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Sophocles
Sophocles (495 BC - 406 BC) was the
second of three great ancient Greek
tragedians. He was preceded by
Aeschylus, and was followed by or
contemporary to Euripides.
Of a 120 plays, only 7 survive
Only seven of his tragedies have survived into modern
times with their text completely known. The most famous
of these are the three tragedies concerning Oedipus and
Antigone: these are often known as the Theban plays or
The Oedipus Cycle, although they were not originally
written or performed as a single trilogy. Sophocles
influenced the development of the drama, most
importantly by adding a third character and thereby
reducing the importance of the chorus in the presentation
of the plot. He also developed his characters to a greater
extent than earlier playwrights such as Aeschylus, and used
female characters in his plays.
The Greek theatre or Greek drama is a theatrical
tradition that flourished in ancient Greece between c.
550 and c. 220 BC. Athens, the political and military
power in Greece during this period, was the center of
ancient Greek theatre. Tragedy
and
comedy
Perhaps the most famous of Sophocles plays are
commonly known as the Theban plays or The Oedipus
Cycle. The cycle consists of the plays Oedipus Rex (or
Oedipus Tyrannos), which won second prize at the
Dionysia festival in 427, Oedipus at Colonus, which won
first prize when produced by his grandson, and Antigone.
Although these three plays are related in plot, they were
not written or performed at the same time, and so were
likely not originally intended to be a trilogy.
A Brief
Summary of
Oedipus Rex
A TRAGEDY WRIT TEN BY SOPHOCLES
Oedipus is born.
Tiresias, a blind prophet tells Oedipus’ parents, King Laius and
Queen Jocasta that their son will one day kill Laius and marry
Jocasta. Laius orders the death of Oedipus.
A Shepard takes the infant Oedipus out to kill
him, but he can’t do it. He leaves him on the
top of the mountain.
The King and Queen of Corinth adopts
Oedipus.
When Oedipus is a young adult, he hits
the road. He bumps into King Laius on
the road. A fight ensues, and Oedipus
kills the king (not realizing that, a) he
was a king, and, b) he was Oedipus’
father).
Oedipus travels to Thebes. In order to
get into the city, he must solve a
Sphinx’s riddle (or he’ll die).
"What is the creature that walks on four
legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and
three in the evening?"
He solves the riddle, and becomes the
king of Thebes, then marries the newly
widowed Queen, Jocasta (his mother).
They have four
kids: Etocles,
Polynices,
Ismene, and
Antigone.
A terrible curse falls on Thebes. The
only way to rid the curse, Oedipus
learns from his Uncle Creon
(Jocasta’s brother), is to discover
who murdered Jocasta’s husband,
the former King of Thebes, Laius
(Oedipus’ father).
Through a series of inquiries, Oedipus
figures out that HE (unwittingly) killed his
father (King Laius), AND that HE
(unwittingly) married his mother (Queen
Jocasta).
Jocasta has a meltdown when she
discovers this and kills herself.
Oedipus symbolically stabs himself
in the eyes (wanting to blind himself
from his wrongdoings), and is selfexiled from Thebes. (He is TRULY a
tragic character)
Now, his children are cursed…
Four Characteristics of a Tragic Hero
(According to Aristotle’s Poetics)
1. POSITION. The hero is royal or noble with great power, usually a
king. He is a good, respected man who acts out of good intentions.
He has much to lose.
2. TRAGIC FLAW (hamartia). In spite of his good intentions, the
hero makes a tragic error which causes his reversal. The error
usually stems from a character flaw, usually pride.
3. REVERSAL (catastrophe). Because of his tragic error, the hero
suffers a downfall from his happy, envied position to suffering and
misery.
4. RECOGNITION (catharsis). The hero realizes that his own flaw or
error has caused his reversal. This recognition always occurs too
late for the hero to prevent or escape his reversal.
Anaganorsis the tragic hero
catharsis the reader
Five Characteristics
of Tragedy
According to Aristotle from Poetics
1. Tragedy arouses the emotions of pity and fear, wonder and
awe.
2. A tragic hero must be a man or woman capable of great
suffering.
3. Tragedy explores the question of the ways of Gods to
mortals.
4. Tragedy purifies the emotions.
5. Tragedy shows how the hero is brought to diaster by a single
flaw in character.
Four Themes of
Tragedy
1. Everything depends on the gods.
2. Even though women hold inferior social
positions, they still uphold traditional values.
3. Unyielding love inspires fierce devotion.
4. Uncompromising pride leads to the
destruction of the tragic hero.