Oedipus Rex

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Oedipus Rex AntigoneSophocles
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The Structure of Greek Drama

• Prologos opening portion, sets the scene,
  contains exposition (essential problem of the
  play is revealed.
• Parados entrance song of chorus- 1st Ode.
  (Exposition.)
• Episodes scenes action of drama performed by
  actors (Conflict/Rising Action)

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Structure Contd

• Stasimons Odes performed by the chorus-
  alternate with episodes. (Climax/Falling Action)
• Exodos Concluding section of tragedy, ends with
  chorus singing final lines as they exit.
  (resolution)

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Exposition- Oedipus

• Location Prologue, Parados
• People plead to Oedipus to end the plague.
  Oedipus curses the murderer whom he blames for
  Thebes problems. The people plead to the gods
  for mercy.

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Conflict

• the central conflict that moves the plot forward.
• Can be the protagonists struggle against fate,
  nature, society, or another person.
• Location Scene 1, Ode 1
• Teiresias identifies Oedipus as the murderer.
  Oedipus rejects the accusation. The people are
  confused should they believe Oedipus (their
  King) or Teiresias (the prophet)?

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Rising Action

• The early part of the narrative, which builds
  momentum and develops the narratives major
  conflict.
• Location Scene 2, Ode 2
• Oedipus discovers that Laios was killed where 3
  roads meet and that the ervant who witnessed the
  death left the house of laios when Oedipus became
  king. The people warn against rejecting oracles.
• Location Scene 3, Ode 3
• Oedipus discovers he was adopted by Polybos that
  he was found as an infant on Mt. Kithairon

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Climax

• The moment of highest tension the conflict comes
  to a head.
• Location Scene 4
• Oedipus discovers that he was Laios son, left on
  the mountain as an infant to die.

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Falling Action

• The latter part of the narrative, where the
  protagonist responds to the events of the climax
  and various plot elements introduced in the
  rising action are resolved.
• Location Ode 4, Exodos
• The people bemoan Oedipus fate, devastated that
  one so great could fall so far. Iocaste hangs
  herself Oedipus blinds himself.

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Resolution

• An ending that satisfactorily answers all the
  questions raised over the course of the plot.
• Location Exodos
• Oedipus exiles himself from Thebes after
  reflecting on the curse he brings upon his
  children. The people caution that no one should
  take the comfort of their lives for granted.

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The Greek Theatres
Often located in or around sanctuaries to the
gods.
Skene rectangular building with 3 doors in
front, providing backdrop for the action of the
polay, as well as an arena where actors entered
and exited.
Proskenion small platform errected to give
actors more visibility separate them fro chorus
orchestra
Parados extending from the orchestra to each
side of the theatron, 2 broad aisles where the
chorus entered and exited.
Orchestra- circular dancing Place, where the
chorus performed.
Theatron seeing place, where stone benches
were constructed for the audience to sit.
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Important Definitions Comedy

• Greeks and Romans confined the word "comedy" to
  descriptions of stage-plays with happy endings.
  Aristotle, in the Poetics, states that comedy
  originated in Phallic songs and the light
  treatment of the otherwise base and ugly. He also
  adds that the origins of comedy are obscure
  because it was not treated seriously from its
  inception.

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Three Types of Comedy

• Farce a humorous play involving characters in
  unlikely and ridiculous situations
• Romantic a popular genre that depicts burgeoning
  romance in humorous terms, and focuses on the
  foibles of those who are falling in love.
• Satirical use ironic comedy to portray persons
  or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt,
  thus alienating their audience from the object of
  humor

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Tragedy

• A drama or literary work in which the main
  character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme
  sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic
  flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with
  unfavorable circumstances.
• Aristotelian- a great person who receives a
  reversal of fortune.
• Hegelian- G.W.F Hegel, German Philosopher
• Revenge

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Critical Terms to Know

• Anagnorisis- revelation or recognition knowing
  again, knowing back.
• Hamartia- mistake error
• Hubris- excessive pride
• Nemesis- divine retribution
• Peripateia-reversal of circumstances, or turning
  point
• Catharsis- purification

