OEDIPUS
REX:
(Oedipus the King)
The first play in the
Theban trilogy and the
model of Greek tragedy
The audience watches a man’s
fate unravel before him:
PROLOGUE QUESTION 1:
• Read the play’s backstory and
evaluate the role of FATE vs.
FREE WILL in the play. How
does Oedipus cause his own
downfall?
• Then explain why audiences
experience CATHARSIS, an
outpouring of pity or fear when
Oedipus finds out his true
identity.
Suppliants (beggars) gather at
the gates of the city
PROLOGUE
QUESTION 2:
There is a plague on the
city of Thebes and the
people have come to beg
Oedipus for help. Preread page 160 to find out
what problems the city
has and make a sign for
the rally at the gates of
the city.
Oedipus faces a crowd of Thebans,
his people who are suffering.
PROLOGUE QUESTION 3: p159
• What do we learn about Oedipus
from his opening comments?
Consider:
• How does he feel about his city and his people?
• How does he react to their begging?
• How does he describe himself ?
• What do his comments foreshadow (hint) for the audience?
Prologue Recap:
Setting: The gates of the royal home of Oedipus
Before the scene:
• “Many years have passed since Oedipus solved the riddle of
the Sphinx” and taken the throne of the previous king, Laius.
• He has tried to escape his prophesy that he would murder his
father and marry his mother—he has fled his city of Corinth.
• He did not know he was adopted though—he kills a man on
his way to Thebes (his biological father) and married the
queen after saving the city from the Sphinx (his biological
mother).
Prologue Recap:
• Oedipus comes out of his home to welcome the “children of
Thebes,” beggars who have come asking him to help the city.
• Oedipus shows he cares for his people: “I’m ready to help, I’ll do
anything.”
• Oedipus ironically (DRAMATIC IRONY) references blindness—
we know he is figuratively blind to his true identity and that he will
literally blind himself later. (FORESHADOWING, BLINDNESS
MOTIF)
• He greets the priest who has come to speak on behalf of the people
of Thebes.
• The priest tells him that the city is a sinking ship that “cannot lift
her head from the depths.” (SHIP MOTIF)
The priest speaks of the plague
and begs help of Oedipus.
PROLOGUE QUESTION 4: p160-161
• What does the priest reveal about the city and its
people?
• What does the priest want from Odysseus?
• How does he appeal to him with flattery?
• How does he appeal to his pride?
• How does he remind the audience of the
dangers of HUBRIS—excessive pride or
arrogance?
Oedipus feels the pain of the
city of Thebes.
PROLOGUE QUESTION 5:
• How does Oedipus respond to the
priest’s request?
• Consider what this reveals about
him as a leader.
• What action has he already taken?
• Consider the role of religion and
the gods in ancient tragedy.
Creon says that the killer
must be banished or
“pay back blood with blood.”
PROLOGUE QUESTION 6:
• What is Creon’s message from the oracle?
• Consider why although Creon tries to report to Oedipus in
privacy, Oedipus insists on taking the report in public.
• What information is now needed?
• Consider what “grounds for hope”
Oedipus feels he now has.
Oedipus reassures:
“I’ll bring it all to light myself!”
PROLOGUE QUESTION 7:
• How does Oedipus reassure him?
• Consider the use of DRAMATIC IRONY (the contrast between
the audience knows and a character does not know.)
• How do lines 156-159 affect the audience?
• Consider:
“I am the land’s avenger.”
“Not to assist some distant kinsman.”
“For my own sake I rid us of this corruption.”
“By avenging Laius I defend myself.”
The Parados:
The Entry of the Chorus
PROLOGUE QUESTION 8/ EPISODE 1 QUESTION 1:
•
Here the Chorus represents the elders of Thebes.
•
They speak in poetry/song and traditionally dance on stage.
•
They narrate and comment on the action of the play.
•
The Chorus will now remain on stage until the end of the play.
•
Their song is in mirroring stanzas called “strophe” and “antistrophe”
•
They comment on the religious messages of the play as its moral compass.
•
Find at least one example of DICTION
(word choice) related to religion
and mourning (sorrow at a death or loss.)
FIRST EPISODE:
EPISODE 1 QUSTION 2:
• What props or materials would
enhance a theatrical production
of Oedipus?
• Consider the pros and cons of
using the traditional masks of
Ancient Greek drama.
• s
Parados and Episode 1
RECAP:
Parados:
• The Chorus enters and chants to the gods, begging
to be saved from the plague.
