Ancient Greece

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Ancient Greece

• Sophocles and Oedipus Rex

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Greece in the 4th Century B.C

• Greece was the superpower of the known world
• The Greeks worshiped many gods Zeus, Hera,
  Athena, Apollo, etc.
• Greek citizens were required to attend festivals
  to worship and honor the gods.

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Festival of Dionysis

• Dionysis was the god of wine, agriculture, and
  theater
• During this religious festival there was a
  theater competition each competing playwright
  submitted 3 tragedies and 1 comedy
• Winners won a goat
• The most successful and recognized playwright was
  Sophocles

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Sophocles

• Wrestler, musician, general, politician
• Very handsome and successful
• Celebrated playwright
• 120 (ish) plays
• 20 (ish) first prizes
• Only 7 plays remain the most famous Oedipus
  Rex

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Theater of the Greeks

• Every show was done during the day
• Audiences could be as many as 14,000
• Minimal, if any set
• Chorus role served as commentary from citizens
• All the actors were men wore masks
• Never showed any violence on stage.

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Oedipus Rex Notes

• Background
• Oedipus leaves his home city of Corinth to go
  wandering
• Comes to city of Thebes who has recently lost
  their king.
• Thebes is under siege of the Sphinx and her
  riddle
• Oedipus answers riddle, Sphinx dies, Oedipus is
  made king and marries the previous queen

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Sphinxs Riddlehow smart are you?

• What walks on four legs in the morning, two in
  the afternoon, and three in the evening?
• Answers? (you die if you get it wrong)
• A man child, healthy adult, old man with a cane

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Apollo

• Greek god of music, medicine, light, truth, and
  poetry
• Also the sun god
• Had an oracle at Delphi which was the most
  famous oracle of Ancient Greece
• An oracle is a priestess who delivers the
  prophesies of the god

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Oedipus Rex Notes

• Themes
• Willingness to ignore the truth
• Limits of free will (Fate vs. free will)
• Motifs (reoccurring ideas that help emphasize the
  themes)
• Sight vs. Blindness
• Light vs. Dark

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Oedipus Rex Notes

• Remember
• This is a story that was not invented by
  Sophocles
• The original audiences would have known the story
  and how it ended

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Literary Terms for you

• Irony when the opposite of what is expected
  happens
• Situational Irony when a character or reader
  expects on thing to happen but something else
  entirely happens
• Verbal Irony when someone says one thing but
  means another
• Dramatic Irony the contrast between what a
  character knows and what the reader or audience
  knows (audience knows what will happen before
  characters)