500 word essay and self review
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There was no better way than mine. No more advice! If I had eyes, how could They bear to look at my father in Hades? Or at my devastated mother? Not even Hanging could right the wrongs I did them both. (lines 1554-58)
� � Author � Time/Date of Composition � Contextual Information � Form � Major Themes
Preview
� Author
� Lived circa 496-406 BCE � Spent most of his life in the
city-state of Athens � Very popular, well-educated,
and productive writer � Only seven of his plays are
extant: the three Oedipus plays, Ajax, Trachiniae, Electra, and Philoctetes
(“Sophocles” from Wikipedia)
� � Sophocles is remembered for his tragic plays AND
for changes he made to the theater, including… � “introduction of scene painting” (Norton 482) � “increase of chorus members from twelve to
fifteen” (Norton 482) & decreased centrality of chorus to plot
� “bringing in a third actor” (Norton 482) à allowed for three-way dialogues
Author
� � Folks like Sophocles’ writing because his characters seem
real � Consider The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Ramayana, and
Sunjata. The main characters are all epic heroes… basically, the ancient world’s version of today’s super-heroes. They aren’t “real people” they’re “super”-real
� Sophocles’ characters are real—with qualities people can relate to and flaws that make them fallible. They could be… us. � …but hopefully not “us” with Oedipus-level flaws! � Thought exercise: pay attention to any characters you find
relatable in Oedipus Rex. What about them is relatable? Do you pity them? Fear them?
Author
� � Oedipus Rex was probably composed and performed
around 429 BCE à be mindful that the exact date is not certain
� 429 BCE is also the date of a terrible plague in Athens. Some folks argue the plague afflicting Thebes in Oedipus Rex is actually a reference to the plague that was affecting Athens when Sophocles was writing (Norton 484)
Time/Date of Composition
� Contextual Information
� The Oedipus myth was a well-known story in the ancient Greek world (Norton 483).
� Consider the following passage from Homer’s The Odyssey (not be confused with The Iliad), dating to the 700s BCE � Note: The Odyssey spells
Oedipus’s mother Epicaste instead of Jocasta
“Attic Cup: Oedipus and the Sphinx” from Encyclopedia Britannica)
� I saw Oedipus’ mother, beautiful Epicaste, Who unwittingly did a monstrous deed, Marrying her son, who had killed his father. The gods soon brought these findings to light; Yet for all his misery, Oedipus still ruled In lovely Thebes, by the gods’ dark designs. But Epicaste, overcome by her grief, Hung a deadly noose from the ceiling rafters And went down to implacable Hades’ realm Leaving behind for her son all of the sorrows A mother’s avenging spirits can cause (Odyssey 11.275-85)
Contextual Information
� � Oedipus Rex is a tragedy, or a kind of play with a
serious subject matter à often focus on questions of ethics � Note: Today, “tragedy” is a term that can also apply to
movies, novels, et al � Tragedies possibly originate out of ritual traditions
and the worship of Dionysus (Norton 475-76) à regardless, they were very popular in ancient Greece
� Tragedies borrow plots from Greek mythology, especially The Iliad and The Odyssey (Norton 476)
Form
� � Dialogue (aka, the spoken language between
characters) in tragedies was written/spoken in iambic meter, “which was supposed to be the verse form closest to normal speech” (Norton 479) � Iambic sounds like characters are speaking normally
rather than reciting poetry
Form
� � Oedipus Rex makes use of dramatic irony � Dramatic irony is a convention of plays (and today,
movies) in which the audience knows or understands something the main character doesn’t � Example: the original audience for Oedipus Rex would
have known who Oedipus’s real parents really were and were therefore aware of what Oedipus would eventually discover
� Thought exercise: can you think of any dramatic irony in recent movies or TV shows you’ve seen?
Form
� � Literal and metaphorical meanings of language
(especially as regards oracles and prophecies) � Blissful ignorance � Free will vs destiny/fate � Crime and punishment
Major Themes