The World of Oedipus Rex
Hello!
Today I'd like you to enlighten us as to the culture in which Oedipus "grew up." (OK, I do know that he is a fictional character created, for our purposes, by Sophocles.) However, he is an Everyman for his time, albeit an Everyman with a tragic flaw. (An Everyman is a character typical or representative of the age in which the story takes place.) You get many cultural clues within Oedipus Rex itself as to the gods, the treatment of women, leisure activities, the lives of royalty vs. common folk, murder, etc.
What were the beliefs of Greeks in Sophocles' lifetime? Describe the culture, the social strata, buildings, foods, entertainment, occupations, religion, etc. Maybe choose something within the play about which you fail to understand the significance (for instance, what are votive branches and why did the citizens of Thebes have them?) Pick a topic (I'm sure others besides the ones I listed exist), do a little research, and write us what you find. Remember: Don't choose a topic already covered and always give your source for information.
Make it worthwhile!
Love,
Mrs. D
posted by Sister Sara @ 5:29 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I'm always the last one! I'm way too buisy. Oh well. In Acient Greece, land was always short (i.e. there was not that much of it). So power came with land. If you had land you had power to rule people. There was a constant struggle between the people and the land owners who formed an aristocracy. For over 600 years, the aristocracies had to work to keep from being overthrown. Four cities emerged as dominant in these Greek affairs: Athens, Sparta, Cornith, and what we know so well, Thebes.
I got my info from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece
Luke is a genious! He really knows where to go to find stuff! Great minds think alike!
Given that this hasn't really been covered yet, I sought out the legend of Oedipus. Here it is....
Laius, Oedipus' father, kidnapped and raped the young boy Chrysippus and was then cursed by Chrysippus' father, Pelops. The weight of this curse bore down onto Oedipus himself. At his birth, it was prophesied that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Seeking to avoid such a fate, Laius had the infant's ankles pierced with nails and had him exposed (placed in the wilderness to die). His servant, however, betrayed him, handing the boy instead to a shepherd who presented the child to King Polybus and Queen Merope (or Periboea) of Corinth, who raised him as their own son.
At a party thrown by King Polybus, a drunk guest called Oedipus a bastard. Seeking to confirm his parentage, not believing the man, Oedipus sought out the Oracle. Instead of telling him his parentage, the Oracle related the same prophecy as was told to his father; that he would kill his father and marry his mother. After descending the mountain, on the road to the oracle he met an unarmed man on his own pilgrimage, riding a chariot. The man in the chariot demanded that Oedipus stand aside so he could pass. They argued, and Oedipus killed the stranger. The man was King Laius, Oedipus' father.
Oedipus decided that the drunkard at the party was lying, and decided not to return to home in order to avoid Polybus. As he traveled, Oedipus encountered a mystical creature that was terrorizing Thebes. Oedipus saved the city by answering the riddle of the Sphinx ("What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?": Man, as a baby man crawls on four legs; as an adult, two legs; when old, man uses a cane.) and was rewarded with the now-vacant throne of Thebes and the widowed queen Jocasta's hand in marriage. In Sophocles' play, Oedipus the King, Oedipus has four children with Jocasta, though this may have been a plot device he employed, as incest was not part of the original myth.
Within a short time, divine signs of misfortune and pollution began to appear in Thebes, which caused the king to seek out their cause. Finally, the seer Teiresias revealed to Oedipus that Oedipus himself was the source of the pollution. Oedipus discovered he was really the son of Laius and Jocasta and that the prophecy had indeed come to pass. Jocasta committed suicide and Oedipus blinded himself by forcing her brooch pins into his eyes.
So yes, a very lovely story full of lovely people who do lovely things. Not! I got this from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus
Hello? Is John Locke really Barn? Why the change?
OK, Jacob, I think you're ruining the story for the rest of us. There was a reason I did NOT give all the information that the Greek audience would have had prior to the performance of Oedipus Rex, and that's because former students have felt cheated because they couldn't discover the story line for themselves. UGH. So, no one read Jake's comments. OK? Jake, I've already graded this blog, so you could delete it....
Graded.
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