Book 18 (26) A black cloud of grief enwrapped Achilles, an

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Yet the riddle, at least, was not for the
first comer to read there was need of a seer's
help, 395 and you were discovered not to have
this art, either from birds, or known from some
god. But rather I, Oedipus the ignorant, stopped
her, having attained the answer through my wit
alone, untaught by birds.
What is that which has one voice and yet becomes
four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?
Apollod. 3.5.8
2
Aristotle, Poetics 1453a This is the sort of man
who is not pre-eminently virtuous and just, and
yet it is through no badness or villainy of his
own that he falls into the misfortune, but rather
through some hamartia in him, he being one of
those who are in high station and good fortune,
like Oedipus and Thyestes and the famous men of
such families as those. . . . The change must
be not to good fortune from bad but, on the
contrary, from good to bad fortune, and it must
not be due to villainy but to some great hamartia
in such a man as we have described, or of one who
is better rather than worse. This can be seen
also in actual practice. For at first poets
accepted any plots, but today the best tragedies
are written about a few families 20 Alcmaeon
for instance and Oedipus and Orestes and Meleager
and Thyestes and Telephus and all the others whom
it befell to suffer or inflict terrible disasters.
3
Oedi/pus Oidi/pous

• Oedipus the King, 980 But fear not that you
  will wed your mother. Many men before now have
  slept with their mothers in dreams. But he to
  whom these things are as though nothing bears his
  life most easily.

4
Homer and Hesiods Oedipus

• Odyssey 11.271-80 And I saw the mother of
  Oedipodes, fair Epicaste, who wrought a monstrous
  deed in ignorance of mind, in that she wedded her
  own son, and he, when he had slain his own
  father, wedded her, and straightway the gods made
  these things known among men. 275 Then he lived
  as lord of the Cadmeans in lovely Thebe,
  suffering woes through the baneful counsels of
  the gods, but she went down to the house of
  Hades, the strong warder. She made fast a noose
  on high from a lofty beam, overpowered by her
  sorrow, but for him she left behind woes 280
  full many, even all that the Avengers of a mother
  bring to pass.
• Hesiod, Works and Days 161-3 Grim war and dread
  battle destroyed a part of them, some in the land
  of Cadmus at seven-gated Thebes when they fought
  for the flocks of Oedipus

5
1 Cadmus looks for his sister Europa Oedipu
s marries his mother, Jocasta Antigone buries
her brother Polynices, despite prohibition
2 The Spartoi kill each other Oedipus kills
his father Eteocles kills his brother,
Polynices
3 Cadmus kills the Serpent Oedipus kills
the Sphinx
4 Laius ( left-sided) son of Labdacus (
lame) Oedipus ( swell-foot)
The overvaluation of blood relations is to their
undervaluationas the attempt to escape
autochthony is to the impossibility of succeeding
in it. Claude Lévi-Strauss
6

• Aristotle, Poetics 6 1449b25 Tragedy is a
  representation (mimesis) of a serious, complete
  action that has importance, in embellished
  speech, with each of speech's elements used
  separately in the various parts of the play,
  represented by people acting (drama) and not by
  narration, accomplishing by means of pity and
  fear the catharsis of such emotions.

7
Parthenon
Theatre of Dionysus
8
Sophocles, 1st victory 468Theban Plays, not a
trilogyAntigone late 440sOedipus Tyrannus 428
?Oedipus at Colonus 402
orchestra
skênê
9

• Great Dionysia (March) Lennaea (January)
• day one - procession of statue of Dionysus,
  sacrifice
• dithyrambic contest accompanied by flute
• day two - five comedies
• days 3-5 three tragedies each day plus satyr
  play
• 1000 active participants, 14,000 spectators
• each play only performed once
• chor-egoi and playwrights
• 3 or possibly four actors, choral leader
• poets become didaskaloi, directors of the plays
• judges chosen by lot from those nominated by
  their tribes
• 5 votes used from 10 cast
• competition between choruses
• audience consists probably only of men

10
Definitions by AristotleRevelation/recognition
An anagnorisis . . . is a change from
ignorance to knowledge . . . among people with
regard to peoples good fortune or misfortune. A
recognition is finest when it occurs at the same
time as a peripeteia, as it does in the Oedipus.

