Oedipus Rex By Sophocles

Literature & Composition I Ms. Dobbins 2014 – 2015

How does art reflect and impact a culture’s values?

What are individuals responsibilities to their societies?

How does an author use motif to develop theme?

Name: _______________________

Block: ___

Table of contents Reading sign ups……………………………………………………. 3 Motif tracking……………………………………………………. 4 Vocabulary………………………………………………………… 5 Vocabulary set 1…………………….…………………………….. 6 Context/historical setting……………………………………... 9

Unit Objectives • • • • • • •

Compare  the  role  of  fiction  in  ancient  Greece  and  today.   Describe  the  effect  of  authors’  word  choices  on  meaning  and  mood.   Identify  how  patterns  of  word  choices  and  literary  devices  create  a  motif.   Make  claims  about  how  motif  contributes  to  theme  development.   Select  appropriate  evidence  of  motifs  to  support  claims  about  theme.   Analyze  motif  to  show  how  it  supports  claims.   Organize  evidence  and  analysis  to  logically  build  support  of  claim.  

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Reading Sign-ups Chorus:

Ias__________

oedipus:

_______________

creon:

_______________

Jocasta:

_______________

priest:

mr. k_________

messenger 1: Ms. Eliason___ messenger 2: ms. Eliason____ herdsman:

_______________

teiresias:

mr. kelly___

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Motif Tracking While We Read Directions: Instead  of  annotating  as  you  read,  you  will  flag  instances  of  various   motifs  throughout  the  text.       You  need  to  assign  each  of  the  motifs  a  color  and  then  mark  them  in  the  text  every   time  they  appear.     Motifs   Truth  /   absence  of   truth  

Related  Terms    

Assigned  Color    

       

 

Evil  /  absence     of  evil  

     

 

Fate  /  absence     of  fate  

   

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Vocabulary

Vocabulary set 1: hubris tone motif theme Dramatic Irony Foreshadowing Vocabulary review: Destiny Predestined Fate Free will chance Vocabulary set 3: Sphinx Plague Oracle Prophecy ruin prophet quarrel ignorance. pride arrogant meddling infamy

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vocabulary set 1 WORD: Hubris

DEFINITION:

SENTENCE: PICK 1: Picture ♦ Synonyms & Antonyms ♦ Use in Class

WORD: Tone

DEFINITION:

SENTENCE: PICK 1: Picture ♦ Synonyms & Antonyms ♦ Use in Class

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WORD: Motif

DEFINITION:

SENTENCE: PICK 1: Picture ♦ Synonyms & Antonyms ♦ Use in Class

WORD: Theme

DEFINITION:

SENTENCE: PICK 1: Picture ♦ Synonyms & Antonyms ♦ Use in Class

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WORD: Dramatic Irony

DEFINITION:

SENTENCE: PICK 1: Picture ♦ Synonyms & Antonyms ♦ Use in Class

WORD: Foreshadowing

DEFINITION:

SENTENCE: PICK 1: Picture ♦ Synonyms & Antonyms ♦ Use in Class

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Historical setting for oedipus rex Title: Oedipus  Rex  (or  Oedipus  the  King) Author: Sophocles,  a  Greek  dramatist,  496-­‐406  BCE Background of the story of oedipus Place: Thebes,  a  city  in  ancient  Greece       Events prior to the beginning of the play:            Oedipus  is  a  wanderer  who  leaves  his  home  in  his  youth  because  he  hears  that   the  city  of  Thebes  is  under  siege  by  the  Sphinx.  The    Sphinx  is  a  monster  shaped  like   a  winged  lion  with  the  breasts  and  head  of  a  woman.  The  Sphinx  waits  on  the  roads   to  the  city  of  Thebes,  stops  any  traveler,  offers  a  riddle,  and  if  they  fail  to  answer  her   riddle,  she  eats  them.  Her  riddle  is,  “What  creature  walks  on  all  four  legs  in  the   morning,  two  in  the  afternoon,  and  three  in  the  evening?”  Meanwhile,  the  king  of   Thebes,  Laios,  is  murdered,  but  the  city  is  too  busy  with  the  Sphinx  to  find  revenge.                Oedipus,  courageous  and  intelligent,  has  nothing  to  lose,  so  he  seeks  out  the   Sphinx’s  challenge.  He  answers  the  riddle  (__________________),  and  the  Sphinx  kills   herself.  To  show  their  gratitude,  the  people  of  Thebes  make  Oedipus  their  king  and   Jocaste,  the  widowed  queen,  marries  Oedipus.  Four  children  later,  Oedipus’  good   times  seem  to  have  come  to  an  end.  A  plague  strikes  the  city  of  Thebes  and  the   citizens  and  herds  alike  are  dying  from  disease.  Those  alive  are  suffering  from   starvation  and  crowd  the  steps  of  the  palace  of  King  Oedipus,  begging  their  king  to   help  them  out  of  their  troubles  once  again.     Players:     Oedipus:  King  of  Thebes  

 

 

Jocaste:  Oedipus’  wife,  was  Laois’  wife  

Teiresias:  blind  prophet  of  Thebes  

 

Creon:  Jocaste’s  brother  

Chorus:  Theban  elders,  narrators    

 

Priest:  Theban  elder  with  religious  duties  

Messenger  1  &  2  

 

Herdsman:  shepherd  of  former  king  Laios  

 

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