Oedipus The King,
aka Oedipus Rex
Sophocles
• 496-406 BC
• Most awarded
playwright of
ancient Athens
• Wrote 120 Plays
Only 7 complete
plays exist
o Fragments of others
o
Theban Plays
• Cycle of three plays
o
o
o
Oedipus The King
Oedipus at Colonus
Antigone
• Not performed
together
• Written over 35+
years apart
History of Greek
Theater
• Great change during Sophocles's
time
• Changes in structure
o
o
Only chorus
Two actors --> three actors
• Greater character development
o
o
o
Characters more dimensional
Audience could relate to them
Conflict between characters
Roles in Greek Theater
• Chorus
o
o
o
Provides background, reflects on actions,
anticipates future actions
Represents citizens, morals & values
Strophe (movement across stage from right
to left) and antistrophe (reaction to strophe
which moves left to right)
• Tragic Hero
o
o
High social standing
Tragic flaw
• Other Characters
o
o
Speak in order of rank
Only three characters onstage
Goal of Greek Theater
• Catharsis
o
Goal of tragedy is the purging of
tragic flaw in hero of high station
and superior values
o
Audience identifies with the flaw
and is emotionally connected with
character’s demise
Structure of Greek Tragedy
I. Prologue
-background info before chorus
II. Parodos
-entrance song sung by chorus
III. Episodes/Scenes
-main action in play
IV. Odes
-song reflecting events; weaves plot together
-performed by Choragos and Chorus
V. Paean
-a prayer of thanksgiving to honour Dionysus
VI. Exodos
-sung by chorus as it exits; offers words of wisdom
Major Themes in
Oedipus The King
• Fate
o
o
Are we victims of fate?
Do we control our destiny?
• State of Control
o
o
Government & Politics
Roles of leaders
• Sight & Blindness
o
o
What do we see? What don’t we see?
What do we want to see? Why?
Characters
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The Chorus
Oedipus The King
Queen Jacosta
Creon
Antigone & Ismene (daughters)
Tiresias the Seer
Laius (dead; not in play)
Polybus & Merope (not in play)
Oracle at Delphi (not in play)
Before the Play…
• Queen Jacosta & King Laius of
Thebes
Fortold of son’s future by Oracle
of Delphi
o Bind child’s feet in rope
o Ask servant to kill him (but he
doesn’t)
o Child is found and raised as King
Polybus’s son
o Oedipus means “Swollen Feet”
o
Before the Play…
• Oedipus (Adult)
o
o
o
Hears rumors about lineage
Asks Oracle about parents
Oracle tells him that he will:
 "Mate with [his] own mother, and shed/ With
[his] own hands the blood of [his] own sire.”
o
Leaves because he does not want this to
happen (he believed Polybus and
Merope were his birth parents)
Before the Play…
• On the way to Thebes Oedipus
encounters Laius
Argument over right of way in
chariots
o Oedipus’s pride leads him to kill
Laius and his men
o Part of prophecy fulfilled because
Laius was his biological father
o
Before the Play…
• Thebes blocked by Sphinx
• Oedipus solves riddle of the Sphinx:
"What is the creature that walks on four legs in
the morning, two legs at noon and three in the
evening?”
• Reward is kingship and marriage to
Queen Jocasta
• Second part of prophecy fulfilled
The Start of the Play
• Many years later
• Oedipus and Jacosta Have four
children:
o
o
Two Sons (Polynices &Eteocles)
Daughters (Antigone & Ismene)
• Plague in Thebes due to Laius’s
death
• Oedipus has vowed to find Laius’s
murderer and exile him (unaware
that HE murdered Laius)