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HamletWeb 2002
GeoAlaska: Theatre & Film
Theory of Spectatorship
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ShowCases: 3 Sisters, Mikado, 12th Night, Hamlet, The Importance of Being Earnest, Dangerous Liaisons, Don Juan
Summary
Prologue: Thebes turns to Oedipus to save them again by ridding them of a terrible plague. Sophocles may have written this play shortly after a great plague which struck Athens.Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King, Oedipus Tyrannus) (about 429--425 BC)
Questions
Finale: How would you describe Oedipus' state of mind and attitude here?
Is Creon fair to Oedipus? Consider especially his admonition at 1523. Consider how the drama would change if the closing lines of the chorus were absent; some scholars believe the texts ends with Creon's words.
Why are Oedipus' daughters in particular so special to him?
What effect has blindness had on his knowledge?
* Oedipus hyperlinked *
Notes
I do not know what to think about my own life, myself, my times. What about my identity? My home and my grave? How different am I from Oedipus? "You know nothing," is the message. Very simple, straight, final. Do you want to know more, Anatoly? More horrible discoveries and revatations? Do you need another confirmation that you are blind? That you never knew yourself? Curse? No, it's not about Oedipus, or the boy Ariston, it's about everybody. It could be you... It is you.
• Characters
• Conflict
• Plot
• Themes
• Mood
• Background Information
• Literary/Historical Information
• Historical Context Of The Play
Sophokles is credited with a number of innovations:
1] According to Dicaearchus of Messina, he introduced the third actor.
2] Some say he introduced skenographia or scene painting.
3] He may have decreased the importance of the khoros and set the number for tragedies at 15.
4] Some claim that he abandoned the trilogy form making each play a separate unit, though in my view, there is insufficient evidence to make such a claim.
5] He developed the definite structure that came to define tragedy:
Prologos, the prologue, usually exposition which provides information on events which happened just prior to the play, and establishes the point of attack, or the point in the story where the play begins.
Parodos, the entrance of the khoros.
Episodes, which develop the main action of the play, usually between three and six, which are separated by the:
Stasima, khoral songs.
Exodos, the conclusion/summary which include the departure of the khoros and the characters.
* The subjects of tragic drama, Aristotle said, were rightly drawn from ancient mythology, because coming from that source they must be true. If man had invented such strange incidents, they would have appeared impossible. The chief characters of a tragic action should be persons of consequence, of exalted station. The leading personage should not be a man characterized by great virtue or great vice, but of a mixed nature, partly good and partly bad. His errors and weaknesses lead him into misfortune. Such a mixture of good and evil makes him seem like ourselves, thus more quickly arousing our sympathy. The course of the tragic action should be such as to saturate the spectator with feelings of compassion, drive out his petty personal emotions, and so "purge" the soul through pity and terror (Catharsis). The crimes suitable for tragic treatment may be committed either in ignorance, or intentionally, and are commonly against friends or relatives. Crimes committed intentionally are generally the more dramatic and impressive. (This in spite of the fact that the central crime in Oedipus the King was committed in ignorance.) As to style, a certain archaic quality of diction is needful to the dignity of tragedy.
The Theban Times [radio] Issue 1 Volume 1
Teiresias Pays a Visit
The prophet Teiresias paid Thebes a special visit today. King Oedipus had sent Creon to bring Teiresias to Thebes. According to the royal sources, Teiresias was extremely reluctant to come. Furthermore, he angered the king so much that His Highness lost his composure.
With Thebes still suffering from this mysterious plague, King Oedipus is asking for help from any sources. When Teiresias came to Thebes, he uttered some mysterious words that apparently angered the king. At first, he refused to say anything at all, stating: "Let me go home. Bear your own fate, and I’ll bear mine." His Majesty refused to accept Teiresias’ plea and demanded Teiresias to speak. King Oedipus even pleaded to Teiresias to reveal the truth, but Teiresias was relentlessly silent. Losing his patience, Oedipus began calling Teiresias a "wicked old man." He even began accusing the blind prophet of assisting in King Laius’ murder by keeping silent. In turn, Teiresias had the nerves to declare to King Oedipus: "You yourself are the pollution of this country." He actually accused Oedipus of being the killer who brought this plague upon us. This angered Oedipus so much that he lost control and called Teiresias a "sightless, witless, senseless, mad old man."
This was quickly turning into a verbal brawl. In order to avoid a worse confrontation with Oedipus, Teiresias started to leave. However, before he left, he uttered a strange prophecy that baffled both the royal court and Oedipus. He said: "The man you have been looking for all this time, the damned man, the murderer of Laius, that man is in Thebes. To your mind he is foreign-born, but it will soon be shown that he is a Theban, a revelation that will fail to please…And he will go tapping the strange earth with his staff, to the children with whom he lives now he will be brother and father-the very same; to her who bore him, son and husband-the very same who came to his father’s bed, wet with his father’s blood."
Nobody could make any sense of what Teiresias is saying. Teiresias’ prophecy is a cryptic one. After his fruitless meeting with Teiresias, Oedipus returned home, discouraged. Meanwhile, ten more unborn babies have died and whole herds of sheep are lying dead in the fields. The sheep will be burned early tomorrow morning. A special memorial for the babies is scheduled tomorrow night. The search continues for King Laius’ killer.
[ to be continued ]
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* GODOT.06: Doing Beckett => main stage Theatre UAF Spring 2006 *
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Pasolini: 1967
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