Something rotten in the city state of

Thebes? What is it?

Sophocles: Oedipus the King

Ancient Greek Tragedy

Kelly Todd Brewer

Hum 201
October 25, 2022
Festival of Dionysus, the of god wine, ritual
madness and ecstacy
1. Held in March during the sailing season
2. People came from all over the Hellenic world
3. It was the most attended event throughout the year.
4. Theater competition for glory and minimal prize money

Bacchus
 Aeschylus and Euripides

The other two great tragedians

from the era.
 The chorus
• The function of the
chorus:

• 1) To help the audience

follow the performance
• 2) It collectively acts as a
mirror to society and its
values
• 3) It often fills the
audience in on past events, as
the play may start in media res.
• 4) It operates in unison
Transition from the epic hero to the tragic hero
• The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey and The Iliad are all poems
• The epic hero is larger than life.
• The hero makes a great journey: Ithaca, Calypso, the underworld, the end
of the world, the Cedar Forest
• They return home changed or transformed.
• An epic is a long, episodic poem that presents adventure and heroism.

But what about the hero (or the tragic hero) of an ancient Greek play?
 “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown”
William Shakespeare
Henry IV

The responsibilities of a monarch are endless. What are the responsibilities of a king? What is a good or bad King? Does
Oedipus fit the description of a good king? What about the other kings we have seen so far? Gilgamesh and Odysseus…
 The King
• Integrity
• Does not compromise his or the nation’s honor
• Seeks justice, even against and/or for himself
• Just and merciful
• To protect and to serve

How many of these fit Oedipus’ character?

 God of oracles, healing, archery, music and arts, sunlight,
Apollo knowledge, herds and flocks, and protection of the young
Sophocles 497-405 BCE

“Pride comes before the fall”

“Pride goeth before the fall
(Proverbs)

“Sins of the father”

“He who is without sin let him

cast the first stone”
Book of John 8:7
 Aristotelian Three
Unities
• Time: The action of the play should
take no longer than what could
happen in one day.
• Place: The geographraphy
represented in the play should be no
more than a days journey.
• Action: the action of the play should
be around one theme: in Oedipus,
the question is who is the murderer
of Laius
 Tragedy: Towards a definition

• Aristotle wrote made some of the following

observations about classical Greek theater:
• The tragic hero: of noble birth and usually a
good person that comes to no good end,
evoking a sense of pity in the audience
(catharsis). The hero is crestfallen (sad,
dejected, heartbroken as he comes to the
realization of his own errors).
• Hamartia: a flaw of character or in judgement
regardless of the intentions.
• What, we may ask, is Oedipus’ hamartia? Is he
all that bad? Isn’t he a bit like all of us?
 What’s wrong with pride?

Pride is a poison because it's the basis for disrespecting others and for
creating suffering in our lives. Excessive pride is an exaggerated appreciation
of oneself by devaluating others. It is often driven by poor self-worth. We are
so insecure that we compensate by feeling superior.

Hubris: excessive pride toward or defiance, which leads to nemesis. Hubris

leads people to believe that they can do no wrong. Always right!
Pride is a poison because it's the basis for
disrespecting others and for creating
suffering in our lives. Excessive pride is an
exaggerated appreciation of oneself by
devaluating others. It is often driven by
poor self-worth. We are so insecure that
we compensate by feeling superior.

Does this basic definition of pride describe Oedipus?

 The masks?
1. The masks were used to show status whether high or low class
2. The plays were usually limited to two or there speaking characters and
masks allowed them to change character
3. The masks were usually exaggerated and could be seen and recognized
from a greater distance.
4. The masks were made to be representative of something or to give a sense
of the emotions of the actors
 Tereseias the blind prophet: Archetype of wisdom and vision
Teresias the blind
Archetype: a primitive mental image inherited from the
earliest human ancestors and present in the collective
unconscious.
Wisdom is a curse when wisdom does nothing for the
man who has it. If you could only see the nature of your
own feelings.
The idiom: The truth will come, by itself. The truth will
come no matter how I shroud it in silence.
You, it's you. What plagues the city is you. The plague is
you.
Idiom: The truth shall set you free.
Teresias: I am safe . Truth lives in me, and the truth is
strong.
YOU ARE THE MURDERER YOU SEEK. YOU
LIVE IN HIDEOUS SHAME AND CANNOT SEE
THE EVIL.
TERERIAS OF DEMOCRACY AND EQUALITY:
Oedipus , you are king, but you must hear my reply. My
right to speak is just as valid as yours. I am not your slave.
Oedipus’ opening lines. What do you think of
him?
OEDIPUS Why , children , why are you here, why are you holding
those branches tied with wool, begging me for help? Children , the
whole city smolders with incense. Wherever I go I hear sobbing,
praying. Groans fill the air. Rumors, news from messengers, they
are not enough for me. Others cannot tell me what you need. I am
king, I had to come. As king, I had to know. Know for myself,
know for me. Everybody everywhere knows who I am: Oedipus.
King. Priest of Zeus, we respect your age, your high office . Speak.
Why are you kneeling? Are you afraid, old man? What can I give
you? How can I help? Ask. Ask me anything. Anything at all. My
heart would be a stone if I felt no pity for these poor shattered
people of mine kneeling here, at my feet.
Oedipus the hero and Oedipus the “tragic” hero

