Oedipus Rex
By Sophocles
Literature & Composition I
Ms. Lonardo
2014 – 2015
How does art reflect and impact a culture’s values?
What are individuals responsibilities to their societies?
How does an author use motif to develop theme?
Name: _______________________
Block: ___
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Table of contents
Critical Terms...……………………………………………………. 3
Greek Tragedy Notes……………………………………………… 4
Four Corners……………………………………………………….. 6
Reading Assignments……………………………………………….. 7
Motif Tracking…………………….………………..………………8
Prologue Questions…………………..…………….……………… 9
Scene 1 Questions……………………….…………….……………… 10
Dramatic Irony………………………….………………………….11
Ode 1 Annotation………………………….………………………….12
Scene 2 questions………………………….…………………………..14
Group Annotation………………………….………………………..15
Scene 3 questions………………………….…………………………..17
Scene 4 questions………………………….…………………………..18
Exodos questions………………………….…………………………..19
Motif Essay assignment……………………………………..…….. 20
Essay Assessment Rubric………………………………………..….. 21
Unit Objectives
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Compare(the(role(of(fiction(in(ancient(Greece(and(today.(
Describe(the(effect(of(authors’(word(choices(on(meaning(and(mood.(
Identify(how(patterns(of(word(choices(and(literary(devices(create(a(motif.(
Make(claims(about(how(motif(contributes(to(theme(development.(
Select(appropriate(evidence(of(motifs(to(support(claims(about(theme.(
Analyze(motif(to(show(how(it(supports(claims.(
Organize(evidence(and(analysis(to(logically(build(support(of(claim.(
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Unit Critical Terms
Greek Tragedy
Tragic Hero
Greek chorus
Dramatic Irony
Foreshadowing
Zeitgeist
tenets
Hegemonic
Hubris
Tone
Motif
Theme
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Greek Tragedy PowerPoint Notes
Directions: As#you#take#notes,#you#should#make#sure#that#you#define#any#key#terms.#Friday’s#
quiz#WILL#cover#this#material.##Please#ask#questions#during#the#presentation!
Dionysus
Dionysus#is#the#god#of#what#entities?#
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How#was#Dionysus#related#to#theater#and#drama?#
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How#did#the#Greeks#worship#Dionysus?#
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Ancient Athens
When#did#the#Classical#Age#occur?#
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What#values#were#prevalent#throughout#Greece’s#Classical#Age?#
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How#did#Athenian#democracy#work?#
The Festival
What#were#the#different#aspects#of#the#Dionysian#Festival?#
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What#was#the#purpose#of#the#festival?#
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Who#attended#the#festival?#
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Group 4: Tragedians
Who#were#Aeschylus,#Sophocles,#and#Euripides?#
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What#did#these#men#have#in#common?##What#made#them#unique?#
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What#are#the#basic#components#of#a#classic#Greek#tragedies?#
Group 5: The Theater
What#did#the#theater#look#like?##How#big#was#it?#(Draw#a#diagram)#
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What#props#were#used#at#the#theater?##What#were#they#called#and#how#did#they#work?#
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Why#did#the#actors#wear#masks?#
Group 6: The Tragic Hero
According#to#Aristotle,#what#are#the#attributes#of#a#classic#tragedy?#
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What#are#the#attributes#of#the#tragic#hero?#
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What#is#catharsis?#
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4 Corners:
You may choose to Agree, Strongly Agree, disagree or Strongly Disagree
with the following statements. Then you must Explain WHY you feel the
way you do. During the activity you will be asked to defend your claims.
1) Fate plays a role in our successes and our failures.
2) IT is important to always strive for the truth.
3) Good leaders should follow the advice of those that they trust.
4) Other people know me better than I know myself.
5) Self-Confidence is a positive character trait.
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Class Reading Assignments:
Role
Student Actor
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Prologue
Oedipus
Priest
Creon
Scene 1
Oedipus
Choragos
Teiresias
Scene 2
Creon
Choragos
Oedipus
IocastE
Scene 3
Iocaste
Messenger
Oedipus
Choragos
Scene 4
Oedipus
Choragos
Messenger
Shepherd
Exodos
Second Messenger
Choragos
Oedipus
Creon
ANtigone
Ismene
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Motif Tracking While We Read
Directions: Instead*of*annotating*as*you*read,*you*will*flag*instances*of*various*
motifs*throughout*the*text.**
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Using*post=its,*you*need*to*assign*each*of*the*motifs*a*color*and*then*mark*them*in*
your*book*every*time*they*appear.*
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You*should*use*a*post=it*to*create*a*key*in*the*front*of*your*book.**
It*should*look*like*this:*
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Motifs*
Related*Terms*
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Sight*
Assigned*Color*
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Light*
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Family*
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Justice*
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Reading Comprehension *
Directions: Answer all questions in full and complete sentences. You need to
include a direct quotation in at least TWO of your responses per section.
