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Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece. Sophocles and Oedipus Rex. Greece in the 4 th Century B.C. Greece was the superpower of the known world The Greeks worshiped many gods: Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo, etc. Greek citizens were required to attend festivals to worship and honor the gods. Festival of Dionysus.

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Ancient Greece

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  1. Ancient Greece Sophocles and Oedipus Rex

  2. Greece in the 4th Century B.C • Greece was the superpower of the known world • The Greeks worshiped many gods: Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo, etc. • Greek citizens were required to attend festivals to worship and honor the gods.

  3. Festival of Dionysus • God of wine, agriculture, and theater • During this religious festival there was a theater competition – each competing playwright submitted 3 tragedies and 1 comedy • Winners won a goat • The most successful and recognized playwright was Sophocles

  4. Sophocles • Wrestler, musician, general, politician • Very handsome and successful • Celebrated playwright • 120 (ish) plays • 20 (ish) first prizes • Only 7 plays remain – the most famous: Oedipus Rex

  5. Theater of the Greeks • Every show was performed during the day • Audiences could be as many as 14,000 • Minimal, if any set, usually just a door • Only male actors, who all wore masks

  6. The Chorus • Group of around 15 men, speaking with one voice as one character • 3 jobs: summarize, pray, speak for the people

  7. Thespis (according to Aristotle, the first actor ever)

  8. No Violence on the Stage

  9. Oedipus Rex Notes… • Remember: • This is a story that was not invented by Sophocles • The original audiences would have known the story and how it ended

  10. What Happened Before… • Oedipus leaves his home city of Corinth to go wandering – some prophecy scarred him • Comes to a crossroad and kills a small group of people who wouldn’t get out of his way • Arrives at the city of Thebes who has recently lost their king • Thebes is under siege of the Sphinx and her riddle • Oedipus answers riddle, Sphinx dies, Oedipus is made king and marries the previous queen

  11. Sphinx’s Riddle…how smart are you? • What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening? • Answers? (you die if you get it wrong…) • A man – child, healthy adult, old man with a cane

  12. Another Greek god to Know: Apollo… • Greek god of music, medicine, light, sun, truth, knowledge, and poetry • Had an oracle at Delphi: the most famous oracle of Ancient Greece • What’s an oracle?

  13. Oedipus Rex Notes… • Themes • Willingness to ignore the truth • Limits of free will • Human pride • Symbolism • Sight and Light = Truth • Blindness and Dark = Ignorance/lies • Motifs • Sight vs. Blindness / Light vs. Dark

  14. Literary Terms for you… • Irony – when the opposite of what is expected happens • Situational Irony – when a character or reader expects one thing to happen but something else entirely happens • Verbal Irony – when someone says one thing but means another • Dramatic Irony – the contrast between what a character knows and what the reader or audience knows

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