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Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex
• First performed around 429 BC
• Won second place at the feast of Dionysus
• Cited by Aristotle in Poetics as the highest achievement in Greek tragedy
• Setting:
– Time: unknown
– Place: in front of the palace of Thebes, ancient Greece
Themes
• Fate vs. free will
– Attempting to avoid one’s fate causes the prophesied event to occur.
– Could Oedipus have chosen to act differently, and if so, would things have happened differently?
• Sight vs. blindness
– Oedipus, who can see, is mentally “blind” to his horrible mistake, while the blind prophet Tiresias can see Oedipus’s actions clearly.
– Even the smartest person can make an error in judgment.
The Sphinx’s Riddle
• What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?"
• Man (who crawls on all fours as an infant, walks upright later, and needs a walking stick in old age)
Sophocles c. 497-405 BC
• Born in Colonus and died in Athens
• From a wealthy family
• Believed to have written 123 plays, but only 7 have survived
• Competed in around 30 competitions, won 24, and never got lower than 2nd place
• Added a third actor to his plays and reduced the role of the chorus
• Introduced scenes and scenery
• Portrayed greater character development than others
Tragedy
• “Tragedy is, then, an enactment of a deed that is important and complete, and of a certain magnitude, by means of language enriched with ornaments, each used separately in the different parts of the play: it is enacted, not merely recited, and through pity and fear it effects relief (catharsis) to such and similar emotions.” Aristotle, Poetics, VI 1449b 2-3
• enactment
• deed that is important
• complete
• of a certain magnitude
• language enriched with ornaments
• recited
• through pity and fear it effects relief (catharsis) to such and similar emotions
Structure
• Prologue: preliminary speech introducing the drama and background of the story
• Parodos: first song sung by the chorus
• Episodes: the main action of the play
• Stasimon: songs from the chorus that explain or comment on the action of the play
• Exodus: the conclusion of the play
Elements of a Tragedy
• Three unities:
– action: a play should have one main action that it follows, with no or few subplots.
– place: the action in a play should take place in only one setting.
– time: the action in a play should take place over no more than 24 hours.
• Main characters of noble rank
• Several of the main characters along with the tragic hero die by the end, and order is finally restored.
• No scenes of horror onstage
Tragic hero
• The protagonist of a tragedy.
• The audience feels pity or sympathy towards him.
• Shows hubris—pride or arrogance, the presumption that one’s mind alone can distinguish good and evil.
• Has a tragic flaw—error in judgment.
• Experiences a reversal of fortune.
• Experiences a recognition of the error.
Examples
• Oedipus in Sophocles' Oedipus the King (429 BC).
• Brutus in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (1599).
• Hamlet in Shakespeare's Hamlet (1601).
• Lear in Shakespeare's King Lear (c. 1603-1606).
• Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth (c. 1603-1607).
• Othello in Shakespeare's Othello (1604).
• Batman/Bruce Wayne from the DC Universe (1939).
• Spider-Man/Peter Parker from the Marvel Universe (1962).
• Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in George Lucas' Star Wars (1977-2005).
• William Wallace in Mel Gibson's Braveheart (1995).
• Walt Kowalski in Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino (2008).
• Harvey Dent in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008).
• Maximus in Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000 film)