 Do you believe in “predestination” -- or what some people call -- “fate”? Why or why not?
 If you could be told your future, would you choose to hear it? Why or why not?

Sophocles and Oedipus Rex

 T = Oedipus the King
 A = Sophocles
(496 B.C. – 406 B.C.)
 N = Greek
 G = Drama
 Pages 204-262

 Your group will rotate to all 5 stations and complete some of your unit notes about the history of Greek drama.
 You will have 7 minutes in each station.

 Wrestler, musician, general, politician
 Very handsome and successful
 Celebrated playwright
 Wrote over 120 plays

 Won 24 first prizes
Only 7 plays remain – the most famous: Oedipus Rex
 Added the third actor to the cast of his plays —before this, all dramas were played with only two characters other than the Chorus

th
 Greece was the superpower of the known world
 The Greeks worshipped many gods : Zeus,
Hera, Athena, Apollo, etc.
 Greek citizens were required to attend festivals to worship and honor the gods.

 The origins of ancient Greek drama (theatre) began with dances and songs.
 Dionysus was specifically honored for being the god of wine and procreation.
 The official debut of theatre records was during the sixth century.
 Greek theatres were held outdoors.



 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

 Every show was done during the day
 Audiences could be as many as 15,000 people
 Minimal, if any set
 All the actors were men. Women were not allowed to act and were excluded from the audience or made to sit in the upper rows of the theater
 Never showed any violence on stage

(10 min)
 Read the information sheet about women in ancient Greece and answer the questions that follow.
 Share three things from your reading that you found surprising
 Copy on the bottom of your paper under Did You Know?
-In ancient Greece women counted their age from the date on which they were married, not from the date of their birth.

 Prologue : provides information about prior events
 Parodos : entrance of the chorus
 Episodes : acting and dialogue part of the play
 Ode : chorus part of the play
 Exodos : departure of all characters and the chorus

 The Chorus was a group of 15 men who spoke in one voice as one “character.” They represented the people and summarized the action, and offered prayers to the gods.

The word chorus has multiple meanings. Add details to the graphic organizer to show how chorus functions in the texts listed in the circles.
In a song
In vocal music
Chorus
In
Greek tragedy
In a musical productio n

 It was a citizen’s civic duty to participate in Greek dramas .
 Heavy robes and platform shoes were worn to add size and distinction.
 Masks were the most distinctive features.

 The five uses of masks were to : identify age, sex, mood, rank, and used as a megaphone.
 Masks were made of: bark, cork, leather, and linen.
 A mask was called a persona.
(Much like an actor takes on the persona of his or her character)

Rules/Directions:
 Partners ball up a piece of paper and place it on the desk.
 Partners pick up the paper and place the paper ball in the trash bin.
 Using forehead and back of hand only!!

If you don’t finish, complete for homework.
(15 min)
 Tragedy
(pg. 199)
 Tragic flaw
(pg. 199)
 Epithet
 In media res
 Epiphany
 Hamartia
(pg. 263)
 Hubris
(pg. 263)
 Dynamic Character
 Static Character
 Dramatic irony
 Situational irony
 Verbal irony
 Direct characterization
 Indirect characterization

1. ______________ were the most distinctive features of the character’s costume.
2. Theatre began as ____________________.
3. From what four items were masks made?
4. List three functions of masks in Greek drama.
5. What function does the chorus serve?

You are going to be either an actor or an audience member in a drama game.
 Only four words can be spoken: “Hi Honey, I’m
Home.” Actors will receive cards with a brief scenario. Each will make an entrance saying only the four words and using appropriate gestures and movements to convey the situation.
 Actors will make a mask that reflects the emotion of the scenario on the card and wear it during the entrance.
 You will watch this enactment and try to guess what the scenario is by observing the actor’s movements and listening to his or her voice.

Oedipus Rex

(5 min)

Read the summary of “The Story of Oedipus” pg. 200

 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 (Greek tragedies used this to create suspense and humor)

how smart are you?
 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…)
The Sphinx had the head of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle
 A human – child, healthy adult, old man with a cane

Oedipus Rex
 Remember:
 This is a story that was not invented by
Sophocles
 The original audiences would have known the story and how it ended

 Greek god of music, medicine, light , truth, and poetry
 Had an oracle at Delphi – which was the most famous oracle of Ancient
Greece
 An oracle is a priestess who delivers the prophesies of the gods

Oedipus Rex



Themes
 The quest for identity
 Limits of free will
 The abuse of power
Symbolism
 Sight and Light = Truth
 Blindness and Dark = Ignorance/lies
Motifs (when an author uses a literary element over and over – in this case symbols and irony – that emphasize the themes)
 Dramatic irony
 Sight vs. Blindness / Light vs. Dark

Theme—the central idea, or insight, about life or human behavior that a story reveals
Living a simple life leads to greater personal freedom.
The deepest loneliness is sometimes felt when we are among friends.

