Greek Arts and Oedipus the king

Greek Arts and Oedipus the king 2012-Introduction to Western Literature

希臘藝術的特質 • 希臘人富於民主思想和創造精神的天性，個性活潑開放情，崇尚運動，追求自由自在的樂趣。因此藝術表現上呈現出充滿健康、自然、樂觀、優雅等的特質，而有別於近東藝術那種超自然的、宗教的神祕感。在同一個時代，近東藝術中，作者只是奉命行事去完成，作品中沒有個人的創意也不留名，可是到了希臘時代，個人地位提昇，藝術品的製作者才逐漸受重視並留有名字。

希臘藝術的特質 • 希臘人因其唯美、唯善觀及優美之地埋、氣候環境，故追求完美，此種完美之要求亦及於人體及生活；再因其有優美之氣候與環境，對於戶外活動亦極為熱衷，於是有各種競賽、體能活動及奧林匹克運動會。

Ex. 雕刻 • 早期希臘雕刻受到埃及和近東各國的影響 • 直到「黑暗時代」過後，希臘人的雕刻開始建立自己的風貌，展開蓬勃的發展，並對往後歐洲藝術產生極大的影響。 • 希臘雕刻的風貌，主要靠文獻上的記載和羅馬時代的仿製品而得知；由於年代久遠、歷經戰亂和人為破壞，大部份原作己所剩無幾。

雕刻 • 希臘的雕刻和建築，是互為一體的，例如神廟建築上的破風雕刻﹝山形牆雕刻﹞或浮雕飾帶、墓碑上的浮雕……等。 • 除了和建築相結合之外，獨立性的雕像也很可觀，其創作泉源來自「人體美」，是歷史上「裸體雕刻」的創始。 • http://vr.theatre.ntu.edu.tw/hlee/course/th9_1000/open-08-broadcast.htm

米隆﹝Myron﹞之擲鐵餅者﹝Discus-Thrower﹞ 年代：450 B.C.

希臘之繪畫四個時期 由器皿上的彩繪來看 ﹝一﹞幾何形風格（約 11OO ─ 7OO B.C.） ﹝二﹞東方風格（約 75O ─ 6OO B.C.） ﹝三﹞黑體人像繪畫（約 7OO ─ 5OO B.C.） ﹝四﹞紅體人像繪畫（約5OO B.C.） http://vr.theatre.ntu.edu.tw/hlee/course/th9_1000/open-08-broadcast.htm

﹝一﹞幾何形風格（約 11OO ─ 7OO B.C.） 這是希臘本土構成性裝飾的表現，在陶甕上畫滿告種簡單而有規則的幾何圖飾，這類型的作品起初都沒有人物的裝飾圖案，直到西元前第八世紀才有明確的人物形象出現。

﹝二﹞東方風格（約 75O ─ 6OO B.C.） 早期的陶甕仍採用幾何圖案，由於當時希臘和近東地區商務接觸而產生的風格，以故事作為描繪的內容，人物、動物成為裝飾的主題，輪廓明確，筆觸肯定，造型生動，作品尺寸隨之增大。

﹝三﹞黑體人像繪畫（約 7OO ─ 5OO B.C.） 此種畫風存在於古樸時期至公元前六世紀末葉。以雕刻家埃司克埃斯﹝Exekias﹞之作品，題為「埃加士與艾契列士下棋」﹝Ajax & Achilles Playing Draughts﹞之陶罐為例，其特色為表面光滑、人體皆為黑色、尖鼻大眼、布局均衡、人物之腳部均在同一半畫面上、無景深，並有幾何形圖案。在公元前六世紀末葉左右，希臘陶工與畫工在社會中已漸有相當地位、故多在其作品上署名。

埃加士與艾契列士下棋 年代：540 B.C. 說明：黑體人像繪畫

﹝四﹞紅體人像繪畫（約5OO B.C.） 公元前五世紀左右，紅體人像繪畫逐漸取代黑體人像繪畫。人物皆為紅色，所有人物之立足點已非同在一水平線上，而係分布在並不規則之層次，與重疊之人物共同產生遠近距離之感覺，同時各人物皆有不同之動作，頗具動感。對人體之處理方面，與黑人物畫風相較，較為活潑、寫實，而非生硬、規律化。

Alice Y. Chang

Earliest coinage: Electrum • Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. It has also been produced artificially. • The ancient Greeks called it 'gold' or 'white gold', as opposed to 'refined gold'. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver.

Oldest Lydian Lion electrumhttp://rg.ancients.info/lion/

Sophocles’ Antigone • “Make your profits, import electrum from Sardis if you wish, and gold from India” (Anti 1037-1039).