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• "The heroes of ancient classical tragedy
  encounter situations in which, if they firmly
  decide in favor of the one ethical pathos that
  alone suits their finished character, they must
  necessarily come into conflict with the equally
  justified ethical power that confronts them.
  Modern characters, on the other hand , stand in a
  wealth of more accidental circumstances, within
  which one could act this way or that, so that the
  conflict which is, though occasioned by external
  preconditions, still essentially grounded in the
  character. The new individuals, in their
  passions, obey their own nature...simply because
  they are what they are. Greek heroes also act in
  accordance with individuality, but in ancient
  tragedy such individuality is necessarily... a
  self-contained ethical pathos...In modern
  tragedy, however, the character in its
  peculiarity decides in accordance with subjective
  desires...such that congruity of character with
  outward ethical aim no longer constitutes an
  essential basis of tragic beauty..."

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• Popular in England from the 1590s to the 1630s,
  following the success of Thomas Kyd's sensational
  play The Spanish Tragedy (c. 1589). Its action is
  typically centered upon a leading character's
  attempt to avenge the murder of a loved one,
  sometimes at the prompting of the victim's ghost
  it involves complex intrigues and disguises, and
  usually some exploration of the morality of
  revenge. Drawing partly on precedents in Senecan
  tragedy, the English revenge tragedy is far more
  bloodthirsty in its explicit presentation of
  premeditated violence, and so the more gruesome
  examples such as Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus
  are sometimes called tragedies of blood.
  Notable examples of plays that are fully or
  partly within the revenge tradition are
  Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta, and
  Shakespeare's Hamlet.

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Elements of Tragedy (Aristotle)

• Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is
  serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude
  in language embellished with each kind of
  artistic ornament, the several kinds being found
  in separate parts of the play in the form of
  action, not of narrative through pity and fear
  effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.

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Aristotles Analysis

• The writer imitates a serious and complete
  action, represented on stage by what characters
  say and do.
• Action is the motivation/purpose
• The element of pathos is essential
• Plot is arranged with carefully selected and
  sequenced tragic incidents to represent one
  complete action

Handout 24
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• Plots vary
• Ethically motivated v. pathetically motivated
• Complex v. simple
• Complex has reversal AND recognition.
• Plot consists of parts/types of incidents
• Most importantly reversal of situation,
  recognition (ignorance to knowledge), pathos
  (scene of suffering)

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• Story seems probable
• Plot has 2 parts complication and unraveling.
• The chorus represents the action/prupose of the
  play.
• Dialogue reveals the action from
  characters/thoughts.
• Tragic hero is ruler/leader, whose character is
  good and whose misfortune is brought on by some
  error.
• Language is elevated and in verse persuasive.

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Elements of Tragic Hero

• A mighty figure
• Suffers reversal of fortune
• Endures uncommon suffering
• Recognizes the consequences of his actions
• Heros plight ennobles audience.

Oedipus- Chart Handout
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Role of the Chorus

• Characteristics
• Group of about 15 men
• Sang lyric poetry and danced to musical
  accompaniment
• Were unpaid, drawn from the citizenry at large
• Performing in the chorus was regarded as a civic
  duty
• Were trained and costumed
• Wore the dress of the people they represented and
  wore light masks.

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Functions of the Greek Chorus

• Provided link from audience to actors, responding
  to the play in a manner the playwright hoped the
  audience would respond.
• Provided tension release
• Reflected upon what has happened, pondered what
  might happen, asked questions
• At times advised central characters

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Greek Chorus Contd

• Often functioned as the conscience of the people,
  establishing an ethical perception from which to
  view the action
• Helped to establish mood and to heighten the
  dramatic moments throughout movement and song.
• Added theatricality to performance

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• Helped establish important pacing of the play,
  pointing moments at which the audience should
  reflect upon what has occurred and what must yet
  transpire
• Could be in the play or outside of it, by either
  participating in the action of by commenting on
  the action as an observer
• Separated scene of action from another
• Usually through a leader as spokesperson, could
  interact with the central characters.

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Antigone

• a tragedy by Sophocles written before or in 442
  BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three
  Theban plays but was written first. The play
  expands on the Theban legend that predated it and
  picks up where Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes
  ends.