• Plot - mythos
• The mythos should be constructed in such a way
  that, even without seeing it, someone who hears
  about the incidents will shudder and feel pity at
  the outcome, as someone may feel upon hearing the
  plot of the Oedipus.
• Reversal
• A peripeteia is a change of the actions to their
  opposite. . . in accordance with probability and
  necessity. E.g. in the Oedipus, the man who
  comes to bring delight to Oedipus and to rid him
  of his terror about his mother, does the opposite
  by revealing who Oedipus is.

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1-150 Prologue 25 A blight has fallen on the
fruitful blossoms of the land.33 We deem you the
first among men in life's common fortunes and in
dealings with divinities.64 My soul is in pain
at once for the city, for myself, and for
you. 114 He left our land, as he said, on a
mission to Delphi. 122 He said that robbers fell
upon them, not one man alone, but with a great
force.130 The riddling Sphinx had forced us to
let things that were obscure go.151-215
Parados All you gods, help ! 353 you are the
accursed defiler of this land. 366 You have
been living in unguessed shame with your closest
kin.385 Creon, my old friend, has crept upon me
by stealth, yearning to overthrow me, and has
suborned such a scheming juggler462-512
Stasimon1 The augur has spread confusion. 709
Nothing of mortal birth shares in the science of
the seer. 713 He would suffer his doom at the
hands of the child to be born to him and me. 730
Laius was slain where the three roads meet.745 I
have laid myself under a terrible curse without
realizing it.774 My father was Polybus of
Corinth, my mother the Dorian Merope. 779 A man
drunk with wine cast it at me that I was not the
true son of my father.
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784 They were angry at the one who had let this
taunt fly.792 I was fated to defile my mother's
bed, that I would reveal to men a brood which
they could not endure to behold, and that I would
slay the father that sired me. 813 I slew every
one of them. 821 And I pollute the bed of the
slain man with the hands by which he
perished.843 He spoke of Laius as slain by
robbers. 871-910 Stasimon 2 Hybris breeds a
tyrant.911-1088971 But as the oracles stand at
least Polybus has swept them with him to rest in
Hades. 1016 You had no blood in common with
Polybus.1040 Another shepherd gave you to
me.1042 I think he was said to be one of the
household of Laius.1056 Regard it not waste not
a thought on what he said it would be vain.1062
Even if I should be found the son of a servile
mother, a slave by three descents, you will
not be proven baseborn.1068 May you never know
who you are!1080 I, who hold myself son of
Fortune that gives good, will not be
dishonored.1089-1109 Stasimon 3 Is Oedipus the
child of a god?1110-11851171 It was said to
be (Laius) own child.1182 Oh, oh! All brought
to pass, all true.
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1186-1221 Stasimon 4 Call no earthly creature
blessed.1226 For I think that neither the
Ister nor the Phasis could wash this house clean,
so many are the ills that it shrouds, or will
soon bring to light, ills wrought not
unwittingly, but on purpose. 1230 And those
griefs smart the most which are seen to be of our
own choice.1281 The old happiness of their
ancestral fortune was once happiness indeed. But
now today lamentation, ruin, death, shame, and
every earthly ill 1285 that anyone could name
are all theirs.1297-1367 Kommos 2 O dread fate
for men to see.1329 It was Apollo, friends,
Apollo who brought my troubles to pass, these
terrible, terrible troubles. But the hand that
struck my eyes was none other than my own,
wretched that I am!1349 Perish the man, whoever
he was, who freed me in the past years from the
cruel shackle on my feet. Aristotle, Poetics
1452b A prologos is the whole of that part of a
tragedy which precedes the entrance of the
chorus. 20 An episode is the whole of that
part of a tragedy which falls between whole
choral songs. An exodos is the whole of that
part of a tragedy which is not followed by a song
of the chorus. A parodos is the whole of the
first utterance of the chorus. A stasimon is a
choral song without anapaests or trochaics. A
kommos is a song of lament shared by the chorus
and the actors on the stage.
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Multiple-choice type questionsA deadly footed,
