Blog Entry Six ~ Sophocles

Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King around 431 BCE. Sophocles was a playwrighter and director of the 5^th century.  He had training in music and dance.  An excerpt from Deipnosophistai by Athenaeus describes Sophocles’ versatility in both. Athenaeus says that not only was Sophocles handsome, he also was proficient in dancing and music. He achieved proficiency while still a lad. He was instructed by Lamprus.

Athenaeus, "Sophocles-- Musician and Dancer." A Source Book in Theatrical History. Comp. A.M. Nagler. New York: Dover Publications, 1959. Print.

Blog Entry Five ~ Ed Opus Rex

Ed Opus Rex is a spoof off Oedipus the King. It was written by William Gleason. Ed Opus is set at West Thebes High School. Ed Opus is the student body president and is well liked by the student body. Ed’s girlfriend Yo Yo Costa ends up being his cousin, similar to Oedipus’ wife being his mother.

The “Riddle Gang” is led by Ritzo Sphinx, playing off the Sphinx in Oedipus. Oral Delphi is a famous disc jockey who helps Ed discover what happened to the famous Teen Angel. There are many other characters whose names relate to names in Oedipus.

Ed Opus is an upbeat fun play. Unlike Oedipus, it ends well with everyone happy. Ed does not gouge his eyes out and is forgiven.

Gleason, William. Ed Opus Rex. 1st. Woodstock, IL: The Dramatic Publishing Company, eBook

Blog Entry Four ~ The Oedipus Complex

The Oedipus complex is a term often used to describe a boy’s sex attraction to his mother. Often young boys become “attracted” to their mothers. Because of these attractions they can become hostile toward their fathers. Many times this has a lifelong effect on their personalities. They can be unconscious. Sometimes they include fantasies that influence the man’s view of the world. It can even lead to mental illness in some cases. (Stephens 16-17)

The Oxford Reference Online definition for the Oedipus Complex is: "(Psychoanalysis) (in Freudian theory) the complex of emotions aroused in a young child, typically around the age of four, by an unconscious sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex and wish to exclude the parent of the same sex. (The term was originally applied to boys, the equivalent in girls being called the Electra complex.)"

Stephens, William. The Oedipus Complex. 1st. New York, NY: The Free Press of
Glencoe, 1962. 16-17. Print.

"Oedipus complex noun"  The Oxford Dictionary of English (revised edition). Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  1 November 2010  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t140.e53529>

Blog Entry Three ~ Delphic Oracle

Laius and Jocasta have a son and are told that he will one day murder his Father and sleep with his mother. They abandon the baby on a mountain side, but he is rescued by a shepherd who brings him to the king of Corinth. He is raised by this family as their own, they name him Oedipus. Oedipus as a young man was told by a Delphic oracle that he would murder his father and marry his mother. Thinking that his adopted parents were his birth parents he flees Corinth. He murders Laius, not knowing he is his father or that he is the king of Thebes. He then married Jocasta. A series of events unfold that reveal the true story. (Oedipus)

                The Delphic oracle mentioned in Oedipus is a common happening in Greek legends. A Delphic oracle was the preeminent shrine of Apollo.  It was housed in a great temple that was built for Apollo. It is located near the foot of the south slope of Mt. Parnassos. People who needed the help of the oracle would bring large gifts to the shrine. The messages from the oracle were spoken by a priestess who was seated on a golden tripod. They spoke in a crazed trance. Trance was said by the ancient Greeks to be induced by vapors from beneath the temple's floor. The messages were then interpreted to the questioner by a priest. The priest normally spoke in verse. (Delphi)

The Oracle At Delphi

From the Sixth Century BCE it has been the most popular of the Greek Oracles. Most Hellenes said that before Apollo took control Ge (Earth) and her daughter Themis spoke the oracles. Many historians have accepted this as fact, but there is no evidence to support this except for the myth. (Fontenrose 1)

"Delphi." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.
© 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease.
© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.
28 Oct. 2010 <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0815092.html>.

Fontenrose, Joseph. The Delphic Oracle. 1st. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA:
University of California Press, 1978. 1-10. Print.

"Thebes, city of ancient Greece." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.
© 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease.
© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.
27 Oct. 2010 http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0848374.html.

"The Oracle at Delphi." Delphi Myths Encylopedia. Web. 28 Oct 2010. <http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Cr-Dr/Delphi.html>.

Blog Entry Two ~ Thebes

Thebes was located in Ancient Greece and was the chief city of Boeotia until the Persian wars. Thebes and Athens were very hostile towards each other. Thebes sided with the Persians in the Persian war, when they were defeated Thebes nearly fell. Thebes then sided with the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War, but ended up against them because they feared Sparta had territorial ambitions. Sparta took Thebes over and was in control for three years. Thebes was finally freed by its great general Pelopida. The next war Thebes sided with Athens, where they shared in defeat. Chaeronea rebuilt Thebes around 338 BCE. It never did regain it’s originally greatness. (Thebes)

                Oedipus was first produced around 431 BCE. This was shortly after war was declared against Sparta.  It is thematically related to Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus, but was not originally composed as a trilogy. (Sophocles 43)

Sophocles. “Oedipus the King.” Trans. Robert Fagles. The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama.

4^th ed. Ed. W. B. Worthen. Austrailia: Wadsworth, 2004 43-62

"Thebes, city of ancient Greece." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.

© 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease.

© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.

27 Oct. 2010 <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0848374.html>.

"Ancient Greece." How Stuff Works. Web. 28 Oct 2010. <http://history.howstuffworks.com/ancient-greece/ancient-greece4.htm>.

Blog Entry One ~ Introduction

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is set in the royal house of Thebes.  It follows the unities of its time. It takes place on one day, in one location, and there is only one main plot.  Oedipus is the king of Thebes because he solved the riddle of the Sphinx and saved the land. The former king, Laius, had been murdered. When Oedipus became king he married Jocasta, the former king’s wife. Through events in the play Oedipus finds out that Laius was his father and Jocasta is his mother. He gouges his eyes out and is exiled from Thebes.

Sophocles. “Oedipus the King.” Trans. Robert Fagles. The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama. 4^th ed. Ed. W. B. Worthen. Austrailia: Wadsworth, 2004 43-62

"Oedipus." Sumnonrabruds's Blog. Web. 28Oct 2010. <http://sumnonrabidus.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/oedipus-rex-gay-teachers-and-counting-no-mortal-%E2%80%9Chappy%E2%80%9D/>.