Title(s): Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus or Oedipus the King

Author: Sophocles

Genre: tragic play

Setting (Time): mythical past of ancient Greece (Place): Country= Greece

City= Athens City-State= Thebes

Time and Place Written- Athens, Greece 425 BC

I. Religion•The Greeks worshipped many gods, who had human attributes. •The Greeks believed in the concept of predestination. •To learn the will of the gods, the Greeks consulted omens, oracles, and soothsayers.•The Greeks believed that the gods became angry with people who were guilty of having too much pride. •Plays were written and performed as part of a religious celebration to honor the god Dionysus, who according to a Greek myth, suffered, died, and was resurrected. •The intention of the play is to teach the audience a lesson about life.

II. Vocabulary:

Predestination- the belief that your fate is preordained; determined beforehand; i.e. A person that believes in predestination (fate) doesn’t believe he/she has free will.

Hubris- too much pride

Oracle- a person through whom a god is believed to speak. i.e. The ancient Greeks believed the priestess was an oracle speaking the God Apollo’s prophecies.

Soothsayer- clairvoyant; mystic, seeri.e. The ancient Greeks believed certain people had the ability to see the future.

Dionysus- God of wine and theater

Apollo- God of prophecy, sun, music

SphinxIn Greek mythology the Sphinx was a monster with the face and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion, and wings. When Oedipus left Corinth, he came acroos the Sphinx on his travels. She was guarding the entrance to Thebes and placed and asked all who would pass a riddle. When Oedipus gave the correct answer, the Sphinx hurled herself over the cliff to her death. The curse she placed on Thebes was lifted and Oedipus became the new king.

The Myth of Oedipus•The ancient Greek audience was already familiar with the story of Oedipus before they watched the play’s performance. (Literary Term) ______________________Identify a film from modern society where the audience already knows the story before watching the movie.•Oedi/pus___________/___________•The play begins in the middle of things to create a more suspenseful atmosphere.(Literary Term) __________________________•The Oracles

Spoiler Alerts:The First Oracle- King Laius, The former ruler of Thebes is told an awful oracle and tries to stop it from happening.

The Second Oracle- When Oedipus is eighteen years old, a drunken man at a party tells Oedipus something that causes him to leave his parents (King Merope and Queen Polybus) in Corinth and travel to the oracle at Delphi

The Third Oracle- At the beginning of the play, Oedipus is around 40 years old, and Thebes is struck once again by a plague. Oedipus sends his brother-in-law to the oracle at Delphi in order to learn the reason for the plague.