Introduction to Oedipus Rex
Cornell Notes—Please take Cornell
notes during this presentation
• http://eet.wikispaces.com/file/view/cornsteps
.gif/71397917/283x359/cornsteps.gif
Oedipus—film
• http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Youtube.
Com+Oedipus+Rex&view=detail&mid=DAD3AC34
8C6F90DD8B7BDAD3AC348C6F90DD8B7B&first=
0&FORM=NVPFVR
• Filmed by the famed British actor/director Sir
Tyrone Guthrie, this elegant version of Sophocles'
important play adds a brilliant stroke--the
actors wear masks just as the Greeks did
in the playwright's day. The story of
Oedipus' gradual discovery of his primal crime--
Social and Political—Athens 5th
Century B.C.
• Sophocles was born in Athens, Greece, in 497 BCE and
was the best-known of the ancient Greek playwrights.
The Athenian government was an “exclusionary
democracy,” run by elected officials in the form of an
open assembly. Only about ten percent of the
population was eligible to participate. Women, slaves,
and other “non citizens” were excluded. Although he
was a member of the ruling class, Sophocles was aware
of the social inequalities in Athenian society. His plays
include repeated attempts to warn his fellow Greeks of
the divine retribution that would come to them as a
result of their prejudices and injustice to the poor.
Religious Ideas
Contrary to common misconceptions, the Greek pantheon consisted of
hundreds of deities in a complex hierarchy. The most familiar “Olympian”
gods, perhaps the closest to humans, were a relatively small part of the
overall scheme. The gods, while immortal and powerful, were not allpowerful in the sense of our modern concepts of God. They were
themselves subject to Fate and to each other’s will.We see much of this
in Oedipus Rex, when the Delphic Oracle is the prophet of Oedipus’
doomed fate, but she is not the cause of it. Nor, really, is Apollo. The
Greeks did, to some extent, believe in Free Will, always accepting that a
person would eventually have to face the human and cosmic
consequences of his or her actions and decisions. Still, Free Will was not
more powerful than Destiny, and Oedipus is a perfect example of the
belief that, try as they might, people cannot avoid the destinies to which
they are born. Still, as Oedipus’ fate was the result of his father’s earlier
misdeed (see Oedipus’ Backstory), human Free Will cannot be
completely dismissed either.
Origins of Greek Drama
• Sixth Century BCE– According to legend and
recorded by Aristotle, Thespis essentially
invented acting by stepping in front of the
chorus and performing a solo. The word
“thespian” has come to mean “actor.”
Origins of Greek Drama
Athens made tremendous advances in philosophy, rhetoric,
literature, science, architecture, and the visual arts. Tragedies
were performed in an annual competition as a part of the Great
Dionysia, one of Athens’ chief religious festivals, in honor of the
god Dionysus. Each playwright produced three tragedies and a
satyr-play (a kind of farce intended to provide comic relief after
the tragedies); all four plays were performed in a single day.
Sophocles, won twenty competitions (Aeschylus thirteen, and
Euripides four). Sophocles “Theban plays,” Oedipus Rex,
Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone, while they are often
anthologized together and in “chronological order,” are not a
trilogy. In fact Antigone was written first and Oedipus at
Colonus last—about forty years later. Each play, therefore,
should be considered a separate work, not episodes in a
serial.Aeschylus (525 – 456 BCE) wrote the Oresteia, a tragic
trilogy, and introduced the use of a second actor onstage,
interacting with the first. He also began to develop a more
complicated plot. Sophocles (496 – 406 BCE) brought a third
actor on-stage and wrote Oedipus Rex and Antigone.
