1. Oedipus Rex & Antigone Sophocles

2. 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)

3. Structure Cont’d
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)

4. 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.

5. 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)?

6. Rising Action
The early part of the narrative, which builds momentum and develops the narrative’s major conflict.
Location: Scene 2, Ode 2
Oedipus discovers that Laios was killed where 3 roads meet and that the servant 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

7. Climax The moment of highest tension; the conflict comes to a head.
Location: Scene 4
Oedipus discovers that he was Laio’s son, left on the mountain as an infant to die.

8. 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. Jocasta hangs herself; Oedipus blinds himself.

9. 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.

10. The Greek Theatres
Often located in or around sanctuaries to the god’s.
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.

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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”

15. "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..."

16. “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.”

17. 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.”

18. Aristotle’s Analysis Handout #24
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

19. Plot consists of parts/types of incidents:
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)

20. 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.

21. Elements of Tragic Hero
A mighty figure
Suffers reversal of fortune
Endures uncommon suffering
Recognizes the consequences of his actions
Hero’s plight ennobles audience.
Oedipus- Chart Handout

22. 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.

23. 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

24. Greek Chorus Cont’d
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

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. Themes in Antigone: Family Portrayal of the gods Citizenship
Civil disobedience
Natural law
State control

29. 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.

30. II. Expectations
Ancient Greeks sought balance, order, symmetry in all things: art, architecture, literature.

31. III. Religious Rituals Important
Plays grew out of tradition of ritualistic celebration of Olympian gods, legendary heroes, and kings.
Attendance/participation in drama (and festivals) considered a civic duty.
Plays needed to be instructional, entertaining.

32. 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…..?????

33. Mt. Kithairon
Mountain climb to self awareness.

34. 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?

35. 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.

36. 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….?????

37. 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.

38. Irony can… Heighten suspense Add humor
Assist in developing depth of character
Express theme
Assist in foreshadowing

39. Examples of Irony Oedipus’ lack of awareness of involvement
Messenger saved Oedipus from death
Teiresias

40. Archetypes
See Handout #23

41. Antigone BCR’S
Choose 3 of the following and answer in 5-8 sentences by Monday April 27th. Choose the three BCR’s 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.e
Explain the specific structural elements that identify Antigone as a Greek play/drama
#21 la.e b
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.e d
Analyze the contribution of the CHORUS to the development of the character, plot, and/or theme in ANTIGONE.
#25 la.e h
Describe how the ARCHETYPE drawn from myth and tradition contributes to the theme of ANTIGONE.

42. 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.

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

44. 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.