Journal Topic
• Something I am finding out about myself
Quotation
• “Any life, no matter how long and complex it
may be, is made up of a single moment, the
moment in which a man finds out, once and
for all, who he is.”
--Anonymous
Essential Question:
What is the Turning Point
of the play?
Peripeteia
Definition – reversal or turning point of the play
How will Oedipus react during this moment?
Anagnorisis
Definition – is a moment in a play or other work when
a character makes a critical discovery. Anagnorisis
originally meant recognition in its Greek context,
not only of a person but also of what that person
stood for
What will the moment of Oedipus’s anagnorisis be
like?
Ode 3
•
•
Description of Mt. Cithaeron
Mood created by word choices
–
–
–
–
•
festival of the next full moon
noble race
May the god who heals...
let glory come to pass
“Fantasy” of Oedipus being fathered by the gods
(creates mood/point of irony)
Scene 4
Oedipus’ confrontation with shepherd:
– Irony – “I do not know the man”
– Choragos and Messenger both establish his identity
(“Laius’ man”)
– Shepherd hesitant to cooperate (fear?... Forgetfulness
?)
– Rapid-fire dialogue – intensifies scene
– Oedipus’ Pride continues: “You will die unless you
speak the truth”
– “I am on the brink of dreadful speech...And I of
dreadful hearing”
The Peripeteia
ll. 1105 – 1118
• The shepherd reveals Oedipus’s past
– Was given the baby Oedipus by the house of Laius
– Staked it to the ground
– Felt sorry for him, gave him to the Corinthian
messenger
The Anagnorisis
ll. 1119-1124
• “All the prophecies are true!”
• “O Light, may I look on you for the last time!”
(what is he going to do?)
• “I Oedipus, Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his
marriage damned, damned in the blood he shed
with his own hand!”
The Anagnorisis
• The moment of Realization
– Prophecies were true
– Damned at birth
• Oedipus’s pride overcame his willingness to see the
truth
– Tried to flee [Corinth] to avoid his fate/the gods
– Ignored all the clues given to him
Quotation (revisited)
• “Any life, no matter how long and complex it
may be, is made up of a single moment, the
moment in which a man finds out, once and
for all, who he is.”
--Anonymous
• What are the contributing factors that make
Oedipus’s self-discovery so tragic?
• What’s next for him?
Ode 4
Chorus Mourns for Oedipus
•
•
•
•
•
•
“Your great days like ghosts gone.”
The “hard archer” has brought down Oedipus
Oedipus’ once-great king (ll. 1147-1150)
“And now of all men ever known most pitiful”
“Ground under bitter fate”
“All understood too late...”