Conventions of the Greek Theater
• Use of dramatic irony—Since the audience was already
familiar with the plots, taken from wellknown myths,
they always had more information about the action
than the characters on stage did. The suspense, then,
was in how the well-known events would transpire and
in the audience’sactually watching the events unfold
before their eyes in “real time.” The plays were acted in
the daytime, with minimal sets and props. Actors were
all male. They wore masks, wigs, and high-heeled
boots, which increased their visibility to the audience
and added to the formality of the experience.To
increase dramatic intensity, the plays observed three
unities described by Aristotle:
Conventions of the Greek Theater
• To increase dramatic intensity, the plays observed three
unities described by Aristotle:
• • unity of time– all the action of the play took place within
twenty-four hours, in continuous time; dialogue and the
Chorus provided background information;
• •unity of place– all of the action was limited to a single
setting;
• •unity of subject – one single main plot focused on the
main character. There were no sub-plots.
• Due to the religious intent and dignified style, no violence
was shown on stage. The messenger ran on stage and
spoke to the audience of any deaths or killings.
The Chorus
A Chorus was used to present exposition and to provide commentary on the
action and characters:
• 15 to 20 men represented the citizens.
• They were always on stage, and they frequently sang and danced.
• They always had a leader who carried on a dialogue with the main
characters or with the rest of the chorus.
The function of the chorus was to:
• set the tone
• give background information
• recall events of the past
• interpret and summarize events
• ask questions
• offer opinions
• give advice, if asked
• stay objective, in the sense that it did not disagree with the leading
character
• act like a jury of elders or wise men who listened to the evidence in the
play and reached a moralistic conclusion at the end.
Tragedy
• Greek tragedy focuses on the reversal of fortune
(peripeteia) and downfall of the tragic hero and the
events leading to that downfall. As in Oedipus Rex,
both fate (destiny) and free will (tragic flaw) played a
role illustrating that, while on the one hand, a man
could not completely control the circumstances of his
life, still he was subject to the consequences of the
choices he did make. This tension between fate and
free will, and the destruction of an otherwise good
man due to a single misstep and an angry deity were
what made tragedy so powerful for the ancient Greek
audience.
Tragedy
• As the hero accepts the consequences of his
errors, he teaches the audience some truth
about life. The audience experiences a
heightening of emotions, as they watch the
hero suffer, and they identify with his
problems. In the end, the audience has a
catharsis, feeling purged or drained of its
emotions, and better able to understand life.
Tragedy
• The tragic condition was often the result of the tragic
hero’s hamartia. Often, the hamartia is defined simply
as the tragic flaw, the character trait (like wrath or
pride) that leads to the tragic hero’s downfall. More
accurately, however, the hamartia is an error in
judgment or perception, the hero’s inability to see his
flaw or to accurately foresee the consequences of his
decisions or actions. Often, the misperception is the
result of a character flaw: the hero is blinded by his
anger to who his friends really are; the hero’s pride will
not allow him to back down and avoid a fatal fight.
Tragedy
• One common trait associated with hamartia is hubris.
Hubris, or hybris, is exaggerated self pride or selfconfidence, which often results in fatal retribution.
• Of course, the most pertinent example is Oedipus.
While on the road to Thebes, Oedipus meets King Laius
of Thebes and kills him over which of them has the
right of way. This rashand arrogant act is also the act by
which Oedipus fulfilled the prophesy of killing his
father, thus sealing his doom.
Hubris against the gods is generally regarded as a
character flaw of the heroes in Greek tragedy and the
cause of their destruction.
Oedipus’ Backstory
• Sophocles’ audience would most likely already
have known the events leading to the curse of
Laius and his descendents that resulted in
Oedipus’ tragic destiny, and the playwright’s
intentwas clearly to illustrate the downfall of
the great Oedipus and not chronicle the family
saga, so he does not share the backstory with
us.
Oedipus’ Backstory
• Laius, Oedipus’ birth father, was the son of Labdacus,
the King of Thebes. When Labdacus died, Laius was
raised by his mother, who ruled Thebes as his regent.
Two cousins (Amphion and Zethus) usurped the throne
and plotted to kill young Laius, so he was smuggled out
of Thebes and given to Pelops, King of Pisa, to raise.
