Welcome
Back!
Western Literature
January 6, 2014
Perspective Check
We will be participating in a Perspective Check
to start our semester.
THERE IS ONE RULE: ONLY ONE PERSON MAY
TALK AT A TIME.
If you talk when another is talking you will lose
your ability to participate in our discussion.
Course Expectations
As we start a New Year and a new semester,
here are some reminders:
1. You are responsible for doing your homework in a timely
manner. When you are in college, most professors WILL
NOT ACCEPT LATE WORK. To prepare for this expectation,
I will be strictly enforcing SVA’s late work policy. You lose
10% each day an assignment is late and after 5 days, it will
not be accepted.
To submit your late OR MAKE-UP WORK you must put your
assignment in the orange/black tray. To be considered for
credit, you must put the original due date, today’s date, and
the number of days absent (if applicable). If you do not follow
these steps, your work will not be considered.
Course Expectations
As we start a New Year and a new semester,
here are some reminders:
2. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to go on my
website (that is updated DAILY) and discover what you
missed. I will not tell you what you missed—that is your
responsibility. Additionally, I have created a Make-Up
Binder for each class that will contain the extra handouts and an agenda of what we did that day. You may
also check the binder.
3. We will have more independent work and reading
outside of class this semester. It is your responsibility to
complete your reading outside of class. If you struggle to
read on your own, you may listen to the audiobook on
my website and follow along in the text.
Course Expectations
4. The ONLY food allowed in my classroom will be snacks (i.e.
granola bar, an apple, a pack of crackers) to be used to
refresh your body so that I may have your full attention and
best self when you attend my class. Just a reminder this is a
privilege that can be revoked if you abuse this rule.
5. Many of you requested that we more regularly use our
journals. It is expected that you bring your journal to class
every single day or you store your journal in your class period
bin. When you enter my room for class, there will be a warmup journal question on the SMART board. You are to begin
this prompt as soon as you enter my room.
Introduction to
Greek Tragedy
Athens
th
5
Century B.C.E.
• 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 (did not include
women, slaves, and other “non citizens”).
• Sophocles was born in Athens, Greece, in 497 BCE and
was the best-known of the ancient Greek playwrights.
• Although he was a member of the ruling class,
Sophocles was aware of the social inequalities in
Athenian society. He often illustrates the prejudice and
injustice to the poor.
Fate versus Free Will
• The gods, while immortal and powerful, were not all-powerful
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. 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.
• Free Will was not more powerful than Fate. Oedipus shows that
people cannot avoid the destinies to which they are born
despite their deeds.
Fate vs. Free Will Journal
• 1. Which do you think is more powerful: fate or free will?
Defend your position with evidence.
• 2. Provide an example from a movie you watched or a
book you have read where fate prevailed. Explain how.
• 3. Provide an example from a movie you watched or a
book you have read where free will prevailed. Explain
how.
• 4. What is the relationship between fate and free will?
Introduction
to Oedipus
the King
Western Literature
January 6, 2015
Warm-Up
Do you believe in fate in
modern day society? Why
or why not?
Origins of Greek Drama
• Sixth Century B.C.E.– 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.
The Great Dionysia
Festival
• Each playwright produced three tragedies and a satyrplay (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
• Sophocles’ Theban Plays include:
• Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King
• Oedipus at Colonus
• Antigone
• These plays are often anthologized together but they are
not considered a trilogy. Each play should be considered a
separate work though the characters appear in the various
plays.
• In fact, the plays were written in this order (some written
as far as 40 years apart)
1. Antigone
2. Oedipus Rex
3. Oedipus at Colonus
Conventions of
the Greek Theater
• Use of dramatic irony—Since the audience was already
familiar with the plots, taken from well-known 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’s actually 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.
The Three Unities by Aristotle
• 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.
• 5 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.
Components of
Greek Tragedy
• Greek tragedy focuses on the reversal of fortune
(peripeteia) and downfall of the tragic hero and the
events leading to that downfall.
• Both fate (destiny) and free will (tragic flaw) play a role
illustrating that a man could not completely control the
circumstances of his life, but 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.
Catharsis
• 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.
Catharsis Journal
•1. When is the last time you felt
catharsis? What movie/book/art did
you read or watch that made you
feel that way?
•2. Is the feeling of catharsis good or
bad for the audience? Should a
writer aim to create catharsis?
Hamartia
• 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.
Hamartia Journal
•1. Who is your favorite tragic hero?
Why?
•2. What is that hero’s hamartia?
•3. After considering your traits and
qualities, what would you consider to
be your hamartia if you were to be a
tragic hero?
Hubris
• One common trait associated with hamartia is hubris.
Hubris, or hybris, is exaggerated self pride or selfconfidence, which often results in fatal retribution.
• Hubris against the gods is generally regarded as a
character flaw of the heroes in Greek tragedy and the
cause of their destruction.
Hubris Journal
•1. Who can you think of fictional or in
real life that demonstrates hubris? Do
you think it is human nature to have
hubris?
•2. In Greek times, hubris was usually
the tragic flaw (or hamartia). Do you
think that hubris is as fatal in modern
times? Why or why not?
Oedipus Back Story
WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OEDIPUS
BEFORE WE START READING.
Oedipus’ Backstory
• Sophocles’ audience would most likely already have
known the events leading to the curse of Laius and his
descendants that resulted in Oedipus’ tragic destiny.
• Sophocles’ intent was 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.
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.
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.