About the Author
The author of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone _____________
Sophocles
A civilization that made tragedy into an art
Greeks
City where tragedies were produced as part of a religious festival
Athens
The other two plays in the series with Antigone
What are Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus?
Thermopylae
ther-MO-pih-lee
The number of Sophocles's plays that exist today out of a total of more than 100
7
Downfall, usually by destruction or death
the ending for the hero in a Greek tragedy
The part of a Greek play usually chanted (or sung) in unison
Choral Ode
The King and Queen of Thebes
Are the parents of Oedipus
Herodotus
huh-ROD-uh-tus
The nickname of the time period in ancient Greece when Sophocles wrote his plays
The Golden Age
Pity and fear, wonder and awe
the emotions aroused by tragedy
Masks with built-in megaphones and platform shoes
Actors in a Greek tragedy wear these
“Your son will kill his father and marry his own mother.”
The prophecy given to the king and queen of Thebes
Aphrodite
ah-froh-DI-tee
Sophocles's age when he won his first drama competition
28
A single flaw in character, or hamartia
What brings a hero to disaster in a Greek tragedy
A group of actors that move and sing together, acting as one character
Chorus
Both mother and wife of Oedipus
Jocasta
Thucydides
thoo-SIH-di-des
The number of actors Sophocles cast in his plays
3
Horrible truth that leads to release
Catharsis
The Greek word for actor
hypokrites
“Bury Eteocles but not Polyneices.”
The decree of Creon that begins the action of the play
Aeschylus
ES-kih-lus or EE-skih-lus