SOPHOCLES BIOGRAPHY AND OVERVIEW OF OEDIPUS REX (Key Details)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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.

Conditions - Ancient Greece City/States – early Democracy emerging Culture – slavery/infanticide Gods/Fate – religious beliefs Civics/civic duty important

Sophocles Called the poet of Greek humanism Unlike Aeschylus who saw myth as an important vehicle for ideas, man’s relation- ship to Gods (tragedy of SITUATION)

Sophocles Sophocles’ plays dealt with men and showed how man reacts under stress (tragedy of CHARACTER) Plays depict characters caught up in unsolvable dilemmas that test their faith in divine and human justice

Sophocles - Focus Brings up the question of JUSTICE Why is there irrational evil in the world? Why does the very man who is basically GOOD suffer intolerably? ANSWER: balance, order, justice (dike); the world is orderly and follows natural laws

Sophocles - Focus No matter how good or how well intentioned, if Man violates natural law he will be punished and he will suffer KEY = Human knowledge is limited, but there is nobility in human suffering

“Oedipus Rex” – Key Facts Written approx. 430 B.C. Plot – linear Setting – Thebes, over course of 1 day Point of View – dramatic Protagonist – Oedipus, King of Thebes

KEY THEMES MAIN: The Limits of Free Will The Willingness to Ignore the Truth

Limits of Free Will Overview –Prophecy is CENTRAL to the story –Key characters debate the extent to which prophecies should be trusted –Sophocles’ reinforces/justifies the power of the Gods, prophets (how?) –Can be showing that: Error/disaster can happen to anyone Humans are relatively powerless before FATE/Gods A cautious humility is the BEST attitude toward life

Willingness to Ignore the Truth Oedipus embraces any detail in hopes it will exonerate him Seeking the truth is his only motivation (so he believes = illusion) Info in key speeches intended to reveal IRONY, but --- –Also emphasizes how desperately key characters try to avoid the obvious truth

THEMES Cont’d. SUBTHEMES: Quest for identity and truth Nature of innocence and guilt Nature of moral respon- sibility

Sophocles’ STYLE Subjects – only those who figured in ancient legends or epic poems IF an inferior character appears, it is only an instrument of IRONY Reflect his own strong religious temperament, as well as his reverence for Greeks gods (whom he felt inspired him) Contrasts the struggles of humanity with the irresistible march of Fate

Sophocles’ STYLE Odes were distinguished by their close connection with the play itself, correctness of their sentiments, and beauty of their lines Odes bring an additional viewpoint to the play (voice of audience) Odes offer broader, more socio- religious perspective than those offered by individual characters

Sophocles’ STYLE Language – sometimes harsh and involved, yet grand and majestic; AVOIDS massive phrasing of Aeschylus and commonplace diction of Euripedes Reflects use of: imagery, foreshadowing, allusion, dramatic irony

Imagery References to light and darkness to predict the future

Ex. of Imagery The priest says at the beginning: “…All the house of Kadmos is laid waste; all emptied, and all darkened…”

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

Foreshadowing 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…

Ex. of Foreshadowing Teiresias tells Oedipus: “…But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind. You cannot see the wretchedness of your life…”

Allusion Zeus, Apollo, Black God of Death: Hades, and the Sphinx Apollo gives the prophecy to Oedipus and Creon (everyone knows that Apollo has absolute knowledge in world of mythology) The Sphinx – mythological creature Hades Zeus only has a small part (and Apollo speaks for him)

Dramatic Irony Heightens audience response to actions of the story Reinforces audience empathy for Oedipus (key to catharsis) –Exs. – Teiresias – blind prophet who ‘sees’ the truth; Oedipus can see but is ‘blind’ to the truth