• “Thebes is dying” (169).
Episode 1:
• Oedipus announces to the people how he will seek
out the killer of the previous king, Laius (whom he
doesn’t know is the guy he killed at the crossroads
and is his father)
• “I speak now as a stranger to the story” (171).
Oedipus tries to
catch the killer:
EPISODE 1 QUESTION 3: (p171-172)
• Describe Oedipus’ approach to catching the criminal.
• “I order him to reveal the full truth to me.”
• “He will suffer no unbearable punishment.”
• “I will give a handsome reward.”
• “But if you keep silent…”
• “Banish this man…drive him out.”
• “My curse on the murderer.”
• Compare that with methods used to catch criminals today.
Dramatic irony (Contrast between
what audience knows and what
Oedipus does not)
EPISODE 1 QUESTION 4:
• Which of Oedipus’ lines provide added effect to the DRAMATIC
IRONY?
• “If I’d been present then, there would have been no mystery” (171)
•
“Let that man drag out his life in agony, step by painful step” (172)
• “Why, our seed might have been the same,
children born of the same mother might have
created blood-bonds between us” (173)
• “So I will fight for him as if he were my father” (173)
Tiresias: the blind prophet or “seer”:
“sees with the eyes of Apollo” (174).
EPISODE 1 QUESTION 5:
• Explain Oedipus’
PARADOXICAL (contradictory)
statement about eyesight on p176.
• Consider: the MOTIF (pattern) of
contrast between sight vs.
blindness, light vs. dark and truth
vs. ignorance throughout the play.
Contrast between
Oedipus and Tiresias
EPISODE 1 QUESTION 6:
• Why is Tiresias slow to give Oedipus the
information he desires?
• Consider the contrast in pacing (Oedipus’ desire for
quickness and the old prophet’s slowness and
steady, unyielding attitude.)
• How does Oedipus respond to this delay?
• Consider the role of emotionality for Oedipus.
Conflict and irony:
Tiresias vs. Oedipus
EPISODE 1 QUESTIONS 7 and 8:
• Why does Oedipus return his attention to
Creon?
• Consider the role he believes Creon plays
in the prophecy given by Tiresias.
• How does Oedipus display his superiority
over Tiresias? How does that contribute to
the DRAMATIC IRONY in the scene?
• Consider what Tiresias and the audience
knows that Oedipus does not know.
Tiresias responds to the accusation:
“So, you mock my blindness?” (183)
EPISODE 1 QUESTION 9 and 10:
• What does Tiresias predict will
happen to Oedipus? Explain. (183185)
• “If you find I’ve lied, from this day
onward call the prophet blind”
(185).
• How does the Chorus view the
accusations of Tiresias against
Oedipus. Explain.
• “No, not till I see these charges
proved will I side with his
accusers…Never will I convict my
king, never in my heart.” (187).
Episode 1 and
Stasimon 1 RECAP:
• Oedipus begins to seek out the killer to relieve his city of the
plague.
• He calls upon the blind prophet Tiresias to reveal the truth.
• Tiresias refuses to speak, but Oedipus bullies and threatens
him into revealing what he knows.
• Even more enraged, Oedipus now believes that the prophet
is being bribed by his brother-in-law, Creon, whom he thinks
wants the throne for himself.
• Tiresias leaves Oedipus to reflect on his cursed life.
• The Chorus calls upon the gods to reveal the truth, still
remaining loyal (186-187).
Creon, the accused
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 2: (pages 188-189)
• How does Creon present his CONFLICT (man vs. man) with
Oedipus to the public?
• How does the CHORUS (as “Leader”) respond to his
comments?
• Consider the CHORUS’ roles here:
- Representative of city
- Loyal subject to king
- Mediator
Creon fights Oedipus
with logic
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 3:
• How does Creon defend himself against the
accusations of Oedipus?
• What RHETORICAL APPEALS does he use?
• Logic: “If I wore the crown…there’d be many painful
duties to perform, hardly to my taste” (191).
• Ethics: “How wrong it is to take the good for
bad…reject a friend, a kinsman” (194).
• Emotions: “I would as soon tear out the life within us,
priceless life itself ” (194).
Episode 2 RECAP:
Creon defends his own honor
• Oedipus has accused Creon of conspiring with the
prophet Tiresias to bring him to ruin.
• Creon rationally and logically explains that he
would never want the king’s responsibility when he
already has nearly as much power as second in
command.
• Oedipus cannot accept Creon’s logical and ethical
appeals, but rather is blinded by his own emotion.
