آرتيني مؤسس
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اشترك في: الخميس مارس 01, 2007 6:27 pm
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مشاركات: 837
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مكان: حماة
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[englishtext] hey my friends in final year  this is some helping ideas about our course in Classical Literature , i will start with Oedipus the King
First:
This is general ideas like.....Author....Plot Summary....Major Characters and Minor ones.
Then we will speak about it deeply in order to understand its mysterious issues ....thanks
yours ...Y.H.M
Author
Sophocles was born in the year 496 B.C. at Kolonos, a northern suburb of Athens. At the age of sixteen, he was chosen to lead the dance at the celebrations for the Athenian victory over the Persian navy. At twenty-eight, he won the prize of the tragedy competition, with his first entry. He then established a public career at Athens, where he was well distinguished. He was elected to serve a term as State Treasurer, and later served a term as the Special State Commissioner. He obtained one of these positions in a time of major crisis, which suggests that he was well known, and well liked in the Greek democracy. He was also nominated to compete at the annual Festival of Dionysos on approximately thirty occasions, and won the first prize eighteen times. He died at the age of ninety, in the year 406 B.C.
All these achievements go to show that "the conservative view of Sophocles as loftily detached, concerned with 'timeless' or 'universal' themes is mistaken; all seven surviving dramas engage with issues central to contemporary Athenian political, social and religious life" (Ewans). These achievements suggest Sophocles was not writing at a distance from controversy, but rather that he was close to it.
It is thought that Oedipus the King was written between 430 B.C. and 420 B.C. The plague that is spoken about in the book is similar to the plague that hit Athens at this time. The book has no villains, and all the characters are good men and women who are trying their best to help the city, Thebes, escape from the plague. Each of them acts naturally and truthfully, but because of their lack of integration of knowledge, their stories, and the book, become a tragedy. Although the traps can be foreseen, the reader can do nothing to change them, just as Oedipus can do nothing to change his fate. As one critic says, "Few dramas ever written expose so pitilessly the isolation, and the limitations, of human existence" (Ewans).
Plot Summary
Oedipus, the ruler of Thebes, approaches a group of unhappy citizens, represented by a priest, and asks them what is wrong. They answer that the city is dying and that they are sick and poor. Oedipus sympathizes and tells them that, as their ruler, he is also troubled by the sickness of the city, and has already taken steps to see that something be done about it. The first step he has taken was to send Creon to Apollo's shrine to see what the god recommends they do. As Creon appears, he tells them that the god, Apollo, said that there is bad blood in Thebes, and that until this blood is expelled Thebes will be a sick city.
This bad blood is the blood of the person who killed Laios. When Oedipus asks why the case was not investigated, as he had not come to Thebes at that point, the people answer that they were too busy trying to solve the Sphinx's riddle. Oedipus says that no matter what the cost is, he will get to the bottom of it, both because it harms Thebes, and because Laios was noble and loyal. The elders say that they do not have any knowledge of the murder, and suggest that Oedipus call Tiresias, a blind prophet, to help and advise him. Oedipus says that he has already done this, and Tiresias arrives promptly. Although reluctant to speak, Oedipus forces Tiresias to reveal what he knows. Tiresias says that Oedipus is Thebes' pollution and that he killed his father and sleeps with his mother, and that this is the truth. Oedipus accuses Tiresias of lying on Creon's behalf so that Creon can kill Oedipus and take over the position of ruler of Thebes.
Creon enters and says that Oedipus is not making any sense-of course he did not collaborate with Tiresias, because he also owns a third of Thebes but chooses not to rule it, leaving Thebes to Oedipus, which shows that he is not interested in ruling at all. Iokaste enters and stops the two men from arguing. When Creon leaves, she asks Oedipus what happened and he explains the whole story to her. She tells him not to believe the words of the oracle, as an oracle once predicted that her son would kill his father and share her bed, and this has never happened. She bore a son with Laios, but Laios had the feet of the child bound and had the child tossed in the wilderness.
Although this story is supposed to calm Oedipus down, it only worries him more. He asks about the place and time of Laios' death and for a description of Laios. Every answer adds to Oedipus' worry. Iokaste informs him that there was one survivor who was with Laios when he was attacked, so Oedipus calls for him. Iokaste also says that Laios had been killed by a group of people.
While waiting for the survivor, Oedipus tells Iokaste his life story, that a man had called him a bastard son, so he went to an oracle to inquire about it as no one would speak to him about it. The oracle, Delphi, told him that he was to kill his father and sleep with his mother. As a result, he left his hometown so that he would protect himself and his parents from this terrible prediction. On his journey to another town, he came to a three-pronged fork in the road, where a group of men attacked him. Oedipus killed all of them except for one.
