Transcript Greek Drama Oedipus rex Background for

Greek Drama
Background for Oedipus
rex
A greek play by Sophocles
The Basics
 Greek drama occurred during the “Golden Age” of
Greece: 500 to 300 B.C.E
 Tragedies were produced as part of a religious
festival for Dionysus (god of wine , fertility, and
Theater) every year in Athens.
 Awards were given to the playwright who
presented the best series of three dramas (we still
have festivals like this! Sundance Film Festival, for
example)
The Festival of Dionysus
(Dionysia)
A festival
thrown every
year in Athens,
Greece to
honor one of
their favorite
Gods Dionysus:
God of Wine
and Theatrical
Performances.
Civic Duty
 It was every
 Playwrights
citizen’s CIVIC
would write
DUTY to
tragedies and
attend the
compete every
festival.
year to claim a
prize.
 Everything
shut down for  3 playwrights
5 days
would
compete each
year.
Civic Duty: Catharsis
It was believed
that people
became sick
because they
had “bad
emotions” stuck
in their bodies
and it
“poisoned” their
blood and made
them sick.
 Citizens had
to “purge”
these bad
emotions:
 Fear
 Anxiety
 Anger
Civic Duty: Catharsis
 Citizens could
safely cleanse
or “purge”
these bad
emotions at a
play by feeling
sad, angry, etc
and letting
everything go.
Part of their
Health Care.
Catharsis
Greek Tragedy
 Involves intense
emotion, a horrible
truth that leads to
catharsis – the
cleansing or getting
rid of bad emptions
 The tragic flaw is
also called
hamartia, the error
in judgment or the
critical mistake
 Hubris=excessive
pride (sound
familiar?)
Greek comedy vs. Tragedy
 Comedies
Always involves
a happy ending
where things
are resolved
 tragedies
always have a
very sad ending
The tragic Hero
 Oedipus is our tragic
heroes – we feel
sorry for him
because he suffers
 The tragic hero
usually ends in death
or destruction (He is
virtually
unrecognizable.)
Dramatic irony
 One of the most
important elements
in this play is
dramatic irony –
where the audience
knows something
that the
characters don’t
 Watch for this as
we read!
 (Irony is a
contrast
between what
is expected,
and what
actually
happens)
So Who is this
Sophocles guy?
 Sophocles was one
of 3 great Greek
tragic playwrights
(b. 496 B.C.)
 Wrote over 100
plays
 Awarded first prize
about 20
times…never lower
than second place
 First to add a third
actor to cast
Quick notes on oedipus rex
 First in a series of
three plays
(Antigone &
Oedipus at
colonus)
 Takes place in
Thebes (greece)
 depict the curse of
Oedipus
 Sophocles did not
come up with the
story on his own, it
was an ancient
greek myth
Oedipus Cast
 Oedipus (King)
 Jocasta (wife)
 Tiresias (prophet)
Creon (brother)
 Senators
 Messenger
 Old man
Structure of Greek
Tragedy and the
Role of the Chorus
What you need to know
when reading Oedipus Rex
The awesome amphitheater
 Plays were performed in HUGE outdoor
amphitheatres that could seat 40,000
people (Yankee Stadium seats 52, 325)
 No microphones! But you can hear a penny
drop from all the way at the top!
Cast And action
 All actors were men. They wore masks to
depict which characters they were.
 There were no scene changes (no
backstage!)
 The audience knew the story ahead of time.
The emotion of the characters was what
they came to see.
 Violent action took place offstage (I.e.
audience had to imagine it). Messengers
then told the audience what happened.
Unity of Time, Place, and
Action
 Greek plays were much different
from the films we are used to:
 The unity of action: Play follows one
main storyline with no or few subplots.
 The unity of place: play occurs in a
single place and does not change
setting (the stage represents one place)
 The unity of time: the action in a play
should take place over no more than 24
hours.
So what is the chorus?
 The chorus was a group of 12-15 men who
sang and danced during the plays.
 They often represent the community’s
thoughts but not necessarily the poet’s
thoughts.
 In Oedipus Rex, the chorus is made of
senators – wise old guys!
Chorus
Chorus
The Role of the Chorus
 To set the mood of the play and tell us the
themes
 To interpret the action in relation to the
law of the state and the law of the Olympian
gods
 To divide the action and offer reflection on
events
 To give background information
 (Think of it like you have all your
grandparents, aunts, and uncles sitting
around commenting on your life)
Structure of Tragedy
 A Greek Tragedy alternates between
odes and episodes
 It goes: Ode-->Episode-->Ode-->Episode->Ode….you get it
 Odes are songs sung by the chorus
to comment on the action
 Episodes are when characters talk
together (Dialogue)
In more detail…
 Prologue: The first part of the play that give
background information.
 Strophe: Chorus sings while walking Right to Left
 Antistrophe: Chorus sings while walking Left to
Right
 Choral Ode: At the end of each episode, the other
characters leave the stage and the chorus sings!
The End
 Exodos: At the end of play, the chorus exits
singing a processional song which usually
offers words of wisdom related to the actions
and outcome of the play.
 This is the “moral” of the story where the chorus
tells us what we were have supposed to learn
from the characters
Oedipus Rex = Tragic Hero
 “Man of high
standard who
falls from
that high
because of a
flaw that has
affected many”
- Aristotle
The Tragic Hero
 A dynamic
(round)
character
others respect
and admire
 Nearly perfect
Tragic Flaw
The hero is nearly
perfect Has one weakness
 Error in Judgment
 Critical Mistake
 (hamartia)
 Error brings
hero down
 Reversal of
fortune
Should I kill
him NOW?
Catharsis
 Audience’s
purging of
emotions
through pity and
fear.
 The spectator
is purged as a
result of
watching the
hero fall.
The Oedipus Family
Tree
More Like the
Family Stick!
King Oedipus married
Queen Jocasta
(his mother-ewww!)
They had 4 children (Eww):
-Eteocles
-Antigone
-Polynices
-Ismene
/
/
Sons
Daughters
(O’s brothers?)
(O’s sisters?)
Fight for Thebes
Go back to Thebes
Cursed by dying
Father - Kill each other
Exit Slip!
 What is dramatic irony?
 Who is our tragic hero?
 What is Hubris?
 what is catharsis?
 What is hamartia?