Tragedy and the Tragic Hero
(As we read “Oedipus Rex,” be sure to identify the ways in which the play and
Oedipus himself represent a tragedy and a tragic hero)










Three Unities Principle:
o One space and time (setting)
o One protagonist
o One action
Hero is neither exceptionally good nor exceptionally bad
o “A character between these two extremes – that of a man who is not preeminently good and
just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error of
judgment or fraility” (Aristotle)
o Hamartia: tragic flaw, often it is hubris (you should remember what this means)
Hero must endure one or more reversals of fortune (things are great, things are not-so-great,)
He experiences suffering and anguish
The audience benefits from the suffering – they purge themselves of pity and fear
Hero must then recognize a truth that has remained hidden
Structure of the Play
Prologue: Opening scene
Parados: First of the Chorus’s lyric songs or choral odes
Scenes: Alternation between dialogue and choral odes
Exodus: Concluding scene
As you read, look for these:
 The quest for identity
 The nature of innocence and guilt
 The nature of moral responsibility
 Human will versus fate
 The abuse of power
 “Sight” versus Blindness
As you read, look for these:
 Foreshadowing
 Dramatic Irony
 Irony
Themes & Motifs
Literary Elements
The Riddle of the Sphinx
One of the most famous riddles in history is the Riddle of the Sphinx. In Greek legend, the Sphinx terrorized
the City of Thebes by devouring all travelers who could not answer the riddle she posed:
“What is the creature that walks on
four legs in the morning, two legs at
noon and three in the evening?”
The hero Oedipus gave the answer, __________________, causing the Sphinx’s death.
Vocabulary
Scene 1
Clairvoyant/divination: able to see into the future, predict
events
Highwaymen: a holdup man, usually on horseback,
Pestilence: deadly epidemic or virus
Proclamation: a public and official announcement
Prudent: wise
Insolence: disrespect
Infamy: bad reputation
Read the following lines and then explain why it is ironic.
Oedipus: Now I,
Having the power that he held before me
Having his bed, begetting his children there
Upon his wife, as he would have, had he livedTheir son would have been my children’s brother,
If Laius had had luck in fatherhood!
I say I take the son’s part, to press the fight for him
And see it won!
Irony explanation:
As the audience, what is your reaction to this “proclamation”
by Oedipus?
Describe the contrast between sight and blindness in this
scene.
Scene 2
Indiscretion: carelessness, lack of judgment (antonym of prudent)
Brazen: Bold, daring
Treasonable: rebellious, disloyal
Anarchy: lawlessness, chaos
Duplicity: deceit, deception
Parry: escape, side-step
Incarnate: alive, embodied
Din: noise, disturbance
Tumult: uproar, chaos,
Edict: an official announcement
Foreboding: threatening, ominous
Hearsay: rumor, gossip
Soothsayer: fortune teller, one who “sees” into the future
Malediction: a curse
Read the following lines, then discuss how they are an example of foreshadowing:
Oedipus: How strange a shadowy memory crossed my mind,
Just now while you were speaking; it chilled my heart.
Explanation of foreshadowing:
Oedipus recounts what the oracle told him of his fate, and says that, upon learning of it:
“As, that I should lie with my own mother, breed
Children from whom all men would turn their eyes;
And that I should be my father’s murderer.
I heard all this, and fled”
Discuss the irony in these lines:
Scenes 3 & 4
Suppliant: pleading, beggins
Overwrought: disturbed, upset,
Defilement: ruining, tarnishing, dirtying
Oracle: one who can “see” or predict the future
Baseness: common, lowly
Sirings: fathering
Read the following lines, then respond to the prompts below.
“Ah God!
It was true!
All the prophecies
-Now,
O Light, may I look on you for the last time!
I, Oedipus,
Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned
Damned in the blood he shed with is own hand!:
How do these lines portray Oedipus as a tragic hero? Which stage of the tragedy do these
lines depict?
Exodus
Venerate: worship, adore
Execrable: repulsive, abominable
Engendered: to produce, procreate, bring into existence
Reproach: scold, blame, accuse
Parricide: the murder of one’s father
Bane: nuisance, pest
Why is it symbolic that Oedipus blinds himself? Discuss the motif of sight/blindness.