Oedipus Trilogy Notes
A Riddle:
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What walks on four in the morning, two in
midday, and three in evening?
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The significance of the riddle’s inclusion in
the background of this play is that it gives
us a hero who wins by intellect.
Prior Knowledge

Apollo (Phoebus)—Greek god of prophecy, music,
medicine, poetry, sun

Athena (Pallas)—Greek goddess of wisdom, the
arts, warfare; protector of Athens
Ares— Greek god of war
 Dionysus (Bacchus)—Greek god of fertility, wine,

theatre
bacchanal: a drunken or riotous celebration

Sphinx—
part lion
a creature that is part woman, part bird,
Prior Knowledge
oracle—person or thing acting as an agent
of divine communication
 dramatic irony—when the audience knows
more than the characters
 hubris—arrogance
 hamartia—tragic flaw
 catharsis—emotional cleansing

Sophocles
born 496 B.C.; lived to be 90
 born in Colonus (near Athens)
 gifted person: athletics, music, social
skills, etc.
 wrote over 120 plays
 always won 1st or 2nd place in writing
festivals
 military leader--general; served under
Pericles in Samian War

Greek Tragedy
(quotations taken from Knox Introduction)

possibly "emerged from the cult of Dionysus, god of fertility, wine, and poetry.
At first, chants and dances were performed in honor of the god and his attendants
by a chorus whose leader . . . engaged in chanted dialogue with the group. The
latter may have worn goatskins, and it is possible that the word tragedy derives
from a Greek word meaning 'goat-song'"

mid-6th century B.C.--Thespis replaced the chorus leader with "a distinct actor,
the protagonist, who, being masked, could actually play several roles if he
withdrew to the wings whenever the chorus performed alone"

Aeschylus--introduced a second actor, allowing for dialogue between two
individuals; wrote the oldest surviving play from Athens—The Persians (funded by
Pericles). The Persians told the story of the Greek victory over the Persians at
Salamis, but from the Persians’ point of view.

Sophocles--used a third actor, the final stage in the evolution of Greek tragedy

Euripides—added a prologue and deus ex machina, a divine figure who
appears at the end to wrap up loose ends (Aristotle criticized this feature in his
work Poetics, arguing that the plot must remain plausible.)
Poetics by Aristotle (4th century B.C.)
--defined
effective tragedy
1. unified action--of primary importance
beginning, middle, and end
causation of events
plot supposed to illustrate matters of cosmic significance (single, central theme)
2. protagonist--must be a figure with whom the audience can identify
highly renowned and prosperous
not overly virtuous (real)
misfortune brought on by some error/flaw
3. hamartia--tragic flaw
hubris-4. reversal--opposite of what was planned or expected
5. recognition--protagonist recognizes a truth, discovers an identity, or comes
to a realization about himself
6. catharsis--spectators go through an emotional cleansing
the play arouses pity and fear to cleanse and clarify their understanding of the
ways of gods and people
Oedipus Trilogy (Theban Trilogy)
1. pronunciation—"ed i pus";
OR, you might hear a Greek theatre
scholar pronounce it "EE di pus" (oe as in
phoenix)
2. story order: Oedipus the King (Oedipus
Rex), Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone
3. order in which they were written:
Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at
Colonus
For tomorrow’s test:

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
Review the Knox Introduction
Review the terms and names you looked up at
the beginning of the unit (e.g. dramatic irony)
Review Aristotle’s terms from today’s
presentation.
Review the play—names, places, plot, quotes,
etc.
The test is all short answer, so you need to know
the material well.