Vocabulary Level G

1
Vocabulary Level G

• Unit Four
• Oedipus and His Incestuous Curse

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atrophy

• Noun
• Wasting away of a body organ or tissue
• Any progressive decline or failure
• Verb
• To waste away

• Despite the trauma from the exposure of being
  left on Mt. Cithaeron, Oedipus never experienced
  any atrophy.

3
bastion

• Noun
• A fortified place
• Stronghold
• Before the sphinx, the citizens of Thebes
  believed it to be a stronghold.

4
concord

• Noun
• A state of agreement
• Harmony,
• A treaty, pact, covenant
• After the prophecy, no concord existed between
  Oedipus and Creon.

5
consummate

• Adj
• Complete or perfect in the highest degree
• verb
• To bring to a state of completion or perfection
• Oedipus always wanted to have a consummate
  marriage.

6
disarray

• Noun
• Disorder, confusion
• Verb
• To throw into disorder
• Teiresiass prophecy put Oedipuss life in
  complete disarray.

7
exigency

• Noun
• Urgency, pressure
• Urgent demand, pressing need
• An emergency
• Finding out that Polybus was not his true father
  put Oedipus in a state of exigency to find the
  truth.

• Whos my daddy?

8
flotsam

• Noun
• Floating debris
• Homeless, impoverished people
• Oedipus decreed, People who harbor the murderer
  will become flotsam!

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frenetic

• Adj
• Frenzied, highly agitated
• When Oedipus believed Creon to be treasonous,
  Oedipus was clearly frenetic and wanted him
  killed.

10
glean

• V
• To gather bit by bit
• To gather small quantities of grain left in a
  field by the reapers
• Dramatic irony exists because Oedipus gleans
  clues that will lead him to the truth, but we
  already know the truth.

11
grouse

• Noun
• A type of game bird
• Verb
• To complain, grumble
• Many of you grouse constantly about reading this
  wonderful Greek tragedy!!

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incarcerate

• Verb
• To imprison, confine, jail
• In todays society, if Jocasta lived in the U.S.,
  she would be incarcerated for incest!

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incumbent

• Adj
• Obligatory, required
• Noun
• One who holds a specific office at the time
  spoken of
• Oedipus is the incumbent king of Thebes who also
  has incumbent duties to his subjects.

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jocular

• Adj
• Humorous, jesting, jolly, joking
• If Oedipuss tragedy werent so sad and
  disgusting, many of us would laugh at his failure
  to see the truth.

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ludicrous

• Adj
• Ridiculous, laughable, absurd
• Many of us think it is completely ludicrous that
  Jocasta or Oedipus havent figured out the truth
  yet!

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mordant

• Adj
• Biting or caustic in thought, manner or style
• Sharply or bitterly harsh
• Some may interpret Teiresias as extremely mordant
  when Oedipus forced him to reveal the truth.

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nettle

• Noun
• A prickly or stinging plant
• Verb
• To arouse displeasure, impatience, or anger to
  vex or irritate severely
• Jocasta nettled Oedipus when she told him she
  didnt want to know who he really was and where
  he came from.

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pecuniary

• Adj
• Consisting of or measured in money of or related
  to money
• Creon said he had no desire for the thrown. He
  had no pecuniary needs. Life was good!

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pusillanimous

• Adj
• Contemptibly cowardly or mean-spirited
• Some may say Oedipus is pusillanimous when he
  accuses Teiresias of being the actual murderer.

• Like the lion when he first chases Dorothy mean
  and cowardly

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recumbent

• Adj
• In a reclining position, lying down, in the
  posture of one sleeping or resting
• When they brought Laiuss body back from the
  place were three roads meet, Jocasta saw his
  recumbent body and knew he was dead.

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stratagem

• Noun
• A scheme to outwit or deceive an opponent or to
  gain an end
• Oedipus believed that sending Teiresias to tell
  him the prophecy was part of Creons stratagem to
  steal the thrown.