Group 1:
1. On the basis of the Prologue, characterize Oedipus. What additional traits are revealed in Scene I and Ode I?
Ans: In prologue, he is clever and responsible. It is because he can answer Sphinx’s questions and when the Thebans were suffered from pestilence, he tried his best to help them and solve the problem immediately. In Scene I and Ode I, we think that he is bad-tempered and suspicious. It is because when Teiresias rejected to answer his question about who is the murder, he became angry at once and accused Teiresias and Kreon of plotting against him for the throne. It shows his bad-tempered and suspicious.
2. Explain the origin of Greek drama.
Ans: The origin of Greek drama is derived from the festival of Dionysus, the God of wine. During the ceremony, Greek people sing and dance to extol Dionysus and the platform becomes a sacred place. As time goes by, this kind of ceremony has become a form of performance as we can see from the Greek literature in later centuries.
Group 2:
What is the birth and development of Greek drama/ tragedies?
It originated from ritual ceremony which Greek people could thank their god, Dionysus, the god of the wine, agriculture, and fertility of nature and got released from some irrational activities. It is said that Greek people always believed that there is irrational compulsion in human destiny which they could not answer. But the play-writer dared to pose the question about life in the drama from where the oppression of the audience may be released.
Tragedy and comedy had deep roots in the religious and communal life of the Greek polis and were closely connected with the worship of the god Dionysus. Dionysus was closely associated with Greek tragedy. The whole idea of performing songs and dances for an audience originated as a way to worship the god Dionysus, who first appeared in Greece in the area north of Attica known as Boeotia. The people honored this son of Zeus by accepting his gift of knowledge (how to cultivate grapes for wine) and
establishing a cult (a whole system of worship)in his name.
Oedipus the King
1. How fair is it to say that Oedipus is morally guilty?
It is not fair to say that Oedipus is absolutely morally guilty, because he did not know the person he killed was actually his father. Besides, he was doomed to for a tragic life, and he was powerless to change it.
However, the act of killing is guilty itself . Even if Oedipus had not intended to kill his father in the first place, he nonetheless has already committed the killing that is enough to make him guilty. Besides, the man he killed was old enough to be his father, and this also makes him morally guilty.
2.Does he argue that he is morally innocent because he did not intend to do immoral deeds?
At first, he didn't believe whom he killed was his father, so he argued he is morally innocent. However, when it proved that he did kill his father, all he could do was lament over destiny. He also became very distraught when he realized the prophecy was true. He punishes himself by gouging his eyes out.
3.Can it be said that he is guilty of hubris but that hubris has nothing to do with his fall?
Hubris is a key factor to Oedipus' fall. Oedipus proclaimed that he would exile the murderer if he knew who he was, and he was confident that it was not himself. Oedipus also refused to listen to Teiresias's warnings, and instead became furious at him. He chooses to be blind to the truth, and attempted to turn against what fate had in store for him. At the end, it was hubris that brought him down, and caused his fall.
Group 3:
Q: Oedipus says that he blinds himself in order not to look upon people he should not. What further reasons can be given? Why does he not (like his mother) commit suicide?
A: (1) The further reason is that Oedipus himself thinks all the tragedy happens because he as eyes but not see. His father stands in front of him, and he couldn’t recognize but kills him; his mother is right here besides him, and he couldn’t recognize but marry her. Since he can see or not makes no difference, he blinds himself.
(2) One reason is that he wants to get self-punishment. If he chooses to commit suicide, that means he couldn’t face his fault and he just wants to get rid of it. He wants to be responsible for his sin, so he keeps himself alive painfully instead of killing himself. The other reason is that Oedipus doesn’t want to be scorned by other people, because committing suicide is a kind of coward behavior without responsibility.
Group 4:
How Far is it to say that the play shows he contemptibleness of the man’s efforts to act intelligently?
It’s quite fair to say that the play “ Oedipus the King” does reveal the message stating that man’s efforts to act intelligently is somehow contemptible. Through this play, we know that the whole plot is manipulated by the power of Fate. Oedipus was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, which he did, since the day he was born! So, no matter how hard they tried to fight against the oracle (e.g. the act of Jocasta giving her child away and trying to kill him), all their work will in the end
turn out to be, in vain. In this case, we can say that humans, with our own limited knowledge, always believe that we can outwit the forces of Gods and Fate. We want to control our own future. However, the ending of “Oedipus the King” shows us that human’s outcome will only be controlled by Fate, and there is nothing we can do about it! Under these circumstances, human’s effort to act intelligently, their process of struggling through pain, may then definitely seem useless and irrelevant!
Group 5
How fair is it to say that in “Oedipus, the King” the gods are evil?
→The reason we think that “gods are evil” is because when Oedipus was born, he was already committed the actions for which he is to suffer – prophesied by Apollo. Although Apollo has predicted what Oedipus will do in the future, he doesn’t determine it! An external fate governing Oedipus’s action was set up already by gods. We think that the Greek gods are portrayed as “audiences”, watching a “tragic play” performing on stage. They see how Oedipus suffered, but simply refuse to do anything
about it! Oedipus has also served as an example of the in adequacy of the human intellect and a warning that there is a power in the universe that humanity cannot control or even fully understand.
The Origins of Greek Drama
Ancient Greeks from the 5th century BC onwards were fascinated by the question of the origins of tragedy and comedy. They were unsure of their exact origins. From the movie we saw last Thursday in class, Greek plays were performed as part of religious festivals in honor of the god Dionysus, and unless later revived, were performed only once. Plays were funded by the polis, and always presented in competition with other plays, and were voted either the first, second, or third (last) place. Tragedies
almost exclusively dealt with stories from the mythic past (there was no "contemporary" tragedy), comedies almost exclusively with contemporary figures and problems.
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