• A theme is a generalization about life or human nature.
• Certain types of experiences are common to all people everywhere.

• come up again and again in literature
• deal with basic human concerns—good and evil, life and death, love and loss
• shine a light on our common experiences
• can help guide us through our lives

Quick Check
Stories
The Little Red Hen
Beauty and the Beast
The Three Little Pigs
The Ugly Duckling
The Frog Prince
Match these familiar stories to the appropriate universal theme.
A It pays to work hard and plan ahead.
B
Appearances can be deceiving.

The theme is not the same thing as the subject.
• The subject is simply the topic. It can be stated in a single word, such as loyalty.
• The theme makes some revelation about the subject and should be expressed in a sentence:
“Loyalty to a leader is not always noble.”

Writers often express theme through what their characters learn.
• Does the main character change?
• Does a character realize something he or she did not know before?

Conflict helps reveal theme.
• What is the conflict, or struggle between opposing forces, that the main character faces?
• How is the conflict resolved?
Conflict
Two friends find a wallet. One friend wants to return it to the owner; the other wants to keep it.
Resolution
They return the wallet and share a small reward.
Theme
People are often rewarded for making the right moral decision.

 Thoughts, speech, actions of characters
 identifying shared values and experiences between groups or generations
 repetition of ideas in different forms
 repeated symbols
 contrast of values

Sometimes the title gives clues.
• Does the title have a special meaning?
• Does it point to the theme?
The theme applies to the entire work.
• Test your statement of the theme. Does it apply to the whole work, not just to parts of it?

Quick Check
True love solves all of life’s problems.
People who have a lot of money or power are sometimes greedy for more.
People who do good deeds will be happy and will not suffer.
Classify each theme as either
valid or not
valid. Explain your choices.

 1. What is theme? What is the difference between topic and theme?
 2. How is theme often revealed?
 Are plots, themes, and characters of classical literature still relevant today? How?

Find one for each of the following:
• Song
• Story
• Poem
• Movie
Create a chart for each and write down its theme.
Title:
Topic:
• How the main character changes:
• How the conflict is resolved:
• What the title suggests:
Theme:

 Assign parts:
 Oedipus – King of Thebes
 A priest of Zeus
 Creon- brother of Jocasta
 Choragos- leader of the chorus
 Tiresias- blind prophet
 Jocasta- queen, wife of Oedipus
 Messenger from Corinth
 Shepherd
 Messenger of Thebes
 Chorus- Theban citizens
 List clues to the killer.
 Apply literary terms.

 1. List three disasters that are occurring in
Thebes? Why is Thebes suffering from a death plague?
 2. Why does Oedipus become angry with
Teiresias?
 3. What are three things Teiresias foreshadowed in his prophecy for Oedipus?
 4. If you could be told your future, would you choose to hear it? Why or why not?

After reading Prologue & Scene One
 In what ways is Oedipus blind?

With a partner take turns blindfolding each other. The partner with sight should lead around his classmate helping him/her avoid obstacles and narrating what he sees. The “blind” student uses his senses of touch, smell, and hearing to “see” in new ways.
1. How did you feel when you were blind folded? Could you “see” in other ways?
2. How did you feel when you were the leader?
Did your responsibility sharpen your own sight?

(15 min)
 Silently read “Louis Braille’s Magic Dots” information sheet and answer the following in complete sentences:
Questions
1. In the early 1800s, how did blind children learn?
2. How did Louis Braille lose his sight?
3. Who invented “night writing”? What was its purpose?
4. How many dots are there in a braille cell?
5. When did the United States adopt the braille system?

Son of a gun
Right between the eyes
Just between you and me





Oedipus’ Main Points:
1. Teiresias isn’t a real prophet for he would have solved the Sphinx’s riddle.
2. Creon is a eloquent speaker thus manipulates others.
3. Creon told Oedipus to send Teiresias which shows that they are plotting together.
4. Why didn’t Teiresias find the killer if he is a prophet?
Creon??????

After reading Part One , Analyze the incidents of dramatic irony. If you don’t finish, complete for homework.
(15 min)
Fill out the 3-column T-chart sheet to indicate what Oedipus knows opposed to what the audience knows.
Example of dramatic irony – in the form of a quotation with citation!
Explanation of what the character thought he or she said or heard
Explanation of what the audience knows that makes this quotation suspenseful or humorous

(3 min)
 With your shoulder partner create a list of famous people who have been guilty of the character flaw(s) listed in the inner circle. Use the reference words in the four corners to extend your thinking.
Literature Politics
Arrogance
Pride
History
Sports &
Entertainment


Good Traits
Oedipus sincerely loves his people and is concerned, sympathetic and eager to help rid the plague cast upon them (ll.13-15).

