2/8/12
Oedipus Notes
Characteristics of
Tragic Hero:
1. He is noble (either
of noble birth, or a
good person)
2. He has a tragic flaw
(hubris)
3. He recognizes the
consequences of his
actions.
4. The audience sees
the actions of the
tragic hero and is
moved to pity and
fear.
5. He suffers a
reversal of fortune.
Hubris – excessive
pride, thinking you
know better than the
gods
Prologue:
Suppliant – someone
begging for help
“I have come myself
to hear you” He’s a
caring king. He wants
to help his people
himself, not send
useless “yes men”
Priest – old man, not
an actual priest
Plague of Thebes:
1. crops won’t grow
2. livestock animals
are dying
3. babies are stillborn
(born dead)
“man surest in mortal
ways and wisest in the
ways of God. You
saved us from the
Sphinx…a god’s
touch…enabled you
to help us” The
people love Oedipus,
they view him as their
savior b/c of the
Sphinx. Priest is
gushing, he’s brown
nosing and over the
top. (dramatic irony –
he’s not bringing such
good fortune b/c he
killed his dad and
married his mom)
“my spirit groans for
the city, for myself,
for you” Good king,
feels really bad about
the plague.
“I have sent
Kreon…to
Delphi…to learn
there…what act or
pledge of mine can
save the city…I
should do ill not to
take any action the
god orders” Oedipus
sends his brother in
law/uncle to Delphi to
find the cure for the
plague. Good king.
He also says he’ll do
whatever the gods
want…
“Speak to them all, it
is for them I suffer
more than for myself”
Oedipus asks to hear
the oracle in front of
EVERYBODY,
which means he can’t
back down from the
promise he made.
‘The god commands
us…feed upon us
longer” Something in
the city is dirty and
offending the gods,
they must expel it
from the city.
“By exile or death”
the defiled person
must be killed or
exiled (sent out of the
town)
“Laios once ruled this
land…he was
murdered; and Apollo
commands us now to
take revenge upon
whoever killed him”
The defiled person is
the man who killed
the king.
2/9/12
“Upon
whom…years?”
Oedipus wants to
know how to solve a
ten year old cold case.
“He said a band of
highwaymen attacked
them…overwhelmed
the king” The one
witness lies and says
that it was a group of
bandits. He’s trying to
protect himself b/c he
thinks Oedipus knows
he killed the king.
“unless some faction
here bribed him to it”
Oedipus thinks one of
Laios’ enemies hired
the highwaymen to
kill him.
“The riddling
sphinx’s song made
us deaf to mysteries
but her own” They
didn’t investigate due
to the sphinx
“and not as though it
were for some distant
friend, but for my
own sake. Whoever
killed king Laois
might – who knows?
– lay violent hands
even on me”
Dramatic Irony,
Oedipus doesn’t know
that HE is the one
who killed the king.
“I will do all that I
can…so with the help
of God we shall be
saved” Oedipus is
sentencing himself to
exile or death.
Perception vs. Reality
– The way the
characters see the
situation as opposed
to the reality.
Prologue: Oedipus
thinks he’s a good
guy and a worthy king
(he brought the
plague).
Kreon thinks Oedipus
a good guy and a
worthy king who will
help them through
this plague (Oedipus
is the problem).
Oedipus thinks that
Laios’ murderer will
kill him.
Fate vs. Free will
(meant (you
choose)
To be,
Can’t
Control)
Fate – the plague, the
price for getting rid of
the plague
Free Will – choosing
to let Kreon tell him
about the price in
public, promising to
pay the gods’ price
__________________
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Parodos: The first
verse of the chorus
(random group of
dudes who would
stand behind the
actors and make
comments). Chorus
represents the people
of Thebes. 2 functions
of chorus:
1. summarize
2. advances the plot
The Parodos in
Oedipus Rex
summarizes.
Scene 1:
“Until now I was a
stranger to this tale, as
I had been a stranger
to the crime”
Dramatic Irony,
Oedipus is NOT a
stranger to this crime
“As one who became
a citizen after the
murder” DI
“I solemnly forbid the
people of this
country…ever to
receive that man or
speak to him, no
matter who he is, or
let him join in
sacrifice…I decree
that he be driven from
every house”
Dramatic Irony:
Oedipus doesn’t know
that he is actually
talking about himself.
From his point of
view, he’s talking
about a stranger.
2/13/12
1152
Scene One
“And take the side of
the murdered king”
D.I. Oedipus thinks
he’s on Laios’ side,
but he killed him.
“I pray that that man’s
life be consumed in
evil and
wretchedness. As for
me, this curse applies
no less” D.I. He’s
wishing evil and
curses on himself,
even if it’s himself
(lol)
“Having the power
that he held before
me, having his bed,
begetting children
there upon his wife,
as he would have, had
he lived – their son
would have been my
children’s brother, if
Laois had been lucky
in fatherhood”
Exaggerates the
incest, D.I. Laois was
technically lucky in
fatherhood…bad luck
is a type of luck.
“I take the son’s part,
just as though I were
son” GROSS D.I.
“May the gods deny
them the fruit of the
earth, fruit of the
womb, may they rot
utterly” He says this
hypothetically, but
this exactly how the
gods ARE punishing
the town for
sheltering Oedipus.
Choragos: lead
member of the chorus
(represent the people
of Thebes)
“But no man in the
world can make the
gods do more than the
gods will” Oedipus is
being very humble
here, but remember
that it was his hubris
that lead to this
punishment by the
gods.
Clairvoyant – psychic
Teiresias – blind
prophet
Vision vs. blindess is
one of themes here.
Seeing with your eyes
vs. seeing the truth.
“I have sent for him –
twice, in fact; it is
strange that he is not
here” Oedipus
chooses to send for
Teiresias. Teiresias
won’t come b/c he
doesn’t want to be the
bearer of horrific
news.
“The man who dared
that act will fear no
curse” Oedipus is
assuming that the man
who killed Laois
KNEW he killed
Laois and did it on
purpose.
2/14/12
“Let me go home.
Bear your own fate,
and I’ll bear mine.”
Teiresias knows
everything, and he
thinks Oedipus can’t
stop it no matter what
he does.
“When it comes to
speech, your own is
neither temperate nor
opportune. I wish to
be more prudent”
He’s describing
Oedipus hot-headed
and impulsive.
“What a wicked old
man you are! You’d
try a stone’s patience!
Out with it! Have you
no feeling at all…you
planned it, you had it
done, you all but
killed him with your
own hands: if you had
eyes, I’d say the
crime was yours, and
yours alone” Oedipus
loses his temper,
insults Teiresias, and
accuses him of
planning Laois’
murder.
“So? I charge you
then, abide by the
proclamation you
have made…pollution
of this country”
Teiresias cracks and
tells Oedipus that HE
is the one who killed
Laois.
“Can you possibly
think you have some
way of going free,
after such insolence?”
Oedipus is threatening
Teiresias. He IS
temperamental.
“I say you live in
hideous shame with
those most dear to
you” Teiresias hints
about the incest.
“If Kreon, whom I
trusted, Kreon my
friend for this great
office…destroy me!
He has bought this
decrepit fortuneteller” He thinks
Kreon is plotting with
Teiresias to overthrow
Oedipus and take
throne for Kreon.
He’s all paranoid and
crazy. DI
2/15/12
Pg. 1155
“Her magic was not
for the first man who
came along: It
demanded a real
exorcist. Your birds –
what good were they?
Or the gods for the
matter of that?” This
is hubris. Oedipus is
saying he’s better
than the gods b/c he
defeated the sphinx.
“Who are your father
and mother? Can you
tell me? You do not
even know the blind
wrongs that you have
done them, on the
earth and in the world
below…you came
here to Thebes and
found your
misguiding berthing”
Teiresias tells
Oedipus about his
incest thingy.
“This day will give
you a father, and
break your heart”
Teiresias realizes that
Oedipus is going to
find out the truth
today.
“To your mind he is
foreign-born…please”
The killer thinks he is
not from Thebes, but
he actually is.
Obviously, he’s
talking about
Oedipus’
misconception about
his adopted parents.
“To the children with
whom he lives now he
will be brother and
father…wet with his
father’s blood”
Teiresias come out
and says it all much
more clearly.
2/16/12
Pg. 1158
Scene 2:
“The fact that I am
being called disloyal
to the State, to my
fellow citizen, to my
friends” Kreon feels
that Oedipus is falsely
accusing him of
disloyalty.
“How brazen of you
to come to my house,
you murderer! Do you
think I do not know
that you plotted to kill
me, plotted to steal
my throne?” He
accuses Kreon of
trying to kill him and
steal his throne.
“If you think a man
can sin against his
own kind and not be
punished for it, I say
you are mad” DI,
Oedipus is the sinner,
not Kreon
“Why did the prophet
not speak against me
then?” Oedipus makes
a good point. If
Teiresias knows
everything, why
didn’t he come
forward earlier? (Fate
vs. Free Will, the
gods are manipulating
events beyond
Oedipus’ control)
“You married my
sister? …And you
rule the kingdom
equally with her?
…And I am the third,
equal to both of you?
Would any sane man
prefer power, with all
a king’s anxieties, to
that same power and
the grace of sleep”
Kreon makes a good
point. Why would he
give up freedom and
power, for anxiety
and power?
2/17/12
“You do wrong when
you take good men
for bad, bad men for
good” DI, Oedipus is
a bad man himself,
but he thinks he’s a
good man
“No, not exile. It is
your death I want”
Oedipus asking for
execution instead of
exile is basically
hurting himself.
