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)