Characters
Foil character to Oedipus' blindness.
Who is Tiresias?
Oedipus fell to ____ unknowingly.
What is fate?
Aristotle believed a true tragedy would purge the audience of emotion, also known as _____.
What is catharsis?
"As for the murderer himself, I call down a curse on him, whether that unknown figure be one man or one among many ... And further, I pronounce a curse on myself if the murderer should ... share my house."
Who is the speaker of this quote? What literary term is he displaying?
Who is Oedipus and what is hubris?
What two emotions did Aristotle believe were central to a tragedy?
What are pity and fear?
Symbolizes Athenian society's rising distrust of prophesies.
Who is Jocasta?
Oedipus gouging out his eyes aligns with which theme?
What is sight vs. blindness?
Oedipus' hamartia is his _____.
What is hubris?
"You have nothing to be afraid of. Even if my mother turns out to be a slave, and I a slave for three generations back, your, noble birth will not be called in question."
Who is the speaker of this quote, and who is the "you" they reference?
Who are Oedipus and Jocasta?
Which character archetype becomes wittingly or unwittingly responsible for all misdeeds in a story?
What is a scapegoat?
This character is the only witness of Oedipus' murder of Laius.
Who is the Shepherd?
Oedipus' downfall occurred when he abandoned his _____ and accepted the _____.
What are hubris and truth?
Who experiences the first complete anagnorisis?
Who is Jocasta?
"O generations of mortal men,/ I add up the total of your lives / And find it equal to nothing. / What man wins more happiness / Than a mere appearance which quickly fades away? / With your example before me, / Your life, your destiny, miserable Oedipus, / I call no man happy."
The central idea of this quote is the fleeting nature of _____.
What is happiness?
Jocasta discussing the falseness of the prophesy that Oedipus will marry his mother is what type of irony?
What is dramatic irony?
More political than Oedipus. Happy to step into leadership when Oedipus falls in the end.
Who is Creon?
Much of Oedipus' punishment and pain come from his inability to ____.
What is reflect? OR What is pause and reflect?
The citizens of Thebes offering of the _____ at the beginning of the play, asking the gods to end their suffering exemplifies _____.
What are olive branches and supplication?
"Darkness, dark cloud all around me, enclosing me, unspeakable darkness, irresistible -- you come to me on a wind that seems favorable."
Who is the speaker of this quote? How is the darkness both physical and metaphorical?
Who is Oedipus?
Physical -- blinded himself
Metaphorical -- was blind to his true self
Oedipus' belief that he can escape his prophesy exemplifies his trust in _____.
What is free will?
This character's death made Oedipus believe he escaped the prophesy.
Who is Polybus?
What are character traits, tragic flaw, peripheral, discovery, suffering, catharsis, and restoration?
What is the definition of stichomythia? Name one example from the play.
What is dialogue in which two characters speak alternate lines of verse?
Examples: Oedipus and Creon, Oedipus and the Corinthian Messenger, Oedipus and Tiresias, Oedipus and Jocasta
"These are the sorrows which have burst out and overwhelmed them both."
To which characters is this quote referring? How have their "sorrows ... burst out," and what literary term does their actions exemplify?
Who are Oedipus and Jocasta?
Oedipus: gouging out his eyes
Jocasta: hanging herself
What is catharsis?
How is the quest archetype present in the play?
What is Oedipus' quest to discover his lineage?