Download Greek Drama and Oedipus Rex

Greek Drama and Oedipus Rex
Mr. Sweeney
Southwest High School
Drama

Drama – a story written to be performed
onstage by actors
◦ The plot is divided into acts, which are further
divided into scenes
◦ Dialogue – the conversations of the characters
Comedy vs. Tragedy
Comedy – a play with a happy ending;
usually deals with the struggles of
common people against social forces
 Tragedy – depicts the downfall of a main
character known as a tragic hero

Greek Tragedy

Qualities of a tragic hero
◦ Nobility
◦ Hamartia – a flaw that brings about the hero’s
downfall; all tragic heroes have one
◦ Hubris – also known as arrogance; it was the
most common flaw in Greek tragic heroes

Catharsis – the emotional cleansing we
experience as we watch the character
realize he has destroyed himself
Greek Plays
Only three actors were
used for all the main roles;
each often played multiple
roles
 Actors wore masks so the
audiences knew which
characters they were
supposed to be in each
scene

Greek Plays
A chorus of 10-15 people commented
on the action and divided the play by
reciting odes
 Each scene was, therefore, an episode
(“between the odes”)

Greek Playwrights

Three most
famous:
◦ Aeschylus
◦ Euripides
◦ Sophocles
Greek Theaters
Skene
Theatron
Proskenium
Orchestra
Greek Theaters
Greek Plays
Plays were usually performed as part of
religious festivals
 Awards were given to the authors of the
very best plays at these festivals
(Sophocles won first place in 24 of the 62
festivals he entered)
 Oedipus Rex was first performed at the
Festival of Dionysius in Athens; Dionysius
was the Greek god of wine

The Tale of Oedipus
King Laius of Thebes learns from an
oracle that he will have a son, and that
this son will kill his father (Laius) and
marry his mother (Jocasta)
 When the baby is born, Laius has his feet
pinned together
 Laius then gives the baby to a servant and
instructs him to take the baby into the
wild and kills him

The Tale of Oedipus
The servant cannot bring himself to kill
the innocent child, so he passes him on to
a Corinthian shepherd he meets
 The shepherd takes the baby back to
Corinth and presents him to the
Corinthian king and queen
 They name him Oedipus (“swollen foot”)
because of the wound to his feet; they do
not tell him he was adopted

The Tale of Oedipus
When he has grown to a young man, a
drunken servant tells Oedipus that he
was adopted
 Since no one else will tell him the truth,
Oedipus goes to an oracle, who tells him
he will kill his father and marry his
mother
 Distraught, Oedipus vows never to return
to Corinth

The Tale of Oedipus
On the road, Oedipus
meets a wealthy traveler,
who picks a fight with
him; Oedipus kills the
man, and the man’s
servant runs away
 Oedipus continues
traveling and meets the
Sphinx, who has
terrorized the city of
Thebes with his riddle
 Oedipus solves the
riddle and kills the
Sphinx

The Tale of Oedipus
The people of Thebes are overjoyed, but
their king has been killed – the do not
know who did it
 They name Oedipus their new king and
so he marries the old king’s widow,
Jocasta
 As the play begins, he has been king for
about 20 years, and has multiple children
with Jocasta
