1. Sophocles and KING OEDIPUS
An Introduction

2. Sophocles 496 B.C.-406 B.C. Greek playwright and poet
Wrote tragedies 120 plays in all
but only 7 survived
Wrote Theban plays (The Oedipus Cycle)
Concern the fate of Thebes during and after the reign of King Oedipus
Introduced third actor
Importance of the chorus
Group of minor actors who provide background and summary information to help the audience follow the performance

3. Origin of Greek Tragedies
From Ancient Greece and “Minor Asia”
Three main writers of the time
Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
Reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century B.C.
Written in honor of Dionysus – god of the vine, grape harvest, winemaking, wine, rituals, and theater – last god to be accepted into Mt. Olympus, youngest god and the only one to have a mortal mother
Heavily influenced theater
of Ancient Rome
and the Renaissance period

4. Thebes
Ancient city in Greece
Setting for many tragedies

5. Terms: Aspects of Tragedy
Elements of Tragedy
Unities
Terms: Aspects of Tragedy
Themes
Tragic hero

6. Three Unities Unity of action- play has one main action it follows
Unity of time- play takes place within 24 hours
Unity of place- play takes place within one physical space

7. Terms: Aspects of Tragedy in Greek Drama
Crisis of feeling - painful or harmful experience that may upset or depress the audience.
Catharsis - the audience cleanses their emotions. For example, they may feel uplifted.
Reversal - the hero/heroine goes through a significant change in fortune for the worse. Reversal may happen after a discovery of something previously unknown to the hero/heroine.

8. Aspects of the Greek Tragic Hero
Tragic hero/heroine - the protagonist, or main character, in the play.
He/she must be of noble birth or hold an important social position
He/she is generally good and has a desire to do well
He/she dies in the end of the play

9. Aspects of the Greek Tragic Hero
The hero/heroine seems "better" than the other character(s), but there is a fate which overpowers this "good" character.
Poor judgment by the hero causes a fall from grace and social ranking.
Poor judgment is a tragic flaw, or error, called hamatria. It leads to personal catastrophe and unintended harm to others.
Hubris, which means excessive pride or arrogance, is the most common type of hamatria.
A hero/heroine's misfortune is an example of human fallibility (human's tendency to fail).
Audience fears and pities character- punishment does not fit crime

10. Themes Blindness vs. sight Self-knowledge Pride Truth Responsibility
Fate/destiny vs. choice

11. Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex is a play written by Sophocles that is divided into certain sections.
Prologos: an introduction or preface, especially a poem recited to introduce a play
Parados: is a song sung by a Greek chorus as it first enters the theater. It is named for the corridors at the front of the stage of a Greek theater from which the Chorus enters.
Episodes: a section of a classic Greek tragedy that occurs between the two choric songs

12. Oedipus Rex continued
Choric Ode: A classical Greek poem that has a three part structure consisting of a strophe, antistrophe and an epode
Strophe – a structural division of a poem containing stanzas of varying line-length, especially an ode or free verse poem
Antistrophe – means “turning back” and is defined as a rhetorical device that involves the repetition of the same words at the end of consecutive phrases, clauses, sentences and paragraphs
Epode – a form of lyric poem written in couplets, in which a long line is followed by a shorter one
Exodus: In Greek Drama, this is the final scene; in tragedy, it is the action following the final stasimon (choral ode); in comedy it is the final rejoicing following the last episode

13. The story of Oedipus (in short)
Do you want to know now or wait and be surprised?