Introduction to Oedipus the King Western Literature January 6, 2015.

Introduction to

Oedipus the King

Western LiteratureJanuary 6, 2015

Warm-Up

Do you believe in fate in modern day

society? Why or why not?

Happy Word Wednesday!

Vocabulary Words for this Week

We will define these words in our lesson today.

• Catharsis

• Hamartia

• Hubris

Origins of Greek Drama

• Athens made tremendous advances in philosophy, rhetoric, literature, science, architecture, and the visual arts. Tragedies were performed in an annual competition as a part of the Great Dionysia, one of Athens’ chief religious festivals, in honor of the god Dionysus.

The Great Dionysia Festival and the

Competition of the Theatre• The festival would be begin at sunrise in early Spring and

Athenians would attend three tragedies and a satyr-play (a kind of farce providing comedic relief featuring the satyr that was known to accompany Dionysus) of one playwright. Then, they would watch a comedy by another playwright. These events ran for three days with three different poets.• Sophocles, won twenty competitions (Aeschylus thirteen,

and Euripides four).

The Competition at the Great

Dionysia FestivalAt the end of the festival, prizes were awarded by a board of judges who would decide first, second, and third place due to audience reaction after the plays. The first prize was a crown of ivy.

• The playwright did not expect to make any money, nor the producer, who was a wealthy man paying the expenses of the performance as a public service.

• There was a charge for admission but it was small. Citizens who could not afford to pay it were given free tickets.

The Attendance• Patrons brought a

cushion to sit on (since the benches were marble) and food to munch on during intermissions or dull plays.

• The audience was known to be loud and vocal. They would break out into tears or hiss and whistle if they didn’t like the play.

• The audience’s reactions informed the winners of the festival.

The theatre had the capacity of 14,000.

EVERYONE ATTENDED THIS FESTIVAL, RICH

OR POOR!

Performance Logistics

• The setting was simple: no curtain and no lighting. The setting consisted mostly of props on the stage.

• The plays began with a flourish, a trumpet call to signal to the audience for silence and attention.

• There were no programs because the chorus would come onto the stage first and establish the identity of the characters, the place, the time, and the situation.

• This was easy to do because most patrons already knew the story because of how the myths were passed orally.

The History of the Mask

The chorus and the actors wore masks. The masks were fairly standardized: old man, middle-aged man, youth, old woman, etc.

The masks, which have become symbolic of theatre, cover facial expressions. However, in this theatre, the back row was around 300 feet away so there was no way facial expressions could be seen anyway.

The most practical use of the mask was that the same actor could play three or four different parts in various scenes of the play. In Athens, actors were trained on extending their voices to reach immense crowds without any form of microphone or enhancement. Hence, early plays only featured one actor.

The History of the Chorus

• The word chorus in Greek is “dance.” The chorus originally began as a dance to worship the god Dionysus at the beginning of each festival.

• At some point, someone added a masked performer that spoke. This performer was called “hypokrites” which means “to answer,” but evolved to into “actor” and now “hypocrite.”

Purpose of the “Greek” Chorus

A chorus was used to present exposition and to provide commentary on the action and characters.

• 5 to 20 men represented the citizens. • They were always on stage, and they frequently sang and danced.• They always had a leader who carried on a dialogue with the main

characters or with the rest of the chorus.

The function of the chorus was to:• set the tone and give background information• recall events of the past (interpret and summarize events)• ask questions• offer opinions and give advice, if asked• stay objective (in the sense that it did not disagree with the leading

character)• act like a jury of elders or wise men who listened to the evidence in

the play and reached a moralistic conclusion at the end.

Origin of the “Actor”

• Sixth Century B.C.E.– According to legend and recorded by Aristotle, Thespis essentially invented acting by stepping in front of the chorus and performing a solo. The word “thespian” has come to mean “actor.”

Conventions of the Greek Theater

• Use of dramatic irony—Since the audience was already familiar with the plots, taken from well-known myths, they always had more information about the action than the characters on stage did.

• The suspense, then, was in how the well-known events would transpire and in the audience’s actually watching the events unfold before their eyes in “real time.”

