The Theban Plays of
Sophocles
Prompt
Do you believe that our lives are predestined? Do you believe the idea
that whatever will be will be, that
fate rules all that happens to us?
Or, do you believe in mankind’s free
will? Do you believe that you are in
total control of your life and what
happens to you?
Fortune Cookie
• 1.) Do not read your fortune until you have
eaten the whole cookie.
• 2.) If you have two fortunes in your cookie,
neither fortune will come true.
• 3.) If you have no fortune in your cookie, bad
luck will follow.
Questions
• 1.) What is a fortune?
• 2.) What are some ways people try to predict
their futures? Do you think these attempts are
believable?
• 3.) How do people explain major changes of
fortune in their lives?
• 4.) How do you think Ancient Greeks tried to
determine what would happen in their lives?
• 5.) Do you believe that our lives are predestined? Do you believe the idea that whatever
will be will be, that fate rules all that happens to
us?
• 6.) Or, do you believe in mankind’s free will?
Do you believe that you are in total control of
your life and what happens to you?
Fate
• People in Ancient Greece used many different ways to
discover their destiny, including soothsayers, oracles,
astrology, and other techniques.
• Citizens of Ancient Greece believed that their lives were
predetermined; that they were destined to follow fate.
• People were constantly trying to discover their fate.
• In the play we are going to read, the main character
has gone to great lengths to fight against his fate, the
prediction made about his future.
Introduction to the Theban Plays
• Plays having to do with Thebes
• Oedipus Rex (or Oedipus the King)
• Oedipus at Colonus (not Thebes---so…misnomer)
• Antigone
• Not a true trilogy---not in sequence
• In fact, they were EACH written as part of a
tetralogy---lost.
• Theban plays told story already familiar to Greeks--mythology
So why did Greeks attend?
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To see HOW the events unfolded
To see HOW the characters would be affected
Extraordinary writing
Interpretation
Think Pearl Harbor or Titanic
**Greek plays celebrated the God DIONYSUS
Sophocles
• Greek tragedian
• Born 497 B.C. Died 405 B.C.
• One of three ancient Greek tragedians whose works
have survived (Aeschylus and Euripides are the
other two)
• He wrote over 123 plays---only 7 have survived
Sophoclean Tragedy Characteristics
• It is based on events that already took place. The audience is familiar with
these events.
• The protagonist (main character) is a person of noble birth and stature.
• The protagonist has a weakness or flaw (hamartia) and, because of it,
becomes isolated and suffers a downfall. Many times the flaw, or hamartia,
is HUBRIS.
• Because the protagonist's fall is not entirely his or her own fault, the
audience may end up pitying him or her.
• The fallen protagonist gains self-knowledge. He has a deeper insight into
himself and understands his weakness.
• The audience undergoes catharsis, a purging of emotions, after
experiencing pity, fear, shock and other strong feelings. The people go
away feeling better.
• The drama usually unfolds in one place in a short period of time,
sometimes even in one day.
Hubris
• Hubris is excessive pride
• Hubris was considered a grave sin because it placed
too much emphasis on individual will
• Endangering the community as a whole.
• Because pride makes people unwilling to accept wise
counsel, they act rashly and make bad decisions.
• Great pride, such as that of Oedipus (Oedipus Rex)
or Creon (Antigone), is referred to as hybris or hubris.
Familiar and Unfamiliar Terms
• Protagonist (main character)
• Deuteragonist (second most important character)
• Titragonist (third most important character)
• Antagonist: opponent, rival, enemy, opposition
• NOTE: The deuteragonist may switch from being
with or against the protagonist depending on the
deuteragonist's own conflict/plot.
Greek Theater
• Chorus (12-15 masked people---no names)
• 2-3 actors
• More similar to modern opera than to modern
theater
• Singing and dancing
Influence
• Backbone of all theater in Western history
• Backbone of literature
• Shakespeare, of course, was VERY influenced by
Greek theater
Oedipus Rex
Characters:
Oedipus: “Swollen Feet” - Current King of Thebes
Jocasta: Oedipus’ wife, widow of murdered Laius
Polybus and Merope: Oedipus’ adoptive parents,
king and queen of Corinth
Creon: Jocasta’s brother
Tiresias: Soothsayer
Oedipus Rex
• An oracle warns King Laius of Thebes that his wife,
Jocasta, will bear a son who will one day kill him.
After Jocasta gives birth to a boy, Laius acts to defeat
the prophecy. First, he drives a spike through the
child's feet, then takes him to Mount Cithaeron and
orders a shepherd to kill him. But the shepherd,
taking pity on the baby, spares him after binding his
feet and tying him to a tree. A peasant finds the baby
and gives him to a childless couple--Polybus (also
Polybius), King of Corinth, and his wife, Periboea
(also Merope). They name the boy Oedipus (meaning
swelled foot) and raise him to manhood.
• .One day, when Oedipus visits the oracle at Delphi,
the chief city of a region in central Greece known as
Phocis, the oracle tells Oedipus that a time will come
when he slays his father and marries his mother.
Horrified, Oedipus later strikes out from Corinth.
He does not want to live anywhere near his beloved
parents, Polybus and Periboea, lest a trick of fate
cause him to be the instrument of their demise.
What he does not know, of course, is that Polybus
and Periboea are not his real parents.
• ........In Phocis on the road to Thebes, at an
intersection of three roads, Oedipus encounters his
real father Laius, whom he does not recognize, and
five attendants. Laius, who is riding in a mule-drawn
wagon, is on his way to Delphi to hear a prophecy
from the oracle. Laius, of course, does not recognize
Oedipus either. Oedipus and Laius quarrel over a
triviality--who has the right of way. The quarrel leads
to violence, and Oedipus kills Laius and four of his
attendants. One attendant escapes.
• Outside Thebes, Oedipus encounters the Sphinx, a winged
lion with the head of a woman. The grotesque creature has
killed many Thebans because they could not answer her
riddle: What travels on four feet in the morning, two at midday,
and three in evening? Consequently, the city lives in great
terror. No one can enter or leave the city.
........When Oedipus approaches the Sphinx, the beast poses
the riddle. Oedipus, quick of mind, spits back the right
answer: man. Here is the explanation: As an infant in the
morning of life, a human being crawls on all fours; as an adult
in the midday of life, he walks upright on two legs; as an old
man in the evening of life, he walks on three legs, including a
cane.
........Surprised and outraged, the Sphinx kills herself. Jubilant
Thebans then offer this newcomer the throne of Thebes.
Oedipus accepts it and marries its widowed queen, Jocasta.
Jocasta is, of course, the mother of Oedipus, although no one
in Thebes is aware of this fact. Thus, the oracle's prophecy to
Laius and Oedipus is fulfilled.
..
• Greek Theater
• Greek Tragedy
Thematic Concepts
• Fate and Free Will
• Power
• Truth and Blindness
Symbolism
• Eyes, Vision, Blindness
• The motif of sight vs. blindness is all over the play
• Words like "see," "sight," "vision," "eyes," and "blind.”
• Even words like “knowledge,” “oracle,” “truth,”
“prophecy,” are related to this because it is symbolic
of the pursuit of knowledge.
Symbolism
• The crossroads
• Crossroads are a traditional symbol of choice in
literature.
• Three-way crossroads: past, present, future