Prologue:
1. How does Oedipus view himself? What type of leader does he say he is?
2. What is Oedipus’ attitude toward the suppliants (citizens begging for help)?
3. What are the conditions like in Thebes at the beginning of the play? Look to the Priest
description for help.
4. According to Creon, what does the Oracle say must be done in order to cure Thebes of
the plague?
5. What prevented the citizens of Thebes from investigating Laios’ death?
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Directions: Answer all questions in full and complete sentences. You need to
include a direct quotation in at least TWO of your responses per section.
Scene i:
1. Find an example of dramatic irony in Oedipus’ speech that begins scene 1. Explain how
the example fits the definition.
2. What does Oedipus propose as a punishment for the murder?
3. Who is Teiresias? What is his reaction to Oedipus’ request for help?
4. Of what does Oedipus accuse Teiresias?
5. What does Teiresias reveal to Oedipus? Does Oedipus believe him?
6. What does Teiresias predict will happen to Oedipus?
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Irony in Oedipus Rex *
IRONY#involves#a#contrast#between#what#is#stated#and#what#is#meant,#or#between#
what#is#expected#and#what#actually#happens.#Irony#is#derived#from#the#Greek#word#
“eironeia”#which#means#dissembling#or#tricking.#
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In#literature,#readers#frequently#encounter#three#types#of#irony:#
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1. Verbal*irony:#is#the#use#of#words#to#suggest#the#opposite#of#their#usual#
meaning.##Ironic#similes,#hyperbole,#understatement,#and#some#kinds#of#
sarcasm#are#all#forms#of#verbal#irony.#
“Your#ideas#in#this#essay#are#as#clear#as#mud.”#
“Boy,#I#am#really#enjoying#this#discussion#of#irony.”#
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2. Situational*irony:#occurs#when#the#outcome#of#an#action#or#situation#is#
very#different#from#what#one#expects.#
Shirley#Jackson’s#story#“The#Lottery”#
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3. Dramatic*irony:#occurs#when#readers#are#aware#of#something#that#a#
character#in#a#literary#work#does#not#know.#
Oedipus#repeatedly#says#that#he#will#avenge#Laios’#
murder#when#the#audience#knows#HE#is#the#murderer.#
Now#that#you#know#what#everyone#in#an#ancient#Greek#audience#would#have#known,#you#can#see#
the#irony#Sophocles#intended.#You#can#understand#the#delight#they#must#have#taken#Oedipus’s#lines:#
#
#
“I#say#I#take#the#son’s#part,#just#as#though##
I#were#his#son,#to#press#the#fight#for#him##
And#see#it#won!”#(14).#
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1.##What#type#of#irony#is#this?#
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2.##Why#is#it#ironic?#
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3.#Go#back#and#answer#question#1#in#the#Scene#I#questions.##Use#an#example#from#the#text#that#is#
different#from#the#one#above.##
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4.##Finally,#see#what#you#can#find#if#you#examine#one#of#the#motifs#we#are#tracking.##Review#the#
passages#with#your#group,#and#explain#briefly#below#how#Sophocles’#us#of#this#motif#seems#to#
contribute#to#the#irony#in#the#play.##
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Ode 1 Annotation
Directions: Read and annotate the first Ode. You will participate in a Socratic
Seminar about this portion of the text, so read it carefully. After reading through it a few
times, write 2 discussion questions that you plan to ask during the class discussion.
The Delphic stone of prophecies
Remembers ancient regicide
And a still bloody hand.
That killer’s hour of flight has come.
He must be stronger than riderless
Coursers of untiring wind,
For the son of Zeus is armed with his father’s thunder
Leaps in lightning after him;
And the Furies follow him, the sad Furies.
Holy Parnassos’ peak of snow
Flashes and blinds the secret man,
That all shall hunt him down;
Though he may roam the forest shade
Like a bull gone wild from pasture
To rage through glooms of stone.
Doom comes down on him; flight will not avail him;
For the world’s heart calls him desolate,
And the immortal Furies follow, for ever follow.
But now a wilder thing is heard
From the old man skilled at hearing Fate in the wingbeat of a bird
Bewildered as a blown bird, my soul hovers and cannot find
Foodhold in this debate, or any reason or rest of mind.
But no man ever brought—none can bring
Proof of strife between Thebes’ royal house,
Labdakos’ line, and the son of Polybos;
And never until now has any man brought word
Of Laios’ dark death staining Oedipus the King.
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Divine Zeus and Apollo hold
Perfect intelligence alone of all tales ever told;
And well though this diviner works, he works in his own night;
No man can judge that rough unknown or trust in second sight,
For wisdom changes hands among the wise.
Shall I believe my great lord criminal
At raging word that a blind old man let fall?
I saw him, when the carrion woman faced him of old,
Prove his heroic mind! These evil words are lies.
Two Discussion questions:
1) ________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2) ________________________________________________________________
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Socratic Seminar Notes:
What question was on your card?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Your response:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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Directions: Answer all questions in full and complete sentences. You need to
include a direct quotation in at least TWO of your responses per section.
Scene 2:
1. How does Choragos explain Oedipus’ behavior and accusations?
2. Does Creon regret calling for Teiresias? How do you know?
3. Why doesn’t Creon want to be king? Do you think his arguments are justified?
4. What does Iocaste think about soothsayers and predictions?
5. What is Oedipus’ story about Corinth? What happened there?
6. Why are Oedipus and Iocaste upset at the end of Scene II?
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Group Annotation
Directions: You will work with a group of 4 people to complete this assignment. Please
annotate the ode and then summarize each stanza.
Let me be reverent in the ways of right,
Lowly the paths I journey on;
Let all my words and actions keep
The laws of the pure universe
From highest Heaven handed down.
For Heaven is their bright nurse,
Those generations of the realms of light;
Ah, never of mortal kind were they begot,
Nor are they slaves of memory, lost in sleep:
Their Father is greater than Time, and ages not.
Summarize this stanza. How would you describe the tone?
The tyrant is a child of Pride
Who drinks from his great sickening cup
Recklessness and vanity,
Until from his high crest headlong
He plummets to the dust of hope.
That strong man is not strong.
But let no fair ambition be denied;
May God protect the wrestler for the State
In government, in comely policy,
Who will fear God, and on His ordinance wait.
Summarize this stanza. How would you describe the tone?
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Haughtiness and the high hand of disdain
Tempt and outrage God’s holy law;
And any mortal who dares hold
No immortal Power in awe
Will be caught up in a net of pain:
The price for which his levity is sold.
Let each man take due earnings, then,
And keep his hands from holy things,
And from blasphemy stand apart—
Else the crackling blast of heaven
Blows on his head, and on his desperate heart;
Through fools will honor impious men,
In their cities no tragic poet sings.
Summarize this stanza. How would you describe the tone?
Shall we lose faith in Delphi’s obscurities,
We who have heard the world’s core
Discredited, and the sacred wood
Of Zeus at Elis praised no more?
The deeds and the strange prophecies
Must make a pattern yet to be understood.
Zeus, if indeed you are lord of all,
Throned in light over night and day,
Mirror this in your endless mind:
Our masters call the oracle
Words on the wind, and the Delphic vision blind!
Their hearts no longer know Apollo,
And reverence for the gods has died away.
Summarize this stanza. How would you describe the tone?
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Directions: Answer all questions in full and complete sentences. You need to
include a direct quotation in at least TWO of your responses per section.
Scene 3:
1. What news brings the messenger to Thebes?
2. Why are the Thebans so happy about the news?
3. Why doesn’t Oedipus feel relieved?
4. Why does Iocaste start to hesitate about the investigation? What does she say to try and
stop it?
5. Why does Oedipus think she is hesitating?
6. Cite an example of dramatic irony from Oedipus’ last speech and explain it.
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Directions: Answer all questions in full and complete sentences. You need to
include a direct quotation in at least TWO of your responses per section.
Scene 4:
1. How does Oedipus know that he can trust the shepherd?
2. Why does the shepherd tell the messenger to stop talking? What does the shepherd know
that the messenger does not?
3. Why did the shepherd give the baby away?
4. What is Oedipus’ reaction to the news?
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Directions: Answer all questions in full and complete sentences. You need to
include a direct quotation in at least TWO of your responses per section.
Exodos:
1. How does Iocaste die?
2. What did Oedipus do following Iocaste’s death? What figurative language is used to
describe his actions?
3. How does Oedipus explain his decision to harm himself?
4. What is ironic about Creon’s rise to the throne?
5. What does Oedipus think will happen to his daughters?
6. What is Choragos’ final advice? What does it mean?
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Motif Essay
It’s#time#to#synthesize#your#ideas#about#a#motif,of#your#choosing.##The#steps#below#are#
designed#to#help#you#create#a#successful#and#argumentative#4^paragraph#essay.#
#
Write*a*focused*essay*that*includes*an*introduction*and*3*body*paragraphs*that*
answers:**
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In*Oedipus(Rex,*how*does*the*development*of*a*motif*create*a*theme?*
*
*
Your*paper*should:*
• Include#three#quotations,#all#on#one#motif.##Choose#one#of#the#4#that#we#have#tracked#
in#class.*
• Properly#embed#quotations#in#your#original#writing*
• Write#in#the#present#tense*
• Write#in#the#third#person*
• Type#in#Times#New#Roman#or#Cambria#12^point#font,#double#spaced,#have#standard#
1^1.25”#margins#
• Create#an#original#title#
• Include#your#name,#block,#the#date#and#assignment#title#in#the#upper#left^hand#
corner#
#
Your*rough*draft*is*due*on:*___________________________*
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Your*final*draft*is*due*on:*_____________________________*
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Analytical
Writing Rubric
Claim
Content
Evidence
Analysis
Structure
Clarity
Style
Conventions
Exemplary
• Expresses an idea-driven, specific,
supportable claim in a clear and
concise manner. It is interesting and
sophisticated
• Topic sentences substantiate claim
and unify content
• Employs sufficient and well-chosen
evidence that is relevant to the
argument
• Provides enough context to
understand evidence while avoiding
plot summary
• Analyzes how and why specific
evidence supports the claim, using
all relevant literary terms correctly
• Develops and analyzes content with
sophistication and originality, taking
risks with ideas
• Develops a logical and coherent
structure that flows smoothly
• Organizes ideas that build upon one
another in an effective fashion
• Provides a strong reflective sense of
closure
• Demonstrates an insightful
awareness of audience and purpose
• Uses sophisticated vocabulary
without distracting from the purpose
• Demonstrates meaningful variety in
sentence structures
• Consistently embeds quotations
within the syntax
• Contains no spelling or usage errors
• Uses present tense and third person
• Cites text correctly
Proficient
Developing
Beginning
• Expresses an idea-driven,
specific, supportable claim in a
clear and concise manner
• Topic sentences relate to claim
and unify content
• Expresses a vague, trite, or
somewhat supportable claim
• Topic sentences somewhat
relate to claim
• Expresses no claim or an
unsupportable claim
• No topic sentences
• Employs sufficient evidence that
is relevant to the argument
• Provides context for evidence
while mostly avoiding plot
summary
• Provides some evidence that
may or may not be relevant to
the argument
• Provides little or no context
for evidence and/or excessive
plot summary
• Explains plot rather than
analyzing and/or makes claims
that are not clearly supported
by evidence
• Identifies content with little
analysis
• Develops a structure that is
confusing
• Provides a limited sense of
closure
• Provides excessive, little, or no
evidence relevant to argument
• Provides no context for
evidence
• Demonstrates a limited
awareness of audience and
purpose
• Uses generally appropriate
vocabulary
• Demonstrates some variety in
sentence structures
• Attempts to embed quotations
• Contains errors that generally
do not distract from meaning
• Uses past or present
progressive tense and/or first
or second person
• Contains multiple citation
errors
• Demonstrates no awareness of
audience and purpose
• Uses weak or inappropriate
vocabulary
• Lacks variety or demonstrates
problems in sentence structure
• Neglects to embed to
quotations
• Contains errors that
significantly interfere with
meaning
• Does not cite text
• Analyzes how and why evidence
supports the claim, using some
relevant literary terms
• Develops and analyzes content,
taking limited risks with ideas
• Develops a logical and coherent
structure
• Provides a sense of closure
• Demonstrates an awareness of
audience and purpose
• Uses appropriate vocabulary
• Demonstrates variety in sentence
structures
• Embeds quotations using
punctuation
• Contains few spelling or usage
errors
• Uses present tense and third
person most of the time
• Cites text correctly most of the
time
• Does not include analysis
• Reaches faulty conclusion
• Neglects to develop a structure
• Provides no closure
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