Name: ____________________________________________________
Page or
paragraph
number
*to refer
back easily
later
Page or
paragraph
number
*to refer
back easily
later
Class period: __________
Notes
Grade 10 C&C essays require 3 sources with 4 notes per source!
"OEDIPUS THE KING: An Abridged and Adapted Version of Sophocles' Play." The Greeks:
Crucible of Civilization. Ed. Nick Bartel. PBS, 1999. Web
How is he a hero:
Oedipus defeated the Sphinx by answering his riddle and saved Thebes from the Sphinx
murdering anyone else
Oedipus ruled Thebes in prosperity until the next plague came along
What is his flaw:
His pride became his flaw when he stopped listening to the prophets at the Oracle and thought
Creon and Tieresias were against him.
How did he fall:
He found he was the son of his wife, and that knowledge shocked him. It shocked Jocasta, too,
so she killed herself. When Oedipus saw that, he stabbed out his eyes and had to be exiled to
end the plague that was brought onto Thebes by the murdered of Laius.
His other characteristics:
He had a good heart, he left his parents (unknown to him, foster parents) because he heard
the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother.
He was brave; he fought off the robbers on the road (killing Laius in the process) and he went
up against the Sphinx to answer it’s riddle.
He cared about his family and his city. He injured himself upon learning of his wife/mother’s
death and he banished himself to save Thebes.
He was a hot-head and got too upset at both Tieresias and Creon when they were only trying
to help.
Notes
Grade 10 C&C essays require 3 sources with 4 notes per source!
Sophocles. "ANTIGONE." Royalty Free Plays. Trans. F. Storr. Royalty Free Plays, n.d. Web. 1 Oct.
2012
How is she a hero:
She seeks to give her brother burial rites, even though she knows she could be put to death.
What is her flaw:
She is a rule-breaker and insulting to the king and his edicts.
How did she fall:
Upon fighting with Creon over burying her brother, she was sentenced to a slow death by
being shut up in a cave with little food and water. She then realized she’d rather be dead, so
she killed herself to reunite with her brothers and mother.
Her other characteristics:
She was brave because she was willing to fight against the king, even to death.
She loved her brothers very much and could forgive one for fighting against the city.
She was a firm believer in what the gods thought because she followed their rules regarding
the dead.
She was easily made upset by her sister’s weakness and Creon’s inability to agree that her
brother, his nephew, should have a burial.
She is emotional when she realizes she will lose her life because of upholding her principles.
Name: ____________________________________________________
Page or
paragraph
number
*to refer
back easily
later
Class period: __________
Notes
Grade 10 C&C essays require 3 sources with 4 notes per source!
"Aristotle & The Elements of Tragedy: English 250." Aristotle's Tragic Terms. N.p., n.d. Web. 25
Aug. 2012. <http://www.ohio.edu/people/hartleyg/ref/aristotletragedy.html>.
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The philosopher Aristotle defined tragedy as the downfall of a noble hero or heroine,
usually through some combination of hubris (pride), fate, and the will of the gods….
Aristotle says that the tragic hero should have a flaw and/or make some mistake
(hamartia).
The hero need not die at the end, but he/she must undergo a change in
fortune….Aristotle quite nicely terms this sort of recognition "a change from
ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate.”
The tragic hero is "a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor
undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but
because of some mistake."
Tragic Hero
“a) a great man: "one of those who stand in great repute and prosperity, like Oedipus and
Thyestes: conspicuous men from families of that kind." The hero is neither a villain nor a
model of perfection but is basically good and decent.”
“b) "mistake" (hamartia): This Greek word, which Aristotle uses only once in the Poetics, has
also been translated as "flaw" or as "error." The great man falls through--though not entirely
because of--some weakness of character, some moral blindness, or error. We should note that
the gods also are in some sense responsible for the hero's fall.”