Sophocles and Oedipus Rex
 Greece was the
superpower of the known
world
 The Greeks worshiped
many gods: Zeus, Hera,
Athena, Apollo, etc.
 Greek citizens were
required to attend
festivals to worship and
honor the gods.
 God of wine, agriculture, and
theater
 During this religious festival
there was a theater competition
– each competing playwright
submitted 3 tragedies and 1
comedy
 Winners won a goat
 The most successful and
recognized playwright was
Sophocles
 Wrestler, musician,
general, politician
 Very handsome and
successful
 Celebrated playwright
 120 (ish) plays
 20 (ish) first prizes
 Only 7 plays remain – the
most famous: Oedipus
Rex
 Every show was performed during the day
 Audiences could be as many as 14,000
 Minimal, if any set, usually just a door
 Only male actors, who all wore masks
 Group of around 15 men, speaking with one voice as one
character
 3 jobs: summarize, pray, speak for the people
 Remember:
 This is a story that was
not invented by
Sophocles
 The original audiences
would have known the
story and how it
ended
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Oedipus leaves his home city of Corinth to go
wandering – some prophecy scarred him
Comes to a crossroad and kills a small group of people
who wouldn’t get out of his way
Arrives at the city of Thebes who has recently lost their
king
Thebes is under siege of the Sphinx and her riddle
Oedipus answers riddle, Sphinx dies, Oedipus is made
king and marries the previous queen
 What walks on four legs
in the morning, two in
the afternoon, and three
in the evening?
 Answers? (you die if you
get it wrong…)
 A man – child, healthy
adult, old man with a
cane
 Greek god of music,
medicine, light, sun,
truth, knowledge, and
poetry
 Had an oracle at Delphi:
the most famous oracle
of Ancient Greece
 What’s an oracle?
 Themes
 Willingness to ignore the truth
 Limits of free will
 Human pride
 Symbolism
 Sight and Light = Truth
 Blindness and Dark = Ignorance/lies
 Motifs
 Sight vs. Blindness / Light vs. Dark
 Irony – when the opposite of what is expected happens
 Situational Irony – when a character or reader expects
one thing to happen but something else entirely
happens
 Verbal Irony – when someone says one thing but means
another
 Dramatic Irony – the contrast between what a character
knows and what the reader or audience knows