The Queen arrives
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 4:
• Identify DICTION (word choices) in Jocasta’s
first lines that sound more like a mother than a
wife.
• “Have you no sense? Poor misguided men,
such shouting—why this public outburst?
Aren’t you ashamed, with the land so sick,
to stir up private quarrels?” (196)
Oedipus gives in to the
Chorus and Jocasta
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 5:
• Why does Oedipus eventually let Creon go?
• How do both men indicate that their CONFLICT is
not resolved?
• “He, wherever he goes, my hate goes with him”
(198).
• “These men know I’m right” (198).
Tracing a motif: ships and pilots
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 6:
• Explain the ship’s pilot
(helmsman) METAPHOR.
• Consider the ship references
as a recurring motif.
• “You who set our beloved
land—storm-tossed,
shattered—straight on course.
Now again, good helmsman,
steer us through the storm”
(199).
Jocasta: Prophesies are phony-“brush them from your mind” (201).
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 7:
• Explain Jocasta’s comments that no
mortal has the power of prophecy.
• “No skill in the world, nothing human
can penetrate the future” (201).
• How doe her comments produce
DRAMATIC IRONY?
• “There you see? Apollo brought neither
thing to pass” (201).
Oedipus: This story sounds
oddly familiar…
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 8:
•
Which parts of Oedipus and Jocasta’s stories
overlap?
•
Consider why Oedipus is growing anxious—
what is he realizing?
•
Consider the SETTING:
•
PLACE: “I heard you say that Laius was cut
down at a place where three roads meet” (202).
•
TIME: “The heralds no sooner reported Laius
dead than you appeared and they hailed you
king of Thebes” (202).
•
Consider what questions Oedipus asks—”Laius,
how did he look?” (202).
RECAP: This sounds oddly
familiar—oh no, could the prophet
be right?!
• Jocasta finds Creon and Oedipus arguing about the prophecy.
Oedipus believes Creon is conspiring to oust him fro the
throne. Oedipus won’t listen to reason, and instead displays
arrogance –HUBRIS.
• Jocasta breaks up the argument like a mother with two petty
children arguing. She tells Oedipus not to worry about
prophets—they are phony. For example, a prophet told us that
Laius would be murdered by his son, but he was killed by
thieves at the place where three roads meet and our son died on
a mountain with his feet bound.
• This is when Oedipus recognizes the story: the time, the place,
the appearance of the man… it all fits together!
Oedipus recalls some
important details…
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 9A:
• What was Oedipus’ reason for
seeking out the oracle as a young
man?
• Consider the revelation of the man
at the banquet who had drunk too
much.
• Consider his parents’ response to the
inquiry Oedipus makes into his birth.
• “Still this thing kept gnawing at me”
(205).
The crossroads of fate
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 9B:
• Describe Oedipus’ episode at
the place where the three roads
meet.
• Is it consistent with the way
that he has behaved so far in the
play?
• “I strike him in anger!” (206).
The horror:
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 10:
• As Oedipus unravels the truth, how does he
respond to his discovery?
• Why does he bring up the gods’ role in
these events?
• “Oh, but if there is any blood-tie between
Laius and this stranger…what man alive
more miserable than I? More hated by the
gods?” (206).
• “Wasn’t I born for torment? Look me in
the eyes! I am abomination—heart and
soul! I must be exiled” (206).
We must find the witness!
EPISODE 2, QUESTION 11:
• What last hope does Oedipus
have of his innocence?
• “But at least question the
witness” (207).
• “You said thieves—he told you a
whole band of them murdered
Laius” (208).
Stasimon 2: The Chorus
reflects on HUBRIS
EPISODE 2, QUESTIONS 12
and 13:
• Explain the CHORUS’
concern about HUBRIS,
excessive pride or arrogance.
• What threat does the
CHORUS make and why?
• “Pride breeds the tyrant”
(209).
RECAP: Episode 3
• Jocasta prays that Oedipus stops believing the prophecies
which she thinks are false—”at the mercy of every passing
voice” (211).
• The Messenger from Corinth brings news that Oedipus is now
also the king of Corinth, as his “father”, Polybus, has died.
• Oedipus and Jocasta are relieved that he cannot “kill” his
father now, as the prophecy suggested, but Oedipus still fears
that he will bed his “mother” Merope.
• Jocasta reassures him: “Many a man before you, in his dreams,
has shared his mother’s bed. Take such things for shadows,
nothing at all—live Oedipus as if there’s no tomorrow!” (215).