Harmatias
Oedipus is proud of his intelligence, his courage, and his station in life. He is stubborn when he believes himself to be right, is quick to fight back when threatened, and is quick to cast judgment on others.
(ll.505-514).

1



1. Take a sheet of white typing paper
2. Create an Oedipus character from magazine cutouts
3. Give traits for the following:
 Harmatias (should have 4 traits)


Good qualities (should have 3 traits)
Label each as indirect or direct characterization
4. For each trait give textual evidence from the play with the page number to support your answer.
5. In a paragraph below the feet of Oedipus, explain your prediction of Oedipus’s downfall.
Write in complete sentences.














􀂾 Shooting a jump shot
􀂾 Running through tires
􀂾 Batting a baseball
􀂾 Serving a tennis ball
􀂾 Downhill skiing
􀂾 Spiking a volleyball
􀂾 Swinging a golf club
􀂾 Throwing a football
􀂾 Juggling a soccer ball
􀂾 Shooting an arrow
􀂾 Swimming underwater
􀂾 Fielding a ground ball and throwing it to first base
􀂾 Dunking a basketball

1. How does Jocasta show disrespect to the gods?
2. Why does Oedipus and Jocasta not notice the similarities between their past oracles?
3. What clue led Jocasta to understand who
Oedipus is?
4. Why does Oedipus not listen to Jocasta when she said to stop questioning about his parents?
5. What is one fact from the shepherd that would prove Oedipus’ innocence?

After Reading Scene 3:
Copy and explain the irony in each of the following examples in Oedipus by identifying the points of contrast. Determine whether the example represents verbal, situational, or dramatic irony.
HONORS: For each type of irony, also give two everyday examples.
(15 min)
LEFT SIDE



Situational Irony - A man takes a step aside in order to avoid getting sprinkled by a wet dog, and falls into a swimming pool.
Verbal Irony: The simple comment, "Oh Great" after something rotten happens.
Dramatic Irony: When the main character (in a scary movie), is being chased by a killer and we know that the killer is hiding in the closet but the character doesn’t.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
In scene 3 the messenger from Corinth calls himself
Oedipus’ “savior.”
Teiresias, the prophet, is blind but is clairvoyant.
Teiresias says to Oedipus: “I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind.”
In the Prologue Oedipus states, “ . . . by avenging the murdered King I protect myself.”
At the end of scene 3, Oedipus asks, “How could I wish that I were someone else? How could I not be glad to know my birth?”

 What are the characteristics of a tragic hero?
The tragic hero is a man of noble stature.
He is not an ordinary man , but a man with outstanding quality and greatness about him. His own destruction is for a greater cause or principle.

 Typically a king or member of the royal family
 Someone that normal people would “look up to” or admire – has outstanding qualities

 Also called the Hamartia
 Traditional fatal flaw is hubris , or excessive pride
 Flaw ultimately leads to hero’s downfall , often death

 First enjoys privileged life (remember noble birth!)
 Flaw causes a reversal of fortune called the
Peripeteia
 Ultimate fate is a downfall, often death
 Downfall seems more impressive due to fall from noble position

 Suffering always has greater meaning, often related to the flaw
 Audience feels pity for hero because flaw is not his fault, so downfall seems undeserved





Prepare a story board to illustrate the Greek tragedy literary terms. You may use this on the unit test!


 In the 12 boxes on the white paper
Illustrate the literary terms by using an example from the play. Use color!!!
Label each term.
Explain the example in own words in 1-3
COMPLETE sentences.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Tragedy
Hamartia
Hubris
In media res
Epiphany
Indirect characterization
Foreshadowing
Dramatic irony
Verbal irony
Situational irony
Dynamic character
Static character



You must create a story board telling the story of Oedipus’s life. Make sure you label the places Oedipus traveled and tell the importance of the events that took place there.
Your story board MUST include: (ADD COLOR)
*Oedipus’s birth *The murder of King Laius at the crossroads
*The shepherd *The sphinx
*Mt. Cithaeron
*The messenger
*Polybus and Merope
*The drunk man
*Oedipus as king, married to Jocasta
*Thebes
*Corinth
*Apollo’s oracle at Delphi

 Illustrate your comprehension of a character or a theme within the play Oedipus Rex by choosing ONE of the following:
 HONORS : Complete BOTH
 Create a 30 sec. digital story (animoto.com)
 Create a digital word-cloud with 25 words
(wordle.net)

 Study all literary terms, vocabulary, and discussion questions.