• Laius eventually became the tutor of Pelops’ favorite
son, Chrysippus, whom he abducted and took back to
Thebes. Amphion and Zethus having died, Laius
claimed his throne and kept Chrysippus captive. Pelops
raised an army to demand the return of his son, but it
was discovered that Chrysippus was already dead.
Oedipus’ Backstory
• Because of his poor treatment of his host and his
host’s son, Laius and his house were cursed.
When he married Jocasta, he was warned not to
have children by her because his son by Jocasta
would one day kill him. One night, while drunk,
Laius imprudently disregarded the prophesy—
some sources say Jocasta intentionally got Lauis
drunk—and Oedipus was conceived. Thus, while
Oedipus is, to a large extent, a pawn of Fate, at
the root of that ill destiny is an act of Free Will
that went against nature and angered the gods.
Oedipus Vocabulary to Know
1. Prologue
The part of the tragedy before the
chorus’ entrance
2.Parados
The first entrance of the chorus
3. Episodes
The part of a Greek drama that takes
place between the odes; spoken
rather than sung
A sung piece between the episodes
consisting of matched lyric stanzas
4. Choric Ode
5. Exodus
the final scene or departure,
especially in tragedy
Oedipus Vocabulary to Know
6. Hamartia
A mistake of perception or recognition
7. Third Actor/
Chorus
A group of characters who act as a
collective; in Oedipus, they speak for
the city
8. Tragic Hero
The main character in a tragedy; in
order to fit the definition, the hero
must have a tragic flaw which causes
his or her downfall
The main defect of the protagonist in a
tragedy
9. Tragic Flaw
10. Hubris
Extreme pride or arrogance. A loss of
contact with reality and an
overestimation of one's own
competence.
Oedipus Vocabulary to Know
11. Human Fallibility
12. Unity
of Action
13. Unity of Time
14. Unity of Place
15. Crisis
of Feeling
(of persons) liable to err,
especially in being deceived or
mistaken.
The focus was on the main character.
There were no sub-plots
All the action of the play took place
within 24 hours; dialogue provided
background information
Action was limited to one setting; one
unchanged scene was used
An extreme crisis which ultimately
consumes its character
Oedipus Vocabulary to Know
16. Catharsis
Ritual purification of pollution; used
by Aristotle for purging of strong
emotions achieved while watching a
tragedy
17. Peripateia
A reversal of fortune
18. Anagnorisis
the point in the plot especially of a
tragedy at which the protagonist
recognizes his or her or some other
character's true identity or discovers
the true nature of his or her own
situation
Prologue
PROLOGUE:
• The drama begins with the people of Thebes entering, led
by a priest. The city is suffering famine and plague and all
are desperate to discover its cause. In Greek thought, there
was no dividing line between natural and moral law. If the
gods were punishing the city, there must be some reason
for it; someone was guilty of some offense.
• Oedipus enters and asks why they have come to see him.
The priest answers, telling of the great travail they have
endured. They have come to see Oedipus as the one man
most likely to be able to solve the problem. After all, he
solved the riddle of the sphinx and freed them from its
oppression, for which they made him their king. Surely
now he can help them once more.
Prologue and Parados
• Oedipus tells them he has anticipated their visit and has already
sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to Delphi to seek the Oracle's
advice. Creon returns as they are talking and delivers the Oracle's
message. The former king, Laios, was murdered. The plague will
not be lifted until that murderer is discovered and punished.
Oedipus questions Creon, learning that Laios was killed while on
a pilgrimage. One of his servants escaped and said that the king
and his attendants were set upon by a band of highwaymen.
Oedipus promises to find and punish the guilty party.
PARADOS
• After the stage empties, the chorus makes its entrance for the
parados, the first of six choral interludes. They describe the city's
suffering and implore the gods to send them deliverance.