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Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex. What you didn’t know you needed to know about Oedipus et al. Athens 5 th Century BCE. “exclusionary democracy”- run by elected officials in the form of open assembly. Only 10% of population could participate Women, slaves, and non-citizens excluded. Sophocles.

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Oedipus Rex

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  1. Oedipus Rex What you didn’t know you needed to know about Oedipus et al.

  2. Athens 5th Century BCE • “exclusionary democracy”- run by elected officials in the form of open assembly. • Only 10% of population could participate • Women, slaves, and non-citizens excluded

  3. Sophocles • 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.

  4. Religious Ideas • 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.

  5. Origins of Greek Drama • Sixth century BCE • According to legend and recorded by Aristotle, Thespis essentially invented acting by stepping in front of the chorus and performing solo. (Thespis  Thespian  Actor)

  6. Origins of Greek Drama • Fifth century BCE • 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).

  7. Conventions of Greek Theater The Three Unities described by Aristotle: • 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 sub-plots.

  8. Conventions of Greek Theater • 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.

  9. 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.

  10. Tragedy • 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.

  11. Tragic Hero • 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. • Ex: Achilles’ dragging Hector’s corpse around the wall of Troy in Homer’s Iliad.

  12. Oedipus Backstory • 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.

  13. Oedipus Backstory • 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.

  14. Themes • 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

  15. 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.

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