1. SOPHOCLES BIOGRAPHY AND OVERVIEW OF OEDIPUS REX (Key Details)

2. Sophocles 496 – 406 B. C. playwright who lived a long, comfortable, happy life grew up in a wealthy family in ATHENS, GREECE

3. Sophocles his dramatic work portrayed misery and tragedy reflected his strong religious beliefs and beliefs in Gods/Fate of his culture considered a master of artistic development of incident, using feelings, culminating interest up to final crisis, crushing blow of catastrophe

4. Sophocles By age 16, he was already known for his attractiveness, grace, and was chosen to lead a boys’ choir In his first competition, he took first prize, defeating Aeschylus the great playwright He won 18 first prizes, and never failed to take at least second

5. Sophocles An accomplished actor, he performed in many of his own plays His weak voice forced him to give up acting Additional duties included acting as ordained priest, serving on Board of Generals, and being director of the Treasury

6. Sophocles One of the great innovators of Greek theater, he Was first to add a third actor Abolished the trilogic form – made each tragedy a complete entity, unlike Aeschylus Credited with inventing scene- painting Reduced Chorus size to 12-15

7. Sophocles Of his remaining 7 plays, Oedipus the King is considered his greatest work Explores the depths of modern psycho-analysis as Oedipus unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother A masterful work of plot & suspense, it also employs allusion and dramatic irony

8. Sophocles Oedipus the King is often heralded as a ‘perfectly structured’ play Oedipus the King is part of three plays – Antigone (written first), Oedipus the King, and Oedipus of Colonus (405 B.C. written last)

9. Sophocles the age of Sophocles in Greece was a time when anything seemed possible through human effort and reason

10. Conditions – Ancient Greece toward the end of Sophocles’ life, Athens raged war against Sparta, their bitter rivals there also was a bad plague in 430 B.C.

11. Ancient Greece Government - city/states – early Democracy emerging Culture – slavery/infanticide Gods/Fate – religious beliefs Civics/civic duty important – participation in plays required

12. Sophocles ·Called the poet of ‘Greek humanism’ ·Unlike Aeschylus who saw myth as an important vehicle for ideas, man’s relationship to the Gods (called tragedies of SITUATION)

13. Sophocles Sophocles’ plays dealt with men and showed how a character reacts under stress (tragedy of CHARACTER) Principal subject = man; hero is suffering man (protagonist subjected to a series of tests) Plays written after this depict characters caught up in unsolvable dilemmas that test their faith in divine and human justice

14. THEMES – “Oedipus Rex” Quest for identity and truth Nature of innocence and guilt Nature of moral respon- sibility

15. Stylistic Devices IMAGERY - References to light and darkness to predict the future ALLUSION DRAMATIC IRONY FORESHADOWING

16. Example of Imagery The priest says at the beginning: "All the house of Kadmos is laid waste; all emptied, and all darkened.”

17. Example of Imagery Oedipus promises Creon: “Then once more I must bring what is dark to light.”

18. Allusion Device of style used by Sophocles

19. Dramatic Irony/Forehadowing Because the audience already knows the legend/story of Oedipus, details such as dialogue, Choral responses, etc. provide key clues as to future events in the play

20. Example of Foreshadowing Teiresias tells Oedipus that it is he who is blind: “But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind. You cannot see the wretchedness of your life.”