double striking curse, from father and mother
both, shall drive you forth out of this land,
with darkness on your eyes, that now have such
straight vision. Who is being addressed?A.
Creon B. Cadmus C. Oedipus D. Hippolytus E.
Io3. To say that a myth is etiological means
that a. it reduces to a shorthand script for
some ritual. b. it derives ultimately from the
structure of the mind. c. it contains the basic,
identical structure shared by all myths. d. it
went through layers of historical
development. e. it explains the origin of some
fact or custom.
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Oedipus at Colonus
17
Antigone1 Ismene, my sister, true child of my
own mother, do you know any evil out of all the
evils bequeathed by Oedipus that Zeus will not
fulfill for the two of us in our lifetime? And
now what is this new edict (kerugma) that they
say the general has just decreed to all the city?
As for the poor corpse of Polyneices, however,
they say that an edict has been published to the
townsmen that no one shall bury him or mourn him,
but instead leave him unwept, unentombed.(40)
35 Whoever performs any of these rites, for him
the fate appointed is death by public stoning
among the entire city. This is how things stand
for you, and so you will soon show your nature,
whether you are of good birth, or the corrupt
daughter of a noble line.(51) 45 Yes, he is my
brother, and yours too, even if you wish it
otherwise. I will never be convicted of
betraying him.No, its not for him to forbid me
from my own.
18
(56) 58 Consider how badly we will be destroyed,
if in defiance of the law (nomos) 60 we
transgress against a tyrants vote or his powers.
No, we must remember, first, that ours is a
woman's nature, and accordingly not suited to
battles against men and next, that we are ruled
by the more powerful, so that we must obey in
these things and in things even more stinging.
65 I, therefore, will ask those below for
pardon, since I am forced to this, and will obey
those who have come to authority. (87) 74 The
time is longer when I must serve the dead than
the living, since in that world I will rest
forever. (90) I do no dishonor. But to act in
violation of the citizens' force of that I am
by nature incapable.(118-) 99-153 Parodos -
Hurray, we beat Argos !
19
(191) 173 I now possess all the power and the
throne according to my kinship with the dead.
Now, it is impossible to know fully any man's
soul (psyche), thought (phronema) , or decision
(gnome), until he has been proved by the test of
rule (arche) and laws. (202) 183 If any man
thinks a friend (philos) more important than his
fatherland (patra), that man, I say, is of no
account.(210) 192 Such are the rules (nomoi) by
which I strengthen this city. Akin (adelpha) to
these is the edict which I have now published to
the citizenry concerning the sons of Oedipus.
(291) 264 We were ready to take red-hot iron in
our hands, to walk through fire and to swear
oaths by the gods that we had neither done the
deed, nor shared knowledge of the planning or the
doing. (ordeal)(320) 289 From the very first
certain men of the city were chafing at this
edict and muttering against me, tossing their
heads in secret, and they did not keep their
necks duly under the yoke in submission to me.
By those men, I am certain, they were led astray
and bribed to do this deed.
20
Creon HaemonAntigone Ismene
21
(368-) 332-372 First Stasimon Ode to Man
(anthropos)Sophists, the Sophistic
Movement Protagoras man is the measure of all
things Plato, Cratylus 386a(368) 332
Wonders (deina) are many, and none is more
wonderful than man. . . Only from death can he
call on no means of escape. . . . If he honors
the laws of the earth and the justice of the gods
he has confirmed by oath, high is his
city.(1168) 1096 To yield is terrible
(deinon), but, to resist, to strike my pride with
ruin this, too, inspires terror.(571) 520
But the good man gets a portion not equal to the
evils. Who knows but that these actions are
pure to those below?
22
(418) 381 Surely they are not bringing you
captive for disobeying the King's laws and being
caught in mindlessness (aphrosune)?(483) 439
Naturally, though, all such things are of less
account to me than my own safety.(487) 442 I
declare it and make no denial.(492) I knew it.
How could I not? It was public. (494) 450
Yes, since it was not Zeus that published me that
edict, and since not of that kind are the laws
