Introduction to
Oedipus ,Antigone
and Greek Tragedy
General Information:
Classical tragedies were composed within a
definite structural framework, with
occasional minor variations in some plays.
Greek tragedy was performed without
intermissions or breaks.
 In the history of Greek drama, early Greek
plays were part of a religious ceremony.
They were enactments of religious
celebrations- performed in Athens.

Much like Elizabethan England, ancient
Greece only allowed men to participate in
the plays.
 The plays were performed each year at the
Festival of Dionysus, in which the great
writers of the time would compete. These
festivals were dedicated to the Greek god
Dionysus, god of wine and fertility.

Elements of Tragedy:
 The
subject is serious.
 The tragic hero or heroine
(protagonist) is of noble birth and
displays a nobility of spirit which the
audience admires.
 The protagonist is pitted against forces
beyond his or her control.
 The
protagonist makes decisions that
lead to a “no-win” situation.
 The protagonist struggles courageously
until his or her fall.
 The protagonist, though defeated,
usually gains a measure of increased
wisdom, self-awareness, or nobility.
Structure of Greek Tragedy
Prologue - the opening scene - the
background of the story is established,
usually by a single actor or in a dialogue
between two actors.
 Parodos - the entrance of the chorus,
usually chanting a lyric which bears some
relation to the main theme of the play.
 Episode – the counterpart of the modern
act or scene - the plot is developed
through action and dialogue between the
actors, with the chorus sometimes playing
a minor role.

Elements of a Tragedy, Cont.
Stasimon- the choral ode. A stasimon
comes at the end of each episode so that
the tragedy is a measured alternation
between these two elements.
 Exodos- the final action after the last
Stasimon, ended by the ceremonial exit
of all the players.

 Epithet-
an adjective or descriptive
phrase which describes a noun
 EX: John “The Great”
 Chorus- consists of twelve to fifteen
elders (men)
 Choragos- the leader of the chorus
 Ode- indicates the end of a scene - also
used to provide the chorus’s response
to the proceeding scene.
 Lyric Poem- verse which focuses on
emotions and thoughts
Function of the Chorus:
1.
2.
3.
To provide background
information for the audience
To talk and give advice to the
main characters
To interpret important events that
occur in drama
Aristotle’s Definition of Tragic
Figure
The character must be a person of
stature.
 The character must be neither totally
good nor totally evil.
 An error of judgment or a weakness in
the character causes the misfortune.
 The character must be responsible for
tragic events.
 Action involves a change in fortune from
happiness to misery.

Greek Theatre
Greek Theater
G
A. Theatron-audience
B. Orchestra- where the actors and chorus perform
C. Altar-for Dionysos (god of wine and fertility)
D. Skene-dressing room
E. Proskenion-side of the skene that acts as a backdrop
F. Parados-entrance to the theater
G. Stage
Parts of the Theatre



Theatron - the area in which the audience
sat. It was shaped like a horseshoe and had
rows of stone seats rising upward and
backward in tiers. In the first row were stone
thrones for the principal citizens and the
priest of Dionysus.
Orchestra - The circular area at ground level
which was enclosed on three sides by the ushaped theatron.
Thymele - an altar to Dionysus on which
sacrifices were made and which was
sometimes used as a stage prop during
plays.
Parts of the Theatre, Continued
Parodos - entrance passage
 Skene - a wooden structure, the
dressing room
 Proscenium - the level area in front of
the skene on which most of the play's
action took place
 Eccyclema - a wheeled platform
which was rolled out of the skene to
reveal a tableau of action that had
taken place indoors (mainly scenes of
violence )

Sample Greek Theatre Masks
Sophocles
496-406 B.C.
 Grew up in Athens, Greece
 considered the greatest of the ancient
Greek playwrights
 Sophocles was known for his
musical, poetic, and dramatic talents
 At the age of seventeen, he was the
choragos, or chorus leader, in a
dramatic celebration of Greece's

Sophocles, Cont.
At the age of seventeen, he was the
choragos, or chorus leader, in a
dramatic celebration of Greece's victory
over Persia
 Became a distinguished public official
 In Greece during Sophocles’ – a time when
anything seemed possible through human
effort and reason

Sophocles, Cont.
When he was twenty eight, he
caused a sensation by winning
first prize for tragedy at the
festival of Dionysus, defeating
Aeschylus, the leading play write
of the day.
 Over the next sixty-two years,
Sophocles went on to win twentyfour first prizes and seven
second prizes in thirty-one
competitions--the best record of
any Greek playwright.

Sophocles, Cont.
wrote more than one hundred and twenty
tragedies,(misery) of which only seven
survive today (deeply troubling)
 His plays always contain a moral lesson-usually a caution against pride and
religious indifference.
 also a great technical innovator: He
added a third actor to Aeschylus's
original two, introduced painted sets, and
expanded the size of the chorus to
fifteen.

Sophocles, Cont.
Toward the end of Sophocles’ life, Athens
raged a war against Sparta, their bitter
rivals.
 There was a great plague in 430 B.C.E.

Sophocles, Cont.
Sophocles wrote the three tragedies
about King Oedipus of Thebes and
his family over a forty-year period
 began with the third part of the story,
Antigone, first performed in 442 B.C
 Twelve years later, Sophocles
backtracked and wrote the first part of
the story, Oedipus the King
 the last year of his life that Sophocles
wrote the middle segment, Oedipus at
Colonus.

Sophocles, Cont.
Sophocles wrote The Theban Plays
 or also known as The Three Great
Tradgedies
 These plays depict characters caught up in
unsolvable dilemmas that thest their faith in
divine and human justice

Oedipus The King

–one of the
world’s
greatest
tragedies
Oedipus The King
A tragedy occurs –
 A tragedy is a serious drama which features
a main character who strives to achieve
something and is ultimately defeated!

Oedipus The King

The main characer’s downfall is often due
to an inborn character flaw or weakness –
(tragic flaw)
Oedipus The King

Sophocles opens his play with a situation
that the people of Athens could easily
idetify with: a plague with NO end in sight!
Oedipus The King - Prologue
Prologue – Oedipus sends his brother-inlaw, Creon, to the oracle of Apollo at
Delphi.
 Creon returns and announces that the plague
will end when the Thebans punish the
murderer of their previous king, King Laius.

Oedipus The King - Prologue
Oedipus tries to take the role of svior and
vows to do everything in his power to
apprehend the murderer and save his people
 Oedipus does not realize that is vow will
relentlessly lead him to an encounter with
himself, his past, and his darkest secrets!!!

The Oedipus Myth

Characters and Terms:
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King Laius
Queen Jocasta
Thebes
Oracle at Delphi
Oedipus
Corinth
Sphinx
Chorus
Choragos
Teiresias



Teiresias – blind phophet & servant of Apollo
who reveals the reasons for the devastation
and plague in Thebes
One of the most powerful characters in the
play
He tells Oedipus he will become blind and
poor
Jocasta
 the
wife and mother of
Oedipus
 she tells Oedipus not to trust in
the oracles
 she tries to protect Oedipus
from the awful truth
The Oedipus Myth

Characters and Terms, Cont.
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Polyneices
Eteocles
Antigone
Ismene
Creon
Haimon
Eurydice
Sentry
Map of Corinth
Map of the Mediterranean
Royal Line of Thebes