• The plays were acted in the daytime, with minimal sets and props. Actors were all male. They wore masks, wigs, and high-heeled boots, which increased their visibility to the audience and added to the formality of the experience.

Importance of Mythology

“The myths had the authority of history, for a myth is in one of its aspects the

only history of an age that kept no records. They also had the authority

inherent in moral and religious symbols, for the myths served as typical patterns

of the conduct of man and the manifestation of the gods.”

–Bernard Knox, Scholar of Sophocles’ Work

Aristotle’s Guidelines for

Effective Tragedy“A perfect tragedy should…imitate actions which excited pity and fear…and through pity or fear, effect the proper purgation of these emotions…the change of fortune presented…should be that of a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty. He must be one renowned and prosperous…the plot ought to be so constructed that, even without the aid of the eye, he who hears the tale told will thrill with horror and melt to pity at what takes place. That is the impression we should receive from hearing the story of Oedipus.” –Poetics by Aristotle

The Three Unities by Aristotle

• To increase dramatic intensity, the plays observed three unities described by Aristotle:• Unity of Time– all the action of the play took place

within twenty-four hours, in continuous time; dialogue and the Chorus provided background information

• Unity of Place– all of the action was limited to a single setting

• Unity of Action – one single main plot focused on the main character. There were no sub-plots.

• Due to the religious intent and dignified style, no violence was shown on stage. The messenger ran on stage and spoke to the audience of any deaths or killings.

There is disagreement about the accuracy of this statement:

Components of Greek Tragedy

• Greek tragedy focuses on the reversal of fortune (peripeteia) and downfall of the tragic hero and the events leading to that downfall.

• Both fate (destiny) and free will (tragic flaw) play a role illustrating that a man could not completely control the circumstances of his life, but he was subject to the consequences of the choices he did make.

• This tension between fate and free will, and the destruction of an otherwise good man due to a single misstep and an angry deity were what made tragedy so powerful for the ancient Greek audience.

The Purpose of Greek Tragedy

In your journals, answer the following question:

1. What do you think is the purpose of Greek tragedy? Why would people choose and enjoy watching tragedy? Explain your reasoning.

“Ancient tragedy gives the spectator an image of his own life, not only as he sees it

and lives it himself, but as it must look to the all-seeing eye of divine knowledge.” –

Bernard Knox

Catharsis• As the hero accepts the consequences of his

errors, he teaches the audience some truth about life.

• The audience experiences a heightening of emotions, as they watch the hero suffer, and they identify with his problems.

• In the end, the audience has a

catharsis, feeling purged or drained of its emotions, and better able to understand life.

Catharsis Journal

• 1. When is the last time you felt catharsis? What movie/book/art did you read or watch that made you feel that way?

• 2. Is the feeling of catharsis good or bad for the audience? Should a writer aim to create catharsis?

Hamartia• The tragic condition was often the result of the tragic

hero’s hamartia.

• Often, the hamartia is defined simply as the tragic flaw, the character trait (like wrath or pride) that leads to the tragic hero’s downfall.

• More accurately, however, the hamartia is an error in judgment or perception, the hero’s inability to see his flaw or to accurately foresee the consequences of his decisions or actions. Often, the misperception is the result of a character flaw: the hero is blinded by his anger to who his friends really are; the hero’s pride will not allow him to back down and avoid a fatal fight.

Hamartia Journal

•1. Who is your favorite tragic hero? Why? What is that hero’s hamartia?

•2. After considering your traits and qualities, what would you consider to be your hamartia if you were to be a tragic hero?

Hubris• One common trait associated with hamartia is

hubris. Hubris, or hybris, is exaggerated self pride or self-confidence, which often results in fatal retribution.

• Hubris against the gods is generally regarded as a character flaw of the heroes in Greek tragedy and the cause of their destruction.

Hubris Journal

•1. Who can you think of fictional or in real life that demonstrates hubris? Do you think it is human nature to have hubris?

•2. In Greek times, hubris was usually the tragic flaw (or hamartia). Do you think that hubris is as fatal in modern times? Why or why not?

