Sophocles and KING OEDIPUS
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Sophocles and KING OEDIPUS. Sophocles. 496 B.C.-406 B.C. Greek playwright Wrote tragedies Poet Wrote Theban plays (The Oedipus Cycle) Introduced third actor. Thebes. Ancient city in Greece Setting for many tragedies, including Sophocles’. Festival of Dionysus.
Sophocles and KING OEDIPUS
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Presentation Transcript
Sophocles • 496 B.C.-406 B.C. • Greek playwright • Wrote tragedies • Poet • Wrote Theban plays (The Oedipus Cycle) • Introduced third actor
Thebes • Ancient city in Greece • Setting for many tragedies, including Sophocles’
Festival of Dionysus • Dionysus was god of wine and fertility • Only male actors • Playwrights competed against each other in categories of comedy and tragedy • Sophocles competed here
Three Unities • Unity of action- play has one main action it follows • Unity of time- play takes place within 24 hours • Unity of place- play takes place within one physical space, geography is not compressed
Terms • Hubris- can mean an exaggerated self-pride; in Ancient Greece Hubris referred to actions taken against a victim to shame and humiliate him, making the aggressor seem superior. • Catharsis- purification or cleansing; a cathartic experience • Hamartia- error in judgment; sin
Themes • Blindness vs. sight • Self-knowledge • Pride • Truth • Responsibility • Fate/destiny vs. choice • The Matrix, Stranger Than Fiction, Deja Vu, any more?
Tragic Hero • Noble birth • Hamartia- Tragic flaw leads to downfall-hero dies • Peripeteia-Reversal of fortune • Self-awareness/self-knowledge-moment of recognition • Audience fears and pities character- punishment does not fit crime • Middling character-
Oedipus fits this characterization of a tragic hero… Take a few guesses as to what he will do after you have read the introduction to the play.