2/3/2009

Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

Sophocles
Remarkably long career
competed against Aeschylus in 468 B.C. still alive and writing in 406 B.C. when his younger contemporary Euripides died

120 plays, at least 20 victories-he was the most successful of the great Fifth Century tragedians Involved in public life A conservative and a traditionalist in changing times

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12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

2/3/2009

Sophocles Style and Material

Sophoclean Drama
tragedy based on characters trilogy gives way to stand-alone single drama (less symmetry)

Sophocles Style
Middle style-neither too grand or too austere made dramatic use of entrances and exits (a little less restrained) enjoyed playing with recognition scenes

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12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

A Factor in Sophocles: The Spread of Sophism

From sophia or wisdom Sophists were the people who did the wisdom thing and felt that they could teach it to others! First professional teachers who could, for a fee, impart knowledge that guaranteed success in life Sophistic interests
Practical skills such as public speaking Interested in humanistic values Protagoras: Man is the measure of all things Freed human judgment, creativity and ability Deeply cynical and encouraged moral relativism believed that they could make the weaker argument the stronger

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12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

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Athens: Hotbed of Sophism

Democratic system required skillful speakers Sophists made rhetoric an art form Sophists from throughout the Greek world came to teach and gain their reputations in Athens In a changing society, sophism encouraged a shift away from many traditional values

2/3/2009

12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

The Theban Saga

Story order: was Oedipus the King, Colonus, and Antigone Order of Composition: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus Issues in Oedipus the King
Epistemology: mantic (prophetic) vs. sophistic world view
Oedipus a model sophista clever speakerranged against the prophet Teiresias

issue of fate and agency Oedipus hamartia? Probably ignoring Teiresias warning and cursing the murderer of Laeus before he knew the terrible truth of his own parentage Laeus = Jocasta Oedipus Creon Eteocles Jocasta = Oedipus Polyneices Ismene Antigone

2/3/2009

12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

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Oedipus the King

Characters: Oedipus (swollen or twisted foot); Jocasta; Creon; Teiresias; mesengers, priest, herdsman; chorus of old men of Thebes Sophocles concentrates the play on the process of selfdiscovery
Psychological aspect of the play: truth about oneself and how one reacts to it Freuds somewhat discredited Oedipal complex

Focus on epistemology: the study of how we know what we know

Here an examination on two contrasting epistemologies: divine (mantic) versus human (sophistic) knowledge Oedipus as a sophist, Teiresias as a prophet

Hamartia?
Pronouncing a curse upon the cause of the pestilence withough having all the information and against the advice of Teiresias (see lines 246-51)
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Final messages
Look upon that last day always. Count no man happy till he has passed the final limit of his life secure from pain. (152430)
The idea of the mutability of human fortunes A similar idea was frequently articulated in the history of Herodotus, Sophocles contemporary

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12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

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Radical Democracy, Sophism, and the Role of the State

As the Athenian government became more democratic, values continued to change Sophism enabled people to obtain power and prestige through clever argumentation Sophocles, a religious and intellectual conservative, maintains in the Antigone that divine law takes precedence over human law
She chooses to bury her brother against Creons decree even though this means her own death!

2/3/2009

12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus

12. Sophism, Sophoclean Drama, and Oedipus