Greek Tragedy
This group of actors expresses the general views of the public.
What is the Chorus?
The city where most of the story is set.
What is Thebes?
Where the baby was to be left and where Oedipus wants to be exiled
Mount Cithaeron
This person travels to the Oracle at Delphi and learns that the king's killer is in Thebes.
Who is Creon?
This literary device uses hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in a work of literature.
What is foreshadowing?
According to Aristotle, the reason people can consider tragedy a form of entertainment
What is catharsis
This is why Oedipus comes to Thebes.
What is an attempt to avoid the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother?
This character was unknowingly witness to the attempted infanticide of Oedipus AND the first stage of the prophecy being fulfilled.
Who is the Shepherd?
This character who often speaks in riddles 'sees' the truth about Oedipus and chastises him for his "blindness" at the beginning of the play.
Who is Tiresias?
This literary device heightens the audience's experience of Oedipus's tragic downfall.
What is dramatic irony?
A Greek term for excessive pride or arrogance
What is hubris?
Oedipus is so well-loved by his people at the beginning of the story for this reason.
What is answering the riddle of the Sphinx and freeing Thebes from chaos?
This is the first person to piece together the truth of Oedipus's story.
Who is Jocasta?
The previous King and Oedipus' father.
Who is King Laius?
Oedipus is overjoyed to hear news of this character's death.
Who is Polybus?
Going to the theatre in Ancient Greece was how a citizen exercised this.
What is civic duty?
What is a plague?
Oedipus responds to the truth of his life and actions with this act.
What is gouging his eyes out?
This character told Oedipus the story of how the Oracle had been wrong and should not be trusted.
Who is Jocasta?
These terms are used as metaphors for ignorance and knowledge throughout the play.
What is sight and blindness?
List 3 traits of the tragic hero archetype
-person of noble standing
-good, but not wholly good
-has a tragic flaw (hamartia)
-suffers shift in fortune
At the beginning of the play, Oedipus believes these two characters are plotting against him.
Who are Creon and Teresias?
This is the last request that Oedipus makes to Creon before he leaves Thebes.
What is hug his daughters?
At the end of the play, this person is the leader of Thebes.
Who is Creon?
A pattern that appears in literature across cultures and is repeated throughout the ages.
What is an archetype?