The Riddle of the Sphinx--Hero Then he marries his mother and fathers his
siblings: Tragic hero. He came to no good end.
 (in)sight vs
blindness
“This day you shall know your birth and
it shall ruin you”
“You call me cold, stubborn, unfeeling
you insult me. But you, Oedipus, what
do you know about yourself, about your
real feelings? You don't see how much
alike we are.”
“It’s you! What plagues this city is you!
The plague is you!”
“Murderer! I say you are the killer you’re
searching for.”
“How dreadful the knowledge of the truth
can be when there’s no help in truth.”
Is Oedipus so blind? So unreflective?
Can he not remember killing a noble
man?
Is the plague the murder of Laius or the
notion of incest? What is the lesson
here?
You are a man, not a god—I know.
We all know this, the young kneeling here before you know it, too,
but we know how great you are, Oedipus, greater than any man.
When crisis struck, you saved us here in Thebes, you faced the
mysterious, strange disasters hammered against us by the gods.
This is our history— we paid our own flesh to the Sphinx until
you set us free. You knew no more than anyone, but you knew.
There was a god in it, a god in you.
Help us . Oedipus, we beg you, we all turn to you, kneeling to your
greatness.
Advice from the gods or advice from human beings—you will
know which is needed.
Oedipus, more like a god than any man alive, deliver us, raise us to
our feet. Remember who you are. Remember you r love for
Thebes. Your skill was our salvation once before.
For this Thebes calls you savior. Don't let us remember you as the
king—godlike in power—who gave us back our life, then let us
die. Steady us forever. You broke the riddle for us then. It was a
sign. A god was in it. Be the man you were— rule now as you
ruled before. Oh Oedipus, how much better to rule a city of men
than be king of empty earth. A city is nothing, a ship is nothing
where no men live together, where no men work together.
 Incest and shame: the unbearable

• Shame: Jocasta starts to suspect the “truth” and

asks Oedipus to not search any further.

• Jocasta has created a warped bloodline in which

her husband is her son.

• She is both mother and grandmother of Antigone,

Ismene, Eteocles and Polynices.

• Oedipus is both father and brother to his siblings.

• Is this the curse? Was it preordained by the gods?

Do we know why?
 QUESTIONABLE THEMES
• Fate vs. free will
• Sight vs. blindness
• Guilt
• Power
• Justice
 Fate and free will

• Does Oedipus have a choice?

• Is everything in Oedipus’s life predetermined?
• Did Laius have a choice?
• Are the gods playings some sort of game with the lives of
mortals?
• The paradox of God—Omniscience, Omnipresence,
Omnipotent. This is our dilemma as sons and daughters
of Abraham: Jews, Christians and Muslims. Oh you gotta
have faith in the face of the unknown☺ DON’T ASK
TO MANY QUESTIONS—IGNORANGE IS BLISS.
AND REMEMBER ENKIDU BEFORE
HUMANIZATION.
• When this play was written, 5th century BCE, intellectuals
began to question the legitimacy of the gods.
If the prophecies were true, then Oedipus was always
doomed. Why? What’s the point? This is a critical
question.
 Kreon
What man, what sane man, would prefer a king's power with all
its dangers and anxieties, when he could enjoy that same power,
without its cares, and sleep in peace each night? Power? I have
no instinct for power, no hunger for it either. It isn't royal power
I want, but its advantages. And any sensible man would want the
same. Look at the life I lead. Whatever I want, I get from you,
with your goodwill and blessing. I have nothing to fear. If I
were king, my life would be constant duty and constraint . Why
would I want your power or the throne of Thebes more than
what I enjoy now—the privilege of power without its dangers? I
would be a fool to want more than what I have—the substance,
not the show, of power. As matters stand, no man envies me, I
am courted and admired by all. Men wear no smiling masks for
Kreon. And those who want something from you come to me
because the way to royal favor lies through me. Tell me,
Oedipus, why should I give these blessings up to seize your
throne and all the dangers it confers? A man like me, who
knows his mortal limits and accepts them, cannot be vicious or
treacherous by nature. The love of power is not my nature, nor
is treason or the thoughts of treason that go with love of
power. I would never dare conspire against your life.