At this time, a Corinthian enters and asks Oedipus to come back to Corinth and rule since his father has died. Afraid of his fate, Oedipus refuses, as he does not want to harm his mother. However, when Oedipus explains to the Corinthian his fate, the Corinthian says that Merope and Polybus were not Oedipus' real parents and that he had given Oedipus to them as a gift. When he asks where he was found, Oedipus is told that a herdsman had given him to the Corinthian in Mount Kithairon where he used to be a shepherd, and that his feet were tied together. When the survivor from Laios' killing enters, the Corinthian identifies him as the man who had given him Oedipus, and the herdsman admits that Iokaste had given him the baby to get rid of it, and that he had thought the Corinthian would take him far away, never to be seen again.
As a result of discovering all of the horrible prophecies have been fulfilled, Iokaste hangs herself. Oedipus discovers her body and takes her brooches off her dress and pierces his eyes until they bleed and he blinds himself. Then, he asks to be exiled from Thebes, which Creon grants, and he leaves to return to his starting place, Mount Kithairon. His daughters, Antigone and Ismene, are left in the hands of Creon, who proves to be a true friend of Oedipus.
Major Characters
Oedipus Rex: The ruler of Thebes, Oedipus was destined to sleep with his mother and kill his father. Knowing this fate, his parents abandoned him, and he was raised by a different family. However, Oedipus had no knowledge of this, and after hearing of his fate he left his parents in order not to hurt them. After many years, he discovers that he has done exactly what his fate had predicted, as he has found and married his mother by chance, and killed his father on the road without knowing who he was.
Creon: Oedipus' brother-in-law, and Iokaste's brother. Oedipus accuses Creon of attempting to kill him and take his title. Creon also supported Tiresias, who predicted Oedipus' fate, so Oedipus resentments him even more. What Oedipus imagines to be Creon's murderous intentions, however, are discounted when it's revealed that Creon owns a third of Thebes but chooses not to rule (so he's not power-hungry). Creon turns out to be a true friend, as he agrees to take care of Oedipus' daughters when Oedipus goes into exile.
Iokaste: Oedipus' wife and mother. Iokaste was also Creon's sister, and was previously married to Laios. Although she wants Thebes to get better, she does not want Oedipus to pursue the path he has taken in finding out why Thebes is sick, as she is scared that what the oracles predicted when Oedipus was born is true. Iokaste, up to this point, does not believe in the oracles, since she thought that her son had died and could not live to do what the oracles had proclaimed he would do.
Minor Characters
The priest of Zeus: The priest that represents the people when they come to Oedipus to complain of the disasters that are befalling them and the city.
Gods: Many gods, such as Zeus and Ares, are offered prayers for many different reasons. When the people have problems, they turn to the gods for advice.
Apollo: The Sun god and Healer god. The people of Thebes ask Apollo for advice when they want to save Thebes. Since Apollo saved Thebes once before, the people believe he can do it again. It is Apollo's shrine that Iokaste goes to when she prays for the gods to help Oedipus cure Thebes.
Laios: Oedipus' father and Iokaste's first husband. It was his fate to be killed by his son, and therefore he tried to get rid of his newborn boy. However, his fate befell him when Oedipus (who never knew his true parents) got into a fight with Laios' party at a crossroads, and killed him.
Delphi: An oracle that predicts Oedipus will kill his father and sleep with his mother.
The elders: They represent the voice of Thebes, and give advice to Oedipus. They are very holy and pray to the gods all the time. They are disappointed with the sorry state of Thebes.
Ares: The Slaughter god of War. The elders pray to him to help stop Thebes from burning and being destroyed.
Tiresias: The blind prophet who predicts fate and can see the future. He is called on by Oedipus for advice, but when he reveals Oedipus' fate, the king gets angry, accuses him of conspiring with Creon to kill him and take his place as king, and tells him to leave.
Polybus: Oedipus' surrogate father in Corinth, and the ruler of Corinth. Oedipus left Corinth because he was destined to kill his father, whom he thought was Polybus. When Polybus died of natural causes, the people of Corinth came to Oedipus and asked him to rule.
Zeus: The elders call upon the god, Zeus, to give help to Thebes and Oedipus.
Corinthian: The man who brings news of Polybus' death and who asks Oedipus to rule Corinth. He also informs Oedipus that Merope and Polybus are not his real parents, and that he himself gave them the baby Oedipus, whom he'd received from a herdsman.
Merope: Oedipus' surrogate mother in Corinth, and current ruler of Corinth. Oedipus left Corinth because he was destined to sleep with his mother, who he thought was Melope.
Herdsman/Shepherd: Oedipus was given to the herdsman by Iokaste, who tried to get rid of her ill-fated child. This herdsman once grazed sheep in Mount Kithairon with the Corinthian, and had given him to Iokaste's child. Also, he was the only survivor of the fight between Oedipus and Laios.
Dionysos: A god who roams the hilltops and who the elders hope is Oedipus' father when they learn that he was found on a hill.
Labdakos: The ruling family of Thebes, consisting of Creon, Laios and Iokaste. Oedipus married Iokaste after Laios died, and therefore ruled as king of Thebes, since Creon didn't want to rule.
Antigone: One of Oedipus' daughters, who Oedipus asks Creon to take care of.
Ismene: One of Oedipus' daughters, who Oedipus asks Creon to take care of.
[/englishtext] _________________ Without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed
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