RECAP: Episode 3
continued
• Oedipus shares his concerns with the Messenger, who assures him that he
shouldn’t fear Merope—she’s not his birth mother.
• With this revelation that his parents adopted him, Oedipus begins to pull
the pieces of his story together.
• Oedipus learns that this Messenger had been given Oedipus as a baby with
bound feet from another shepherd—the very same one who had been
witness to the murder of the king.
• Jocasta tells Oedipus to ignore these coincidences, but Oedipus insists—
”Fail to solve the mystery of my birth? Not for all the world!” (222).
• When Oedipus insists to Jocasta that he must discover his true birth, she
runs out shouting that he is doomed.
• He thinks she is upset because he may be less royal than she expected.
RECAP: Oedipus
Episode 4
• Oedipus greets the shepherd and interrogates him.
• The shepherd clams up, but the messenger eggs him on,
saying, “let me refresh his memory for him” (227).
• Oedipus asks the guards to torture the truth out of him: “So
you won’t talk willingly—then you’ll talk with pain” (228).
• The shepherd admits that he took the baby of Jocasta and
Laius with his feet bound and gave him to the messenger of
the palace of Corinth. He reveals the true fate of Oedipus:
“If you are the man he says you are, believe me, you were
born for pain” (232).
The ANAGNORISIS
Episode 4, QUESTION 3:
• How should the actor portray
ANAGNORISIS, the sudden
realization of truth?
• Consider movements, voice
inflection, facial expression.
• How can this create CATHARSIS or
emotional reaction in the audience?
• “O god—all come true, all burst to
light!” (232).
The PERIPETEIA
• Episode 4, QUESTIONS 4 and 5:
• How does the CHORUS describe the complete reversal of
circumstances or the PERIPETEIA of Oedipus?
• Describe the shift in his status from the beginning of the play to
now.
• How and why does the CHORUS use the sight vs. blindness and
dark vs. light MOTIF on page 234?
• Consider the language that foreshadows that Oedipus will bling
himself.
• “We crowned you with honors, Oedipus, towering over all” (233).
• But now…is there a man more agonized? More wed to pain and
frenzy?” (234).
CHORUS and IMAGERY
Episode 4, QUESTIONS 6 and 7:
• The Messenger says that “the pains we inflict
upon ourselves hurt most of all” (235). This is
an important principle of the tragic hero—he
causes his own downfall.
• Are Oedipus’ pains self-inflicted? Explain.
• Do you agree with this philosophy? Explain.
• What IMAGERY describes Oedipus’ blinding.
• Include details of at least three of the five senses
(touch, sight, smell, sound, taste)
REVIEW of literary
techniques in Oedipus
•
CHORUS
•
IMAGERY
•
METAPHOR
•
SIMILE
•
SYMBOL
•
PARADOX
•
DRAMATIC IRONY
•
ANAGNORISIS
•
PERIPETEIA
•
DICTION
•
APOSTROPHE
CHORUS
• The voice of people of the city
• The elders or “leaders” of the city
• Narrator who provides commentary and background
details.
• The moral compass for the audience
• Mediator
• Enters at the “parados” and leaves in the “exodus” and
provides a song called an ode at the end of each
“episode”
IMAGERY
Sensory detail:
• Touch (tactile)
• Movement (kinesthetic)
• Sound (auditory)
• Smell (olfactory)
• Taste (gustatory)
• Sight (visual)
• “We saw the woman hanging by the neck, cradled high in a wover
noose spinning, swinging back and forth” (237).
METAPHOR, SIMILE and
SYMBOL
• Metaphor: comparison
• Simile: comparison using like/as
• Symbol: representation
PARADOX
• Contradictory statement
• “Blind as you are, you
can feel all the more
what sickness haunts
our city” (176).
DRAMATIC IRONY
• Contrast between the awareness
of the audience and the
ignorance of the character
• “I curse myself as well…if by
any chance he proves to be an
intimate of our house, here at
my hearth, with my full
knowledge, may the curse I just
called down on him strike me!”
(172).
ANAGNORISIS
• The tragic hero’s sudden
realization of the truth
about himself or
existence
• “I stand revealed at last”
(232).
DICTION, MOTIF and
APOSTROPHE
• Word choice (diction of light and
dark)
• Pattern (pilot motif and
sight/blindness motif)
• When a character speaks to an
object or person not present for
dramatic effect.
• “O Cithaeron, why did you give
me shelter?” (243).
PERIPETEIA
• Reversal of circumstances