Dramatic plays had become grand outdoor spectacles that drew in audiences numbering in the thousands and each year the first place award was given to the playwright who produced the best plays; an award that Sophocles himself had won twenty-four times while also never placing below second place. Some of Sophocles' greatest plays were the Greek tragedies of The Oedipus Cycle, a trio of stories about how a man named Oedipus's cunning led him to become the king of Thebes, but an unrelenting search for the truth about his birth coupled with an irascible nature ultimately guided him to h...

• Word Count: 1488
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

As in Oedipus the King, a major theme in Othello is man's inability to reliably distinguish between what seems to be and what; however, this shared theme of "uncertain vision" is treated somewhat differently in Othello than it is in Oedipus the King. ... This of course raises one of the most important questions regarding the two plays: are Othello and Oedipus different and to what extent? ... However, the entire play actually concentrates on Oedipus discovering what actually happened. ... Namely, Iago gets the idea at the very beginning of the play as Rodrigo complains about Othello. .....

• Word Count: 1353
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

His analysis of the ideal form of tragic plays became a guideline for later playwrights in Western civilization. ... Baffled by the reluctance of the people to heal, Oedipus, who became the king after he solved the riddle of the Sphinx, sends his brother-in-law, Creon, at first a good natured, and rational being, to find the cure for the city's current disaster. Creon informs Oedipus that in order to save Thebes, he must solve the murder of the previous king, Lauis, who was killed at crossroads years ago. ... In addition to promptly summarizing the play, Marjorie discusses Aristotle embe...

• Word Count: 1098
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

(Albert Henrich) We know that in Oedipus the King the chorus plays a significant role and in the bloodiest moment in the play, it is not the violent act that we see but the description of it is given by the reliable chorus. ... Oedipus is blinded throughout the play by his egoistical ways and his pride, Sophocles plays on this when we approach this violent scene by actually having Oedipus gouge out his own eyes. ... (Oedipus the King 1297-305) Alongside the chorus's description, the audience are left to their own imaginative devices. ... "(Oedipus the King, 1068 "1078) Here we s...

• Word Count: 1654
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Oedipus is seen as a tragic hero in the play, a principal character, in a position of social importance being the King of Thebes. ... In Oedipus Rex, it is not so much a hamartia that leads to his downfall, but more the role played by fate and destiny. ... When his nemesis occurs, the chorus, plays a crucial role in generating sympathy towards Oedipus. ... This contrasts with Oedipus at the beginning of the play, but nevertheless foreshadows Oedipus's own future, with the anargnorsis causing him to blind himself. ... The tragic nature of the play, is not only brought out by Oedipus&#...

• Word Count: 1270
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In Robert Fagles' translation of the play "Oedipus the King", Sophocles explores many important themes of Greek tragedy such as fate and free will, wisdom and knowledge, determination and power through the effective use of his language, symbols and motifs and setting. ... Firstly, the story is one that introduces the main character, Oedipus, very positively. ... " This immediately portrays Oedipus as a character who readers are appealed to due to his attributes that are conveyed during the beginning of the play. This is very important because it is due to this reason that w...

• Word Count: 511
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In Oedipus the King, the major reversal occurs when the messenger comes to cheer Oedipus and free him from his alarms about his mother. ... Additionally, he argues that through recognition, the hero discovers some truth about his or her identity (as in Sophocles's Oedipus the King) or actions that accompany the reversal of the situation in the plot. In the example of Oedipus the King, Oedipus's realization that he is, in fact, his father's murderer and his mother's lover is an example of recognition. ... In this way tragedy shields them from experiencing any harmful emotion...

• Word Count: 1068
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

For example, in the production of Antigone, a male will play the characters of Antigone and Ismene, the two daughters of Oedipus and Iokaste. ... In context and in performance, the tragic heroine of Antigone is in fact Antigone, niece of King Kreon, sister of Ismene, and fiancé of Haimon. ... At the end of the play, Antigone hangs herself in her cell, Haimon stabs himself in his own misery, and King Kreon is left alone. ... Antigone fits this description of Aristotle's ideal tragic heroine because her insistence on her desire to bury Polynices to the point of her own death locat...

• Word Count: 1410
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

By the end of the play Creon's excessive pride, known as hubris, begins to control his actions, which leads to an eventual reversal in fortune. ... It is this manner that Creon can be seen as the tragic character in the play Antigone. ... "The State is King!... This reveals the great amount of change Creon has undergone since the events of Oedipus the King, in which he is a much more compassionate and sensible leader. This further labels Creon as a tragic hero, as he is acting more and more hostile towards every other character in the play, including his own son as the play comes c...

• Word Count: 951
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

This is foreshadowed in the opening of the play; "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." ... The murder of Old King Hamlet has caused Claudius' mindset to become corrupted in order to control Denmark for himself. ... Shakespeare uses sexual imagery to signify Hamlet as a literary example of a child, who never overcame his Oedipus complex. ... At the beginning of the play, Claudius is appearing to be a good king in order to reinstate stability to Denmark after the death of their former king, Old King Hamlet, "Yet we with wisest sorrow think on him Together with remembrance of ...

• Word Count: 1108
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate