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Antigone Background Notes
Greek Drama
I. Origin of Tragedy
A. Religious festivals in the spring to honor Dionysus
Dionysus (Bacchus),
god of wine and revelry
•Sophocles-one of the great
dramatists of ancient Greece.
* Born near Athens in 496 BC in
the town of Colonus.
* Lived to be 91 years old.
* Died in 406 BC
•Particularly handsome and
talented as a young man.
* Lived in Athens all his life.
* Held several public offices
throughout his life.
* Father of two sons.
•Wrote around 123 plays.
* Won 24 festivals.
* Only 7 plays remain intact.
OEDIPUS COMPLEX: For Freud, the
childhood desire to sleep with the mother
and to kill the father. Freud describes the
source of this complex in his Introductory Lectures
(Twenty-First Lecture): "You all know the Greek
legend of King Oedipus, who was destined by fate
to kill his father and take his mother to wife, who
did everything possible to escape the oracle's
decree and punished himself by blinding when he
learned that he had none the less unwittingly
committed both these crimes" (16.330).
According to Freud, Sophocles' play, Oedipus Rex,
illustrates a formative stage in each individual's
psychosexual development, when the young child
transfers his love object from the breast (the oral
phase) to the mother. At this time, the child
desires the mother and resents (even secretly
desires the murder) of the father. (The Oedipus
complex is closely connected to the castration
complex.) Such primal desires are, of course,
quickly repressed but, even among the mentally
sane, they will arise again in dreams or in
literature. Among those individuals who do not
progress properly into the genital phase, the
Oedipus Complex, according to Freud, can still be
playing out its psychdrama in various displaced,
abnormal, and/or exaggerated ways.
B. Thespis, “Father of Drama” (thespians)
introduced the first actor and dialogue
2. The three great tragedians: Aeschylus,
Sophocles, and Euripides
1.
C. Sophocles
1. added third actor
2. fixed number of the Chorus to 15
3. introduced painted scenery
4. made each play of a trilogy separate in nature
(each play could stand alone)
 Oedipus
Rex
 Oedipus on Colunus
 Antigone
Euripides
Antigone
Oedipus (with Ismene and Antigone) condemns
Polyneices
II. Structure of Theatre
A. theatron: “seeing” place where the audience sat
B. orchestra: circular dancing place where actors and
Chorus performed
C. thymele: altar to Dionysus in center of the
orchestra
D. skene: building used as dressing room
E. proskenion: façade of skene building which served
as backdrop
F. parados: entrance to the theatre used by Chorus
Greek Theatre
III. Actors and Acting
A. The playwright took the leading role
B. All male performers (played female roles too)
C. Never more than 3 actors (changed characters)
1. protagonist, deuteragonist, tritagonist
D. Costumes and Masks
1. long, flowing robes (colored symbolically)
2. high boots with raised soles
3. large masks made of wood, linen, cork
a. identified age, gender, emotion
b. exaggerated features (eyes, open mouth)
IV. The Chorus
A. Music and Dance
1. music: flute, lyre, drums
2. dance: expressive rhythmic movements
B. Function of the Chorus
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
sets overall mood and expresses theme
adds beauty through song and dance
gives background information
divides action and offers reflection on events
questions, advises, expresses opinion (usually
through Chorus leader)
V. Conventions of Greek Theatre
A. Aristotle’s Unities
1. action (simple plot)
2. time (single day)
3. place (one scene throughout)
B. The Messenger (sentry)
1. tells news happening away from the scene
2. reports acts of violence not allowed to be seen
C. Limitations of the Theatre
1. the Chorus is constantly on the stage
2. no intermission
3. no lighting, no curtains
VI. Important Terms
1. tragedy: an imitation of a serious action
which will arouse pity and fear in the viewer
2. tragic hero: a character, usually of noble
birth, neither totally good nor totally evil,
whose downfall is brought about by some
weakness and error in judgment (a tragic
flaw)
3. hamartia: a tragic flaw, weakness of character
or error in judgment which causes the downfall
of the hero (tragic flaw)
4. hubris: the tragic flaw of pride
5. catharsis: the “purging” or release of emotions
the audience feels
6. deus ex machina: a person or god that
intervenes in the action
Oedipus’ Family Relationships





Laius- Oedipus’ father
the King of Thebes
Jocaste- Oedipus’
mother Queen of
Thebes
Creon- Oedipus’
brother-in-law
Antigone&IsmeneOedipus’ daughters
Eteocles&PolyneicesOedipus’ sons
Teiresias- blind
prophet- seer
 King Polybus- king of
Corinth (adopted
father of Oedipus)
 Merope- queen of
Corinth (adopted
mother of Oedipus)

VII. The Original Dysfunctional Family
King Menoeceus
King Laius
Jocasta
King Oedipus
Eteocles
Polyneices
Creon
Eurydice
Jocasta
Ismene
Antigone
Megareus
Haemon
Trilogy
Oedipus Rex (name means
“swollen foot”
Oedipus
at Colonus (where
Oedipus lives and dies)
Antigone
Aristotle’s Theory of the Tragic
Flaw
a tragic hero possesses a defect
or tragic flaw that brings about or
contributes to his or her downfall.
Ex: poor judgment, pride,
weakness
King Laius and Jocasta have a son, Oedipus.
The Oracle predicts Oedipus will grow up
and kill his father, so Laius leaves him on
a mountain top.
Baby Oedipus is rescued by a shepherd. He grows
up and hits the road. Meets the Sphinx.
Answers the Sphinx’s riddle. Sphinx kills herself.
Do you know the Sphinx’s riddle?
Riddle
What walks on 4 legs in morning,
2 mid day and 3 at night?

Man
Oedipus argues with and kills a man on the
road who, unbeknownst to Oedipus, is his
father Laius. Oedipus continues and when
he reaches Thebes, he is rewarded for
killing the Sphinx that has been plaguing
their town (no one has been able to come
and go since the Sphinx has been
guarding the road). Oedipus is given the
newly widowed queen to marry. Look
back at the family tree…
Oedipus and his “wife” have four children.
Eventually, a new plague strikes Thebes and
the Oracle is consulted again. The
soothsayer, Teiresias, tells them that Thebes
is suffering because of Oedipus and Jocasta’s
crime against nature.
Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus takes her
brooch and blinds himself. He is exiled
from Thebes and Antigone and Ismene,
his daughters, dutifully lead their father
through the lands during his exile.
A civil war breaks out about who will be the
new ruler of Thebes. Eteocles and
Polyneices fight to be heir to the throne.
They kill each other and their Uncle Creon
steps up. He believes one was the rightful
heir (the oldest son) and other was a traitor
to the state for challenging him. Creon
refuses a proper burial for the “traitor” and
this makes Antigone angry; she believes
BOTH her brothers deserve a proper burial.
Remember your mythology?
Why was a proper burial so
important to the Greeks?
You need to get to Hades!
Once a person has died, s/he must pay the
ferryman, Charon, to take him/her across the
River Styx to the Underworld. Otherwise, the
soul will not be able to rest.
Michelangelo’s
Last Judgment
Greek drama pgs. 1018-19
homework

All these notes and homework page notes
will be used on a quiz Monday. Come
prepared!

You MUST bring your book tomorrow and
everyday after!