How does the background information on Greek Theater and History inform your reading of Oedipus? Use specific examples to explore the connections between context and content.
When I read Oedipus I expect to find several things happening that I do not expect in a stage play at Tigard High School.
For one thing, this idea of a chorus serves to keep redirecting my attention to the issues that Sophocles is trying to highlight. Here’s an example:
CHORUS:
Destiny guide me always
Destiny find me filled with reverence
pure in word and deed.
Great laws tower above us, reared on high
Born for the brilliant vault of heaven—
Olympian Sky their only father,
Northing mortal, no man gave them birth,
Their memory deathless, never lost in sleep:
Within them lives a mighty god, the god does not
grow old. (lines 954-963)
Now what this does to the play is give to the audience (me) specific instruction about what I am supposed to be thinking about the most.
Honestly, given how much I have to do, I like this. My mom says that she doesn’t mind being told what to do since she has so much to think about that she needs managing. That makes sense...
The Chorus in the lines quoted above wants me to know that, according to Sophocles (who is the voice of the chorus, I think),
1. Destiny is big. This is fatalistic so not a favorite to me but I get it. Sophocles wants the audience to respect destiny and not try to wiggle out of it. He can think that if he wants to. I don’t have to agree. But I like knowing EXACTLY what his point of view is. No guessing here.
2. Nobility of thought, as in pure reverence/respect in word and deed are very important. I agree.
3. Laws are divine—from Olympia. They are not mortal.
4. Greek divinities are big. Very big.
So the Chorus is a specific Greek drama element which impacts all parts of the play.
Another element of Greek drama which I notice is that everyone is very serious as if giving a speech. The Greek theater was designed on a large scale to accommodate a large number of people on stage as well as in the audience. Apparently mathematics played a large role in the construction of these theaters since their designers had to be able to create acoustics in them so that the actors’ voices could be heard throughout the theater, all the way to the top.
There is no way that I can know for sure that Sophocles wrote each character’s part as if it were part of an oratorical event but the diction and sentence construction seems very formal and speech-like. This would be a characteristic of Greek drama as I see it.
The stage directions and setting of the play reinforce this idea that this is a formal setting, and royal. Only high
placed characters in this society are noted as important enough to have a play written about them. Around line 165 we read “OEDIPUS and CREON enter the palace, followed by the guards.” This is very Greek theater to me. Palaces and guards mean great solemnity and seriousness.
Another Greek drama idea is one that I learned about my freshman year--hubris. This means a certain arrogance and pride which are taken to extremes. Oedipus wants to bring order to his kingdom but he is not a calm leader. He is angry and pushy, even though compassionate. Perhaps it is hubris which leads him to be reactive, leading to the death of Laius, his father.
