Oedipus the King/Antigone Group Discussion
Instructions:
Each group is responsible for thoroughly investigating the topic assigned to them, using the text to support
their response. Yes, this means you will need to select passages from the text to share with the class.
Select one person to serve as the recorder. This person is also responsible for submitting the written work to
me at the end of the class. All group member’s names (first and last) should be located at the top of the
page.
All group members are expected to participate in the presentation to the class. Be prepared for the
instructor to ask you to develop your response or to ask you additional questions.
1. The tragic protagonist in Sophoclean tragedy is referred to as deinos, a Greek word that means
“terrible, wondrous, strange.” In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is indeed both repellent and
admirable. Examine how the traits which lead to Oedipus’s success and admiration are also the
traits which lead to his destruction.
2. Oedipus finally understands the horrific truth; but even in the depths of pain, he is
magnificent. He does not submit passively to his woe or plead that he committed his foul acts in
ignorance. Although he acknowledges his ignorance, he blinds himself in a rage of penitence,
accepting total responsibility for his destiny and the consequences of his acts. Discuss Oedipus’s
quest for self-knowledge and how his search for truth reveals a man who demands both pity and
admiration.
3. Respond to Bernard Knox’s criticism of Oedipus. Agree, disagree, or qualify your response.
(Qualify means to neither totally agree or totally disagree, but to address the strengths and
weaknesses of both arguments.) Be sure to use evidence from Knox and from the text to support
your answer.
“One freedom is allowed him: The freedom to search for the truth, the truth about the prophecies,
about the gods, about himself. And of this freedom he makes full use…searching for the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And in this search he shows all those great qualities
that we admire in him-- courage, intelligence, perseverance, the qualities that make human beings
great. This freedom to search, and the heroic way in which Oedipus uses it, makes the play not a
picture of man’s utter feebleness caught in the toils of fate; but on the contrary, a heroic example
of man’s dedication to the search for truth, the truth about himself. This is perhaps the only
human freedom, the play seems to say, but there could be none more noble.”
4. Using the Aristotelian model of the tragic hero, defend Antigone as the tragic hero.
5. Using the Aristotelian model of the tragic hero, defend Creon as the tragic hero.
6. Locate and analyze at least TWO passages from the chorus. Select one passage from Oedipus
the King and another from Antigone. Analyze the purpose of the chorus in these passages…..what
do they add to action/beauty/theme of the plays? Be sure to use specific examples to prove your
point.