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Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex. aka Oedipus the King Sophocles 429 BC. Greek Theater. part of a religious festival/an act of worship, not entertainment or intellectual pastime

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Oedipus Rex

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  1. Oedipus Rex aka Oedipus the King Sophocles 429 BC

  2. Greek Theater • part of a religious festival/an act of worship, not entertainment or intellectual pastime • god celebrated by the performances of these plays was Dionysus, a deity who lived in the wild and was known for his subversive revelry • cult was that of drunkenness and sexuality

  3. The Tragedy • Aristotle considered Oedipus the King to be the tragedy which best matched his prescription for how drama should be made. • The play is an example of a classic tragedy, noticeably containing an emphasis on how Oedipus's own faults contribute to the tragic hero's downfall, as opposed to having fate be the sole cause.

  4. Background • The two cities of Troy and Thebes were the major focus of Greek epic poetry. • Homer's Odysseycontains the earliest account of the Oedipus myth. • Aeschylus won first prize at the City Dionysia with a trilogy about the House of Laius • Oedipus the King focuses on the titular character while hinting at the larger myth obliquely, which was already known to the audience in Athens at the time.

  5. Big Ideas • Incest • Patricide • Fate and free will • The idea that attempting to avoid an oracle is the very thing which brings it about is a common motif in many Greek myths • State control • paralleled by the examination of the conflict between the individual and the state in Antigone • Sight and blindness • Literal and metaphorical references

  6. Characters • Oedipus • protagonist • becomes king of Thebes before the action of Oedipus the King • renowned for his intelligence and his ability to solve problems and riddles • name’s literal meaning (“swollen foot”) is the clue to his identity • Jocasta • Oedipus’s wife and Creon’s sister • solves the riddle of Oedipus’s identity before Oedipus does

  7. Antigone • Child of Oedipus and Jocasta • Creon • appears more than any other character in the three plays combined • gradual rise and fall of one man’s power • bossy and bureaucratic • Polynices • Son of Oedipus • Tiresias • blind soothsayer of Thebes • points to the metaphorical blindness of those who refuse to believe the truth about themselves when they hear it spoken

  8. Haemon • Creon’s son • engaged to marry Antigone • Ismene • Oedipus’s daughter • underscores her sister’s grandeur and courage • Theseus • renowned and powerful warrior • takes pity on Oedipus & defends him against Creon • Chorus • sometimes comically obtuse or fickle, sometimes perceptive, sometimes melodramatic • reacts to the events onstage • reactions can be lessons in how the audience should interpret what it is seeing, or how it should not interpret what it is seeing

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