[2] Oedipus Rex

• SOPHOCLES

  • Most awarded playwright of ancient Athens.
  • Produced over 120 plays.
  • Seven survived in complete form.
  • ca. 430 BCE, Oedipus Tyrannus
• GREAT PLAYWRIGHTS OF TRAGEDY

  • Aeschylus
  • Sophocles
  • Euripides
• TOPICS OF GREEK TRAGEDY

  • Love and loss
  • Pride and foolishness
  • Abuse of power
  • Gods and humans
• POETICS


  earliest surviving work of Greek dramatic theory
• HAMARTIA


  error of judgment or wrong choice of action
• HUBRIS


  overbearing pride
• CATHARSIS


  evoking and purging of pity and fear
• PERIPETEIA


  reversal of fortune
• DRAMATIC IRONY


  the reader/audience knows information that is not yet revealed to the characters