OEDIPUS REX Sophocles

WHY STUDY OEDIPUS REX?

Biographical & Historical- Sophocles, Athens and its atmosphere, Gods,

First known record 429 BC

Part of competition at Athens, also of a Trilogy (City Dionysia)

Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus; Sophocles the most successful: Won the City Dionysia 24 times

Oedipus Rex has been revived across centuries.

Sophocles known as the “purest artist”

Aristotle treats it as the perfect tragedy

OEDIPUS WHO?
OEDIPUS WHO?
Oedipus = Swollen Foot
Parents- Iocasta/Jocasta and Laius (Thebes)
Foster Parents- Polybus and Merope (Corinth)
OTHER IMPORTANT
CHARACTERS
Teiresias/Tiresias- Blind Prophet
Creon
Shepherds
Chorus (Citizens)
Apollo
SOPHOCLES:
“Outside of theatre life, Sophocles was also an active member of the Athenian polis.
He was a state treasurer (hellenotamiai) between 443 and 442 BCE and a general
(alongside Pericles) involved with putting down the revolt on Samos in c. 441 BCE.
In 413 BCE he sat on the ten-man council (the probouloi) which was convened to
deal with the crisis of Athens’ failed Sicilian expedition against Syracuse. In later life
the playwright was involved in a legal battle with his son who claimed his father was
senile and so sought his inheritance and control of the family property. We know that
Sophocles was a pious individual and actually a priest in the hero cult of Halon.
Following his death, the tragedian was himself honoured with a cult when he was
renamed Dexion.”
CHALLENGES FACED BY OEDIPUS: THE
SPHYNX’S RIDDLE
CHALLENGES FACED BY
OEDIPUS: THE GODS/FATE
Already-existing Prophecy about Laius’s son
Oedipus trapped into leaving Corinth upon hearing of the prophecy about him
Killing of Laius at the crossroads
Role of fate in setting up the Sphynx upon people of Thebes, Oedipus’s chance to save them
Crowning of Oedipus in Thebes and subsequent marriage to Jocasta
Apollo’s temple at Delphi confirming the existence of Laius’s killer in Thebes
Jocasta mocking the prophecy and saying how it did not come true, signals to Oedipus that
something is amiss
The workings of fate ensured at each juncture of the play
CHALLENGES FACED BY
OEDIPUS:
TRUTH/KNOWLEDGE
(SOPHISTS)
Oedipus as intelligent and curios to pursue challenges (such as the Riddle)
Quest for knowledge also sets him on a path of discovery his truth (the Sophists).
Use of metaphors of light and darkness in dialogue of investigation
The irony of Oedipus moving from sight to blindness even as he grows wiser
The irony of Tiresias being blind but knowing the truth all along