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ANTIGONE,

• in Greek mythology, daughter of Oedipus, king of
  Thebes, and Queen Jocasta. Antigone accompanied
  her father into exile but returned to Thebes
  after his death. In a dispute over the throne her
  brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, killed each
  other. The new king, Creon, gave Eteocles an
  honorable burial but ordered that the body of
  Polynices, whom he regarded as a traitor, remain
  where it had fallen. Antigone, believing divine
  law must take precedence over earthly decrees,
  buried her brother. Creon condemned her to be
  buried alive. She hanged herself in the tomb, and
  her grief-stricken lover, Haemon, Creon's son,
  killed himself. Antigone was the subject of plays
  by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles and the
  20th-century French playwright Jean Anouilh.

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Themes in Antigone

• Family
• Portrayal of the gods
• Citizenship
• Civil disobedience
• Natural law
• State control

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Oedipus the King- Classic Dramatic example of
Tragedy

• 5th century B.C.
• Classic- Greek Society a listening culture.
• Greeks conducted their civic affairs in open,
  formal debate.
• Public choices were based on the persuasive
  effectiveness of orators.

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II. Expectations

• Ancient Greeks sought balance, order, symmetry in
  all things art, architecture, literature.

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III. Religious Rituals Important

• Plays grew out of tradition of ritualistic
  celebration of olympian gods, legendary heros,
  and kings.
• Attendance/participation in drama (and festivals)
  considered a civic duty.
• Plays needed to be instructional, entertaining.

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Imagery

• Repeated references to sight, sound, or other
  reminders of the physical world.
• Underscores, reinforces the action
• Suggests direction of plot itself
• Examples from play..?????

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Mt. Kithairon

• Mountain climb to self awareness.

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Light v. dark day v. night

• What do they signify?
• Cite other examples from literature, what do
  these suggest about the universality of certain
  images?

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Sight v. blindness

• Find 10 examples.
• What is ironic about the blind prophet,
  Teiresias?
• How does Sophocles distinguish between sight and
  insight?
• Speculate upon oedipus blinding himself
  following the final revelation of truth.

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Paradox

• A seeming contradiction what sounds impossible
  is, in fact, possible.
• Similar to oxymoron
• Often provide theme poet shows life is not what
  is seems.
• Example from play.?????

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Irony

• The contrast between what appears to be and what
  actually exists.
• Three types
• Verbal irony character says one thing, means
  another.
• Situational Irony what happens is different from
  what is expected.
• Dramatic Irony audience knows, characters
  unaware.

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Irony can

• Heighten suspense
• Add humor
• Assist in developing depth of character
• Express theme
• Assist in foreshadowing

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Examples of Irony

• Oedipus lack of awareness of involvement
• Messenger saved Oedipus from death
• Teiresias

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Archetypes

• See Handout 23

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Antigone BCRS Choose 3 of the following and
answer in 5-8 sentences by Monday April 27th.
Choose the three BCRs you understand the best,
as all of these will go in your portfolios. You
may work on these in class or at home, time
permitting. 2 la.e11.10.01 Explain the
specific structural elements that identify
Antigone as a Greek play/drama 21
la.e11.10.06b Explain the relationship between
the character motivations, actions, and
development as it relates to the experiences,
emotions, moral dilemmas, and ambiguities in
ANTIGONE. 22 la.e11.10.06d Analyze the
contribution of the CHORUS to the development of
the character, plot, and/or theme in
ANTIGONE. 25 la.e11.10.06h Describe how the
ARCHETYPE drawn from myth and tradition
contributes to the theme of ANTIGONE.
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Ode

• Any exalted, complex lyric, written for a
  specific purpose, that develops one dignified
  theme.
• Appeals to imagination and intellect and often
  commemorates an event or praises a person or an
  element of nature.

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Ode

• In structure, an ode is divided into stanzas that
  may be identical in form or that may show
  patterned variations in form.

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Ode

• In its original Greek form, an ode was a choral
  work it was associated with movement
• Members of the chorus would sway from one side to
  the other to emphasize the rise and fall of
  emotion.