the other. Spends his youth adopting ways to hide his deficiency. Later, scarred twice more. • Beloved – Sethe has been whipped so severely in her past that she wears elaborate scars on her back in the shape of a tree.

37. Marked for Greatness - ARchetype #2 • Beloved – the child Beloved, who was killed as a baby, has 3 scars on her head, but is otherwise perfect. Since she isn’t merely human, the markings stand as indicators of the damage life inflicts. In Beloved these marks are commentary on the damage of slavery on a people in general. • Aside from the quester - another element – character differentiation • Oedipus Rex – at the end of the play, he blinds himself. • This is out of guilt, atonement, and contrition • But he was marked much much earlier…

38. Marked for Greatness • And the audience knew it – the literal translation of the play is Wounded Foot the King. Aside from knowing the myth already, the audience would have known that something was up. • The obviousness of his name suggests that this aspect of his identity will come into play. In the end, it is his lack of inquisitiveness earlier in his life (to find out why he limps and where his scars came from) that causes his downfall – the basis of which is his inability to know himself. • Modern examples? The Waste Land and The Sun Also Rises. Both about societies rendered barren by war.

39. Marked for Greatness • Both societies are barren spiritually, morally, sexually and intellectually, by war. • Traditionally, the wasteland myth concerns the struggle, the quest, to restore fertility (Oedipus, eg.) And the quest is undertaken by the Fisher King – a character who often exhibits physical damage. • Hemingway’s Fisher King is a newspaper correspondent and wounded war veteran. His wound – there is only one thing that can make a grown man, looking at himself in the mirror, weep. Hemingway’s real war wound was in the thigh; his hero’s is a little farther north. And, he goes on an extensive, therapeutic fishing trip.

40. Marked for Greatness • In a nutshell, the injury is symbolic of the destruction of possibilities, spiritual as well as procreative, as a result of the war. • When millions of men die n war, they take with them not merely reproductive possibilities but also tremendous creative, intellectual, and artistic resources. • The war was, in short, the death of a culture. • Those who survived, like Hemingway, were damaged from the experience. • And he wrote about this damage time and time again.

41. Marked for Greatness • Mary Shelley – What does her Monster’s deformity represent? He doesn’t carry historical baggage like Hemingway’s characters. • Look at where he comes from – Victor builds his masterpiece out of a graveyard and a specific historical situation. The Industrial Revolution was just starting, and this world threatened everything people knew during the Enlightenment. • And science, and the new faith in science, including study of anatomy, threatened many religious and philosophical tenets of English society. • In the novel, it’s the IDEA of the monster that is scary.

42. Marked for Greatness • The monster represents forbidden insights – a modern pact with the devil, the result of science w/out ethics. • This isnt new – every time there is an advance in the state of knowledge, a movement into a brave new world someone informs us that we’re closer to meeting a Frankenstein (meaning the monster). The real monster in the novel is the creator • Romanticism gave us the notion of the dual nature of humanity. No matter how well raised we are, how socially groomed, that a monstrous OTHER exists. (Darth Vadar?) The Picture of Dorian Gray, Jekyll and Hyde, Prince and Pauper

43. Marked for Greatness • Opposite idea from Beauty and the Beast or Hunchback • Are then scars and deformities always significant? More often than not, physical markings by their very nature call attention to themselves and signify some psychological or thematic point the author wants to make. • and now…blindness… • A lot has to happen when a writer introduces a blind character. Every move, statement by or about the character has to accommodate the lack of sight; every other character has to notice and behave differently.

44. He's Blind for a Reason • In other words, the author has created a minor constellation of difficulties for himself by introducing a blind character into the work, so something important must be at stake when blindness pops up. • Clearly, the author wants to emphasize other levels of sight and blindness beyond the physical. • In OR, every scene, and every ode by the chorus references seeing, and images of light and dark which have everything to do with seeing. • When literal blindness is introduced, it is nearly always the case that figurative seeing and blindness are at work.

45. He's Blind for a Reason • BUT, seeing and blindness are generally at issue in many works – even when there is no hint of blindness on the part of windows, alleys, speculations, or persons. • So why put it out there? The Indiana Jones Principle: if you want your audience to know something important about your character (or the work at large) introduce it early, before you need it. Indie and snakes. • Back to Oedipus, the blind man who could see, who symbolically blinds himself and gains sight: he’s suffered greatly, and it redeems him in the eyes of the gods, and he is welcomed into the next world with a miraculous death. Blind, he walks toward his death without assistance, as if guided by unseen power.