Oedipus Rex Summer Assignment
Ashley Hinkle
AP Literature Summer Assignment
Oedipus Rex: 1. Oedipus probably didn’t deserve to have his eyes cut out and be taken from everything he loved. He didn’t know who his real parents were, therefore he was ignorant. If anything, it’s more likely the parents’ fault. They were so afraid of fate they got rid of their son, which ended up causing the events to happen. Oedipus was a jerk, but I don’t think he deserves to be punished the way he was. 2. The chorus is used to help tell the story and comment on the play’s action or foretell future events. 3. I believe fate is the same as predestination because both are in control and remove free will; however not all free will. Some of it is still left to be wielded by the person, but only for certain things. 4. His feet symbolize how he’s predetermined to suffer. They also are ironic because they are the final clue to his identity and he should have known about them. His mother should have even realized before it was too late. 5. Oedipus, even though he can see throughout most of the play, is blind to the prophet’s words of wisdom and warning, even to his own past. Later, he becomes literally blind when he stabs his eyes out. 6. In telling the parents the prophecy, they made it happen. Maybe that’s the reason it’s a bad idea to know your own future- because that makes it possible. 7. An issue like this would probably be handled with disgust and more interest than it should. It would be mocked, but shown on television or spread through rumors rather than shunned and kept secret. In the play, it was more of a travesty than it is now. I guess we sort of expect some screw ups to happen, but we want to be able to gawk at them when they do.
Dante’s Inferno: 1. Virgil was picked to be the guide and mentor of Dante because he was a brilliant poet of his time and he wrote Aeneid- a poem which shows him as an adventurer, which makes him the perfect guide. Smart and brave- the two
AP Literature Summer Assignment
Oedipus Rex: 1. Oedipus probably didn’t deserve to have his eyes cut out and be taken from everything he loved. He didn’t know who his real parents were, therefore he was ignorant. If anything, it’s more likely the parents’ fault. They were so afraid of fate they got rid of their son, which ended up causing the events to happen. Oedipus was a jerk, but I don’t think he deserves to be punished the way he was. 2. The chorus is used to help tell the story and comment on the play’s action or foretell future events. 3. I believe fate is the same as predestination because both are in control and remove free will; however not all free will. Some of it is still left to be wielded by the person, but only for certain things. 4. His feet symbolize how he’s predetermined to suffer. They also are ironic because they are the final clue to his identity and he should have known about them. His mother should have even realized before it was too late. 5. Oedipus, even though he can see throughout most of the play, is blind to the prophet’s words of wisdom and warning, even to his own past. Later, he becomes literally blind when he stabs his eyes out. 6. In telling the parents the prophecy, they made it happen. Maybe that’s the reason it’s a bad idea to know your own future- because that makes it possible. 7. An issue like this would probably be handled with disgust and more interest than it should. It would be mocked, but shown on television or spread through rumors rather than shunned and kept secret. In the play, it was more of a travesty than it is now. I guess we sort of expect some screw ups to happen, but we want to be able to gawk at them when they do.
Dante’s Inferno: 1. Virgil was picked to be the guide and mentor of Dante because he was a brilliant poet of his time and he wrote Aeneid- a poem which shows him as an adventurer, which makes him the perfect guide. Smart and brave- the two