which Justice who dwells with the gods below
established among men. Nor did I think that your
decrees were of such force, that a mortal could
override the unwritten 455 and unfailing
statutes given us by the gods. (523) 478 For
there is no place for great thought (phronein),
when one is his neighbors' slave. This girl was
already practiced in outrage when she overstepped
the published laws. (528) 484 I am no man
(aner), but she is, if this victory rests with
her and brings no penalty. (535) 491 I saw her
inside just now, raving, and not in control of
her wits. (576) 523 It is not my nature to join
in hate, but in love (philein).
23
(613) 558 The mistake (exhamartia) is identical
for both of us.(640-) 583-625 Second Stasimon
This law prevails nothing that is vast comes to
the life of mortals without ruin.(775) 718 For
if even from me, a younger man, a worthy thought
(gnome) may be supplied, by far the best thing,
I believe, would be for men to be all-wise by
nature. (794) 734 Shall the city prescribe to
me how I must rule?(805) 743 I see you making a
mistake and committing injustice.(840) 773 I
will take her where the path is deserted,
unvisited by men, and entomb her alive in a rocky
vault, setting out a ration of food, but only as
much as piety requires so that all the city may
escape defilement. 780 it is fruitless labor
to revere the dead.(849) 781-800 Third Stasimon
Omnia vincit Amor (eros)(870-933) 801-882
Kommos (882) 821 Guided by your own laws
(autonomos) and still alive, unlike any mortal
before, you will descend to Hades.(897) 839
Ah, you mock me! In the name of our fathers'
gods, 840 why do you not wait to abuse me until
after I have gone,
24
(1002) 944-987 3rd Stasimon 944 So too endured
Danae in her beauty to change 945 the light of
the sky for brass-bound walls, and in that
chamber, both burial and bridal, she was held in
strict confinement. And yet was she of esteemed
lineage, my daughter, 950 and guarded a deposit
of the seed of Zeus that had fallen in a golden
rain. (1011) 955 And Dryas's son,
(Lycurgus), the Edonian king swift to rage, was
tamed in recompense for his frenzied insults,
when, by the will of Dionysus, he was shut in a
rocky prison. There the fierce and swelling
force of his madness trickled away.
25
(1024) 971 Ares, neighbor of that city, saw the
accursed, blinding wound inflicted on the two
sons of Phineus by his savage wife. It was a
wound that brought darkness to the hollows,
making them crave vengeance 975 for the eyes
she crushed with her bloody hands and with her
shuttle for a dagger.Apollodorus Cleopatra
was married to Phineus, who had by her two sons,
Plexippus and Pandion. When he had these sons by
Cleopatra, he married Idaea, daughter of
Dardanus. She falsely accused her stepsons to
Phineus of corrupting her virtue, and Phineus,
believing her, blinded them both.
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(1096) 1038 Turn your profits, make your deals
for the white gold of Sardis and the gold of
India, if it pleases you, but you shall not cover
that man with a grave, not even if the eagles of
Zeus wish to snatch and carry him to be devoured
at the god's throne. (1102) 1044 No mortal has
the power to defile the gods. (1142) In the
dead you have no part, nor do the gods above, but
in this you do them violence. For these crimes
the avenging destroyers, 1075 the Furies of
Hades and of the gods, lie in ambush for you,
(1180) 1105 Ah, it is a struggle, but I
depart from my heart's resolve and obey. We must
not wage vain wars with necessity
(ananke).(1193) 1115-1154 Fourth Stasimon
Dionysus, help !(1238) 1165 And now all this
has been lost. When a man has forfeited his
pleasures, I do not reckon his existence as life,
but consider him just a breathing corpse.
(1312) 1234 Then the ill-fated boy was enraged
with himself and straightway stretched himself
over his sword and drove it, half its length,
into his side. Still conscious, he clasped the
maiden in his faint embrace, and, as he gasped,
he shot onto her pale cheek a swift stream of
oozing blood.
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(1340) 1261 Ah, the blunders (hamartemata)
of an unthinking mind, blunders of rigidity,
yielding death! (1395) 1317 Ah this guilt
can never be fastened onto any other mortal so as
to remove my own! It was I, yes, I, who killed
you, I the wretch. 1320 I admit the truth.
28
Hegel thesis, antithesis, synthesisissues,
charactersdouble centre of gravity