Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex: Setting
• Thebes
1.
2.
Location
Importance



3.
Dionysus
Cadmus
Oedipus
Origin
Oedipus Rex: Major Characters
•
•
•
•
•
Oedipus
Jocasta (Iocaste)
Creon
Teiresias
Chorus
Oedipus Rex: Structure
1.
Prologue (pp. 148-152, pp.
1-2)
2. Parados (pp. 152-154, p. 2)
3. Scene I (pp. 154-160)
4. Stasimon I (pp. 160-161)
5. Scene II (pp. 161-170)
6. Stasimon II (pp. 171-172)
7. Scene III (pp. 172-176)
8. Stasimon III (pp. 176-177)
9. Scene IV (pp. 177-179)
10. Stasimon IV (pp. 179-181)
11. Exodus (pp. 181-189)
Oedipus Rex: Essential Passages
• Character
1.
Passage 1
•
Abridged (p. 4)
•
Original (pp. 158-159, lines 173-181,
textbook)
2. Passage 2
•
Abridged (not included)
•
Original (not included in textbook)
•
Original (lines 648-660, Oxford text of
Lloyd-Jones and Wilson)
3. Passage 3
•
Abridged (partial, p. 10)
•
Original (pp. 185-186, lines 163-186,
textbook)
Oedipus Rex: Character Analysis
•
•
•
•
•
Oedipus
Creon
Teiresias
Jocasta
Chorus
Oedipus Rex: Essential Passages
• Theme
1.
Passage 1
•
Abridged (pp. 5-6)
•
Original (p. 174- lines 6469)
2. Passage 2
•
Abridged (not included)
•
Original (p. 184, lines 125137)
3. Passage 3
•
Abridged (not included)
•
Original (p. 189, lines 292300)
Oedipus Rex: Theme Analysis
• Fate vs. free will
• Wisdom and
knowledge
• Choices and
consequences
• Power
• Memory and the
past
Oedipus Rex: Imagery
• Blindness
• Hunting
• Wildness
Oedipus Rex: Foreshadowing
• Oedipus’ promise
• Oedipus’ physical
description
• Oedipus’ knowledge
of the crime scene
Oedipus Rex: Symbolism
• Scars on Oedipus’
feet
• The three-way
crossroads
• Eyes, vision, and
blindness
• Oedipus’ blinding
self with brooches
from Jocasta’s gown
Oedipus Rex: Dramatic Irony
• Oedipus condemns the
murderer.
• Oedipus does not
grasp the meaning of
his name despite the
scars on his feet.
• Marriage destroys
Jocasta.
• Both Oedipus and
Jocasta disparage
oracles.