Unraveling the Riddle of Oedipus Study Guide PITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER’S STUDY GUIDE Oedipus the King by Sophocles Translated by William Butler Yeats September 28 – October 29‚ 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS SOPHOCLES Sophocles’ Life 3 Works by Sophocles 4 THOUGHTS FROM THE DIRECTOR 5 OEDIPUS THE KING Synopsis 6 Characters 7 Glossary 8 The Translator 9 Themes 10 The Riddle of the Sphinx 11 ANCIENT GREECE Daily Life 12 Why Ancient
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The Exile of Oedipus As Oedipus began to walk his long journey into an empty road of solitude‚ he suddenly stopped to think about the aftermath of all the chaos that had just taken place in Thebes. He soon came to realize that he would never again return to the city of Thebes after discovering the truth about himself and Laius’ killer. Absent minded of his inability to see‚ he turned his head as if looking back at the city of Thebes from afar. As he proceeded to walk‚ he sensed the company
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The power hierarchy between deities and immortal gods tragically prevail over mortal being’s fate. In the play‚ Oedipus the King and Herakles both heroes suffered heavily upon the uncontrollable fate that befalls their future from both inescapable deities. However‚ contrastingly Oedipus’ fate was more tragic. Oedipus’s tragedy was innately out of the gods’ control. His fate was set upon by a prophecy Apollo preached to Laius and Jocasta before his birth. Although‚ his parents tried to prevent the
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Rise and Fall of Oedipus In his novel Brave New World‚ Aldous Huxley uses intellect as both the rise and fall of John the Savage. The Savage’ enters civilization and instantly becomes somewhat of a celebrity because of his knowledge of the outside world. He learns quickly of the conformist society‚ and is eventually disgusted by what he sees. Shortly after his arrival in civilization‚ John the Savage is internally torn apart by his knowledge and eventually commits suicide. Oedipus the Play is somewhat
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many aspects that reflected the moral values and ideals of society. Their customs were tightly woven into the scripts of plays. Antigone and Oedipus the King‚ two renowned works of the Greek playwright Sophocles‚ explore these values through a plot thick with corruption‚ virtue‚ and determination. These plays reveal the burdens two Theban kings‚ Oedipus and Creon‚ as their lies and poor judgment corrode the integrity of their city‚ their families and themselves. Possessing a strong faith in their
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Oedipus Rex Sophocles‚ 496-406 B.C. Main Characters Oedipus - The story revolves around Oedipus and his search for the cause of the blight on his city finding it to be himself. Iocaste - Iocaste is Oedipus’ wife and mother who was very supportive of Oedipus’ search of the truth until she found out that she was part of that truth when she committed suicide. Creon - Creon‚ Iocaste’s brother‚ helps Oedipus find the murderer‚ but when the truth begins to come out through Teiresias‚ Oedipus
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Oedipus Rex – Key Quotes OPENING SCENE – TONE‚ LOCATION AND EXPOSITION The action takes place in Thebes in front of the royal palace OEDIPUS: the city fills with incense‚ chants‚ and cries of pain? PRIEST: For our city‚ as you yourself can see‚ is badly shaken—she cannot raise her head above the depths of so much surging death. Disease infects fruit blossoms in our land‚ disease infects our herds of grazing cattle‚ makes women in labour lose their children.
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must be smiling at Oedipus Blindness In the play written by Sophocles “Oedipus the King‚” is depicted as one who is blind to his own ego‚ pride stubbornness‚ anger and lack of knowledge. First written in Greek mythology this play is about a King of Thebes whose ego overshadowed his ability to focus on his the necessary things to stabilize his kingdom; his anger and pride eventually led to his down fall. Having solved the riddle of the Sphinx‚ (an evil creature) King Oedipus was able to succeed
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Essay on Oedipus Rex 4-3-97 In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex‚ the theme of irony plays an important part through the play. What Oedipus does‚ what he says‚ and even who he is can sometimes be ironic. This irony can help us to see the character of Oedipus as truly a ’blind’ man‚ or a wholly ’public’ man. A great irony is found in Oedipus’s decree condemning the murderer. Oedipus says‚ "To avenge the city and the city’s god‚ / And not as though it were for some distant friend‚ / But for my own sake‚ to be
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In Ancient Greece the existence of gods and fate prevailed. In the Greek tragedy King Oedipus by the playwright Sophocles these topics are heavily involved. We receive a clear insight into their roles in the play such as they both control man ’s actions and that challenging their authority leads to a fall. The concepts of the gods and fate were created to explain things. In Ancient Greece there was a lot that was not understood; science was in its infancy and everything that happened could be
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