An Athenian Owl • Silver Tetradrachm, with the Owl standing on a olive twig, a crescent on the upper left and "ΑΘΕ" in front and Athena wearing an ornamented helmet, 454 - 449 BC.

c. 430 BC - 23 X 27 mm diameter, 16.5g

Oedipus Story background

Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex • probably the most famous tragedy ever written. • It is known by a variety of titles (the most common being Oedipus Rex), including Oedipus the King and Oedipus Tyrannus. • Sophocles first produced the play in Athens around 430 B.C. at the Great Dionysia, a religious and cultural festival held in honor of the god Dionysus, where it won second prize. In the play Oedipus, King of Thebes, upon

Translation (1) • Thomas Francklin, 1759 – verse • Edward H. Plumptre, 1865 – verse: full text • Richard C. Jebb, 1904 – prose: full text • Gilbert Murray, 1911 – verse • Francis Storr, 1912 – verse: full text • William Butler Yeats, 1928 – mixed prose and verse • David Grene, 1942 (revised ed. 1991) – verse • E.F. Watling, 1947 – verse • Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald, 1949 – verse

Translation (2) • Theodore Howard Banks, 1956 – verse • Albert Cook, 1957 – verse • Bernard Knox, 1959 – prose • H. D. F. Kitto, 1962 – verse • Stephen Berg and Diskin Clay – verse • Robert Bagg, 1982 (revised ed. 2004) – verse • Robert Fagles, 1984 – verse • Nick Bartel, 1999 – verse: abridged text • Kenneth McLeish, 2001 - Verse • George Theodoridis, 2005 – prose: full text • Luci Berkowitz and Theodore F. Brunner, 1970 – prose • Ian Johnston, 2004 – verse: full text

Ancient Greek Tragedy • video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmSbqfy5Df0&feature=related

Ancient Greek Theatre.flv • Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNAM3PzGcow&feature=related

Three Theban plays: Not a trilogy • Oedipus the King  Oedipus at Colonus Antigone. • Antigone was first performed in 442 BCE. • Oedipus the King was first performed c. 429 BCE. • Oedipus at Colonuswas written shortly before Sophocles' death in 406 BC and produced by his grandson (also called Sophocles) at the Festival of Dionysus in 401 BCE.

Oedipus Jocasta Laius Polybus Merope Sphinx Teiresias (Tiresias ) Apollo Delphi Cithaeron Thebes (the House of Cadamus) People and places to know:

a winged female monster in Greek mythology having a woman's head and a lion's body and noted for killing anyone unable to answer its riddle

an ancient Egyptian image in the form of a recumbent lion having a man's head, a ram's head, or a hawk's head

Introduction • The setting of the Oedipus the King as in the case of most Greek tragedies, does not require a change of scene. Throughout the play the skene with at least one door represents the facade of the royal palace of Thebes. http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/netshots/oedipus.htm

Prologue (1-150) - Oedipus, Priest and Creon Read (1)

Prologue (Priest, Oedipus, Creon) • The priests of Thebes appear before Oedipus as suppliants, entreating him to find some end to the plague. • Oedipus has already sent Creon to Delphi, who arrives to report that the killer of Laius must be sought out and banished. • Oedipus vows to find the killer and summons the people of the city.

Prologue: Oedipus, Priest and Creon • What is the dramatic purpose of the prologue? • How does Oedipus characterize himself (8)? • What is his attitude toward the suppliants (13-14)?

Pollution/ miasma • blood pollution that infects the family, and for a royal family the city itself • The Plague of Thebes, oil on canvas,Charles François Jalabeat (French, 1819-1901)

Oedipus • "Oidi-pous“ in Greek means "swollen footed” • But we can also analyze Oedipus in at least two other ways: • oidi- to a Greek sounds like oida, oide = "I know, he knows" (a central theme in the play) • -dipous to a Greek means the "two-footed one," with obvious associations to the riddle of the Sphinx (another central theme)

Oedipus • Man of action, caring but haughty: 7ff, 71ff etc. • Revealer of the truth: 150 • Solver of riddles: 443ff (e.g.)

Parodos • The Chorus of Theban citizens offer prayers to Zeus, Apollo, Athena for release from the plague.

Parados (151-215) • What is the reaction of the Chorus to the advice of Apollo ('the Delian Healer') to Thebes (154-157)? • What conditions in Thebes does the Chorus describe)?

Delphi The Pythia was the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus.

Priestess of Delphi (1891) by John Collier

chorus is an "act-dividing song": • allows for entrances and exits • allows for the scene to change • marks the passage of time • chorus comments directly or indirectly on what is going on

First Episode Part two

First Episode • Oedipus appeals for information and pronounces his curse on the murderer. • Teiresias is summoned: at first he refuses to tell what he knows, but aroused by Oedipus' taunts he declares Oedipus the murderer. • Oedipus declares a conspiracy by Creon. Teiresias declares that the murderer is present, and will be found son and husband to his mother.

First Episode (216-462) - Oedipus, Chorus and Teiresias • Irony • Why does Oedipus summon Teiresias (278-287)? What is Teiresias's reaction to Oedipus's request for help (316-344)?

I must know. Know thyself! • But knowing is itself problematized in the Oedipus the King: central to the text is not only what is known and by whom, but what it means to "know"-- what is "true" knowing. • Insight and blindness

Apollo versus Oedipus: • divine versus human knowledge • Apollo • sun, day, clear, blazing, burning • fever, blazing, burning: sender of plague and the Healer • intelligence, clear, seeing • brilliance, poetry • truth (knowledge), clear, seeing • divine prophecy, clear, seeing

Greek Arts and Oedipus the king