Stichomythia – the
quick repartee
between two
characters in Greek
drama (two characters
talk back and forth
really quickly)
“You will persist….It
is my city too!”
stichomythia
“With Thebes sick to
death, is it not
shameful that you
should take some
private quarrel up?
Come into the house”
Iokaste is treating
Oedipus like her
naughty young
son…DI
“In the name of the
gods, respect this oath
of his for my sake”
Iokaste is all
respectful of the gods
here.
“You are aware, I
hope that what you
say means death for
me, or exile at the
least” Oedipus is
starting to believe that
this could possibly be
true somehow.
“If it is a question of
soothsayers, I tell you
that you will find no
man whose crafts
gives knowledge of
the
unknowable…That is
what prophets and
prophecies are worth!
Have no dread of
them” DI, Iokaste
uses the story of
Oedipus to convince
Oedipus that
prophecies are silly
(Rofl!) Also shows
disrespect for God.
“If I understand you,
Laois was killed at a
place where three
roads meet” Oedipus
is starting to realize
that some
circumstances of
Laois’ murder match
his murder of an old
man
“He was tall, his hair
was touched with
white, his form was
not unlike your own”
DI, Laois looked like
Oedipus…his son,
gross
“When he came back
at last and found you
enthroned…favor at
my hands” The
servant asked Iokaste
for a transfer when he
came back and found
Oedipus in power.
(more evidence
against Oedipus)
“I have taken too
much…consult him”
Oedipus is calling
back the servant who
survived his attack.
“I heard all this, and
fled…sung by the
oracle” hubris, he
tried to run from the
truth of the gods
because he felt he
knew better and could
stop the prophecy.
“The old man saw me
and brought his
double goad down
upon my head as I
came abreast. He was
paid back, and more!
Swinging my club in
this right hand I
knocked him out of
his car, and he rolled
on the ground. I killed
him. I killed them all”
This is the action that
Oedipus chose.
“Think of it: I have
touched you with
these hands. These
hands that killed your
husband. What
defilement!” DI,
being her son is way
grosser
“Ah, if I was created
so, born to this fate,
who could deny the
savagery of God”
Oedipus thinks the
gods set him up and
he had no choice.
“If he maintains that
still, if there were
several, clearly the
guilt is not mine”
Oedipus hopes that
the shepherd will
prove it wasn’t him.
“He can not ever
show that Laios’
death fulfilled the
oracle…it was my
child who died first”
DI, nut uh
2/27/12
“Lycean lord, since
you are nearest, I turn
in prayer receive
these offerings, and
grant us deliverance
from defilement”
Iokaste is asking for
Apollo’s help…five
minutes ago she
called Apollo stupid
and said prophecies
are fake.
“The word is that the
people of the Isthmus
intend to call Oedipus
to be their king…No.
Death holds him in
his sepulcher”
Oedipus’s (adopted)
father is dead, and the
people of Corinth
want Oedipus to be
their king.
“O riddlers of God’s
will, where are you
now…fate by which
he died” Once again,
she calls prophecies
stupid, five minutes
after asking Apollo
for help. Hubris, DI
“Why should a man
respect the Pythian
hearth, or give heed to
the birds that jangle
above his head? They
prophesied that I
should kill Polybos,
kill my own father;
but he is dead and
buried, and I am here
– I never touched
him…packed the
oracles off with him
underground. They
are empty words”
Hubris, Oedipus
doesn’t believe
prophecies and
disrespects the gods.
“And yet…bed”
“Why should
anyone…sleeping
with your mother”
More hubris and
dramatic irony
Scene between
Oedipus and the
Messenger is
stichomythia.
“Can you not see that
your fears are
groundless?...Polybos
was not your
father…Long ago he
had you from my
hands, as a gift”
Messenger tells
Oedipus that he was
adopted. (Oedipus’
perception starts to
match the reality)
“I will tell you, long
ago he had you from
my hands, as a gift”
The messenger turns
out to be the shepherd
from Corinth who
originally took
Oedipus to Corinth.
“Does anyone here
know…It is time
things were made
plain” Oedipus wants
to summon the guy
who found him on the
mountain to question
him about his family,
where he came from.
“I think the man he
means is that same
shepherd you have
already asked to see”
The shepherd who
found him is the
witness to Laois’
murder.
“Why think of
him?...For God’s
love, let us have no
more
questioning!...pain is
enough for me to
bear” Iokaste is
putting two and two
together, and freaking
out. (her reality and
perception are starting
to match)
“You need not worry.
Suppose my mother a
slave and born of
slaves: no baseness
can touch you”
Oedipus thinks
Iokaste is just being a
snob, that she’s upset
to think her husband
is not royalty.