Oedipus Rex

Assignment to have been completed: Students should have read pages 1327-1345 of Oedipus Rex.

Objectives:

• 1. To analyze a full-length drama

Activities:

• A. Distribute quiz over assigned scenes. Allow students about 10 minutes (less if everyone is finished) to complete the quiz. Collect the quizzes and place them with these plans.

• B. Go over the following questions with the students. Call on volunteers or go up and down the seating chart. I have provided answers to guide your judgment of their responses.

  Scene 2

  • 1. What do the following words mean: perquisite, prudent, duplicity, parry, incarnate, maunder, rant?

    Brazen – shameless or impudent

    Perquisite – an incidental privilege or advantage over and above what others enjoy

    Prudent – wise or judicious in practical affairs; sagacious; discreet or circumspect

    Duplicity – deceitfulness in speech or conduct

    Parry – to defend oneself against

    Incarnate – embodied in flesh; given a bodily, esp. a human, form

    Maunder – to talk in a rambling, foolish, or meaningless way

    Rant – to speak or declaim extravagantly or violently; talk in a wild or vehement way; rave

  • 2. What is Kreon’s tone in his opening speech?

    Proud, offended

    How does the Choragos respond?

    He attempts to temper the moment, suggesting Oedipus’ accusation aimed at Kreon was not serious and that those who tower above others are difficult to interpret.

    To which part of the tripartite Platonic soul does Kreon appeal?

    The intellect – reason

    From which part of the tripartite Platonic soul does Oedipus speak?

    The heart – emotion

  • 3. Identify all instances of dramatic irony in this scene.

    “If you think there is anything good in being stubborn / Against all reason, then I say you are wrong.” (521-522)

  • 4. Explain Kreon’s argument against coveting the power of a king.

    He wants only the rights, not the power, of a king. A king’s power makes him responsible for his people, and responsibility can weigh heavily on the king.

    In a back-handed way, Kreon is accusing Oedipus of madness, poor judgment,

    How does Oedipus regard his people’s pain?

    He asserts that they each suffer separately, but he suffers all their pain.

    Is his attitude supported by their own feelings about him? How or how not?

    He feels like a savior, and they see him as one.

  • 5. What role does Iokaste play in the argument between Oedipus and Kreon?

    She – like the Choragos – seeks to be a peacemaker, attempting to quell Oedipus’ wrathful accusations.

  Strophe 1, Strophe 2, Antistrophe 1, Antistrophe 2

  • 1. What is the tone of the Choragos?

    Conciliatory, appealing to reason

    What action does the Choragos urge Oedipus to take?

    He suggests a thorough investigation to turn up actual proof of the charges against Oedipus.

  • 2. Why does Oedipus agree to release Kreon?

    He is moved by the Choragos’ emotional response to his words and threatened actions against Kreon, not by Kreon’s protestations and arguments.

    Why does Kreon say to Oedipus: “Ugly in yielding, as you were ugly in rage! / Natures like yours chiefly torment themselves”?

    When Oedipus agrees to release Kreon, he adds that wherever Kreon goes he will be hated.

    What is Iokaste’s attitude toward fortunetellers?

    She believes “no man . . . gives knowledge of the unknowable.”

    Explain the significance to the plot of lines 685-686.

    The prophecy Iokaste explains is identical to the one the oracle gave Oedipus regarding the King and Queen of Corinth whom he believes to be his parents.

    That it “chilled his heart” foreshadows the doom to come.

    How does line 695 intensify the emotion?

    Oedipus recognizes the time and place of Laios’ murder. He seems to know now that he is the guilty party.

    How do lines 700-701 represent an epiphany?

    Oedipus recognizes that he may deserve the exile or death he commanded for Laios’ murderer.

    Identify any lines that follow that further develop the epiphany.

    “Alas, that makes it plain enough!” (709)

    “I have taken too much upon myself / Without enquiry” (722-723)

  • 6. How might Oedipus’ action after hearing the prophecy of the Oracle of Delphi be interpreted as an act against the divine?

    The Delphic Oracle spoke with the authority of Apollo. To doubt her was to doubt the god himself.

  Ode 2

  • 1. What do the following words mean: haughty and disdain?

    Haughty – Scornfully and condescendingly proud

    Disdain – To consider or reject as beneath oneself

  • 2. What is the tone of Strophe 1?

    Prayerful

    Who are “Those generations of the realms of light”?

    The gods

  • 3. Lines 829-834 offer a definition. What term do they define?

    Tyrant

    What are the details of that definition?

    A tyrant is proud, reckless and vain, but his pride brings him down.

    What are the qualities of a good ruler, according to the Chorus?

    He is ambitious but respectful of the gods

  • 4. What point does the Chorus assert in Strophe 2?

    Again, they insist that a man must respect the divine or pay the consequence of a painful penalty.

    Does Oedipus practice the attitude the Chorus espouses?

    No, his attempts to escape the fate revealed by the Delphic Oracle are a kind of blasphemy by which he denies the god’s power over him.

  • 5. What complaint does the Chorus make in Antistrophe 2?

    They declare Oedipus and Iokaste to be irreligious because the king and queen deny the authority of the oracles – and, therefore, the gods.

  Scene 3

  • 1. Why is Iokaste making the rounds of the altars of the gods?

    She seeks divine intervention because her husband has fallen into despair, arising from his fear of the information he has recently received.

    Explain how the simile in lines 876-878 applies to her motivation.

    Oedipus is the literal term while the confused helmsman is the figurative term. The helmsman steers the ship for the safety of the crew; the king steers the “ship of state” for the safety of the people.

  • 2. Identify all instances of dramatic irony in this scene.

    “I wish [Iokaste] happiness in a happy house, / Blest in all the fulfillment of her marriage.” (884-885) [The message he brings will guarantee her sorrow.]

    “Good news, my lady, for your house and your husband.” (889) [News of the deaths of the king and queen of Corinth will lead to Oedipus’ ultimate discovery of his true identity.]

    “You must be reassured by the news I gave you.” (952) [The news will open the door to more doubt and fear.]

    “I am a child of Luck; I cannot be dishonored.” (1024) [Oedipus is a child of misfortune whose twin sins of patricide and incest will soon be revealed to him.]

    “How could I wish that I were someone else? / How could I not be glad to know my birth?” (1027-1028) [He will soon wish he had never been born.]

  • 3. How do Oedipus’ speech in lines 915-923 and Iokaste’s speech in lines 928-930 connect to the choral Ode 2?

    He sees the Corinthian messenger’s words as proof that the oracles cannot be believed. Therefore, he disrespects the gods.

    She declares that fate cannot be seen (apparently even by the oracle of a god). She, too, disrespects the gods.

  • 4. Why does Iokaste speak as she does in lines 999-1001, 1003-1005, 1008, and 1012?

    She realizes that Oedipus is her son. She recognizes that the man they have sent for (the only survivor of Laios’ party whom Oedipus killed) is the same shepherd to whom Laios gave Oedipus as a baby to expose on the mountainside.

    How does Oedipus interpret Iokaste’s words and sorrow?

    He imagines that she is ashamed to be married to a man who may be the offspring of commoners or slaves.

  Ode 3

  • 1. What is the tone of this ode?

    Hopeful

  • 2. What is the function of the Chorus in this ode?

    To comment on the action

    To express emotion

Assignment for next class meeting: Read pages 1345-1359 of Oedipus Rex.