Aristotle’s

Tragedy

GameWestern Literature

Aristotle’s TragedyYou will be given a list of the components necessary to classify a work as a tragedy according to Aristotle in Poetics. You will determine what works classify as an Aristotelian tragedy.

• STEP ONE Create a simplified checklist from Aristotle’s definition of tragedy.

• STEP TWO Create this chart in your journal:

• STEP THREE Go around the room and analyze five of the eight examples and fill in your chart to evaluate classical tragedy.

Example How does it fit the definition of a Classical Tragedy?

How does it not fit the definition of a Classical Tragedy?

Ultimately, is it an Aristotelian tragedy?

Book/Movie Title and Author/Director

Yes or No

HomeworkRead pages 131 to the bottom of 134 of the Introduction in Sophocles’ The Three Theban Plays. Then, respond with Punctuation Prompts. For each punctuation symbol (a comma, question mark, and exclamation point) write a response matching the purpose of the punctuation symbol. Punctuation Response

, A comma

adds additional

information.

What is your comment or response to something from the passage?

? A question mark asks something of the text.

What is a question you had while reading?

! An

exclamation mark

denotes a reaction.

What did you have a strong reaction to in the text?

Oedipus Back Story

WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OEDIPUS BEFORE WE START READING.

UNITED IN ORANGE!

Sophocles’ Theban Plays

• Sophocles’ Theban Plays include: 1. Antigone2. Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King3. Oedipus at Colonus

• These plays are often anthologized together but they are not considered a trilogy. Each play should be considered a separate work though the characters appear in the various plays.

• In fact, some of these plays were written as far as 40 years apart!

Oedipus’ Backstory

• Sophocles’ audience would most likely already have known the events leading to the curse of Laius and his descendants that resulted in Oedipus’ tragic destiny.

• Sophocles’ intent was clearly to illustrate the downfall of the great Oedipus and not chronicle the family saga, so he does not share the backstory with us.

Oedipus’ Backstory

• Laius, Oedipus’ birth father, was the son of Labdacus, the King of Thebes. When Labdacus died, Laius was raised by his mother, who ruled Thebes as his regent. Two cousins (Amphion and Zethus) usurped the throne and plotted to kill young Laius, so he was smuggled out of Thebes and given to Pelops, King of Pisa, to raise.

• Laius eventually became the tutor of Pelops’ favorite son, Chrysippus, whom he abducted and took back to Thebes. Amphion and Zethus having died, Laius claimed his throne and kept Chrysippus captive. Pelops raised an army to demand the return of his son, but it was discovered that Chrysippus was already dead.

Oedipus’ Backstory

• Because of his poor treatment of his host and his host’s son, Laius and his house were cursed. When he married Jocasta, he was warned not to have children by her because his son by Jocasta would one day kill him. One night, while drunk, Laius imprudently disregarded the prophesy—some sources say Jocasta intentionally got Lauis drunk—and Oedipus was conceived. Thus, while Oedipus is, to a large extent, a pawn of Fate, at the root of that ill destiny is an act of Free Will that went against nature and angered the gods.

Prologue• The drama begins with the people of Thebes entering,

led by a priest. The city is suffering famine and plague and all are desperate to discover its cause. In Greek thought, there was no dividing line between natural and moral law. If the gods were punishing the city, there must be some reason for it; someone was guilty of some offense.

• Oedipus enters and asks why they have come to see him. The priest answers, telling of the great travail they have endured. They have come to see Oedipus as the one man most likely to be able to solve the problem. After all, he solved the riddle of the sphinx and freed them from its oppression, for which they made him their king.

Prologue and Parados

Oedipus tells them he has anticipated their visit and has already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to Delphi to seek the Oracle's advice. Creon returns as they are talking and delivers the Oracle's message. The former king, Laios, was murdered. The plague will not be lifted until that murderer is discovered and punished. Oedipus questions Creon, learning that Laios was killed while on a pilgrimage. One of his servants escaped and said that the king and his attendants were set upon by a band of highwaymen. Oedipus promises to find and punish the guilty party.

PARADOS

• After the stage empties, the chorus makes its entrance for the parados, the first of six choral interludes. They describe the city's suffering and implore the gods to send them deliverance.