Oedipus Rex Research

Sophocles
Sophocles was a celebrated ancient greek tragedian who lived to be 90 years old (496 BC- 406BC). He wrote 123 plays in lifetime, but is best known for only a few, especially Oedipus Rex. He competed in around 30 dramatic competitions in Athens, believed to have won 24, and was never judged lower than second place. He is also well known for his works Antigone, Oedipus at Colonus, Philocetes, The Women of Trachis, Electra, and Ajax. 

Oedipus Rex (man)
Oedipus was the greek king of Thebes. His name means "swollen foot" because of the legend of his birth parents nailing his feet together. He is the king of Thebes who unknowingly married his mother, Jocasta, and killed his father. This causes disaster in his city. All of this is his prophecy which he is expected by gods to fulfill. 

Oedipus Rex (play)

The play of Oedipus Rex is a famous Greek tragedy written by Sophocles. The play premiered in 429 BCE. The premiere was in the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens. It was originally written in the language of Classical Greek. It was apart of the Theben Series written by Sophocles. 

Oedipus Rex (myth)

The myth of Oedipus Rex was well known. Much of what is considered the myth itself takes place before the opening scene of the play. The myth of Oedipus says that Oedipus was born the son of Jocasta and Laius, queen and king of Thebes. The Oracle of Apollo consulted with them and told Laius that any son of his would kill him. When Jocasta had a son, Oedipus, they pierced his feet together and sent him away. He later returns to continue his myth and marry his mother.

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher born in Stagirus in 384 BCE. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child and he lived under a guardian's care. When he was 18 he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until he was 37. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.

Aristotelian Tragedy

According to Aristotle, reversal of fortune must be caused by the tragic hero's hamartia, which is often mistranslated as a character flaw, but is more correctly translated as a mistake (since the original Greek etymology traces back to hamartanein, a sporting term that refers to an archer or spear-thrower missing his target). According to Aristotle, "The change to badfortune which he undergoes is not due to any moral defect or flaw, but a mistake of some kind." The reversal is the inevitable but unforeseen result of some action taken by the hero. It is also a misconception that this reversal can be brought about by a higher power (the law, the gods, fate, or society), but if a character’s downfall is brought about by an external cause, Aristotle describes this as a misadventure and not a tragedy.

Hubris    

Aristotle described hubris as shaming the victim. It is not revenge or injuring the person because of some past, and it is not because of anything that happened to the person. Hubris is the shaming of a person for the injurer's arrogance and satisfaction. People think that by ill-treating another, it makes them more superior. 

Greek Theatre

Greek theatre was an important part of entertainment and society ancient Greece. The prestigious theaters in Athens would be visited by the wealthy of Greece to view plays of famous playwrights, like Sophocles. Types of greek theatre include tragedy, drama, comedy, etc. 

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony is the type of irony is the device of giving the audience an item of information that at least one of the characters in the narrative is unaware of (at least consciously), thus placing the spectator a step ahead of at least one of the characters. An example of dramatic irony is Romeo and Juliet (picture at left), in which Juliet does not know that Romeo is not dead, but the audience does. 

Teiresias

In Greek mythology, Tiresias, or Teiresias was a blind prophet of Thebes, famous for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes, and the nymph Chariclo. Tiresias participated fully in seven generations at Thebes, beginning as advisor to Cadmus himself.

Fate

Traditional usage defines fate as a power or agency that predetermines and orders the course of events. Fate defines events as ordered or "inevitable" and unavoidable. Classical and European mythology features three goddesses dispensing fate, known as Moiraiin Greek mythology, as Parcae in Roman mythology, and as Norns in Norse mythology. 

blessing

The documentary Baraka exhibits important aspects of first semester.  The most prevalent is the idea of compassion and how it is felt through the arts (literature, film, etc.). Such as seeing the images relating to the Holocaust and genocide of Kuwait. My own personal heartache came from the burning of the baby chicks' beaks, and how you could see the pain in their face. I was overwhelmed with that same feeling of compassion, and wanting to change it. This idea is heavily what first semester and our final essay was focused on.  The wonderment  referred to by Brussat was seen in many images as well. The Balinese tribe doing their dance and the African tribe with their jewelry included in their rituals was beautiful to observe. It was amazing to see that sacred ritual take place, evoking the feeling of wonderment and curiosity for myself.

I found certain images more impactful and memorable. The baby chicks at the egg factory being thrown, sorted, burned, etc., were very powerful. They make one realize how much our society turns a blind eye to the truly horrible things that take place every day. Other moving images were those of the abandoned concentration camps of the Holocaust and genocide of Kuwait. It made me realize I had almost no knowledge of the genocide in Kuwait, which was saddening and powerful. The piles of bones and skulls still sitting there was the most moving. Other images not mentioned by Brussat that were very impactful to me were those such as the monkey in the spring near the beginning of the film. The zoom into his serene, relaxed face showed his resemblance to a laid-back man. The monkey was enjoying himself and the nature that surrounds us, something modern humanity lacks. The old temple or ruins with trees and vegetation growing through them made an impact as well. It was nature taking itself back, growing roots and trees directly through the old ruins. Some might have looked at this image as beautiful, to me it is sad and also powerful that the earth is trying to recover.