Ancient Athenian Drama: Sophocles and Oedipus Rex

Sophocles (ca. 496-406 B.C.E.)

Born to an affluent family, Sophocles rose to renown as one of the great Greek Tragedians of the Classical Age of Greece. He is considered the "most Homeric" of the three great tragedians, Sophocles, Aeschylus (Oresteia), and Euripides (Medea).

Throughout his career, Sophocles composed over one hundred twenty plays. Among them only the Theban plays that feature the life and legacy of Oedipus survive: Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonnus; plus four others: Ajax, Electra, Trachiniae and Philoctetes. Early on before he had reached the age of thirty, he had defeated his predecessor, Aeschylus, at the annual Dionysia. 

Theater in Ancient Greece

During the Classical Age, Pericles, who was a friend and patron to Sophocles, strongly encouraged and supported the arts. As our text points out, wealthy Athenians were expected to afford financial support to the arts; the less wealthy citizen was encouraged to support the arts through the state's subsidy of a theater ticket (702).

The Great Dionysia was a religious festival that featured fetes: open air theatrical productions of dramatic plays that were usually based on folkloric epics and meant to honor the god, Dionysus, or Bacchus. Dionysus, was a god associated by Athenians with wine (of particular significance in a country abundant in vines), misrule, indulgence, and decadence. Dionysus represented a 'subversive' element; in fact our text names him "a wild figure: he rode a chariot pulled by leopards, dressed in strange, effeminate clothing and an ivy crown, and was accompanied by ecstatic, crazy women (the Maenads)..." Accompanying this strange panoply of characters were the satyrs: half-men, half-goat demigods of earthly pleasure. The festivals were held in honor of this god. In fact, one source has it that the Greeks regarded Dionysus as a god that represented man's joy: "a joy within him that he cannot explain," that propels him forward with a sense of walking on the "wings of the wind" and "fills him with a deep sense of worship" This sensation was called enthusiasm, which meant "the god within us" (1).  

During the Festival of Dionysus or Bacchanalia, "three tragic poets were chosen by the official city governor to produce a tetralogy of plays for each day's entertainment. Performances began at dawn and included three tragedies, which might or might not concentrate on a linked set of stories, followed by a lighter play featuring satyrs (a 'satyr play'). A rich Athenian citizen put up the money to pay for the costs of each day's performance, including purchase of costumes and masks, and training of the chorus members and actors. These producers prided themselves on their participation, and gloated if the performance they had financed won the competition." Prizes were awarded to the best production: that is, to the dramatist who outperformed his adversaries at 'teaching a chorus' (646).  

The Athenian Theater

The theater itself was open-air, and attendees sat in stands that formed a semi-circle around the orchestra ('dancing area'), which was situated at the lowest level, center. The stage was situated at one end of the orchestra where a skene--a backdrop--represented whatever scene the action called for. 

Tragedy: The text informs us is thought to have derived its name from 'tragoidia' or 'goat-song': a song performed during ritualized sacrifice involving a goat.  Thespis, about whom not much is known, 'invented tragedy in the year 534 B.C.E.' and whose name provides the origin for the term 'thespian' (645).

All actors in Athenian drama were men: female roles were also played by young men or boys; all actors wore masks which concealed their faces and thus demanded that they rely on projecting their voices and expansive body language to convey their roles, as well as the use of the chorus.

Devices Used in Athenian Drama

Chorus: An assembly of twelve to seventeen actors who directed the emotions and mood of scenes in Athenian drama. These actors performed the same function that movie scores do in film: directing the emotional responses of the audience. 

Terms: 
Dramatic Irony: Athenians came to see productions of these beloved dramas with the same expectations as you or I would go to the theater or watch a movie--to enjoy the structure of the plot, the climax, the outcome--Athenians had seen each play many times: it was the way they were produced that made them so alluring. How they were interpreted and acted out went a long way in their success. Therefore, all members of the audience knew of Oedipus's fate, while Oedipus himself languishes in the dark and ignorance of the true nature of his fate. The moment that he discovers his fate, however, was a moment of revelation--and satisfaction, for the audience. 

Deus ex machina (theatrical device in which a god enters the scene to resolve a crisis in the plot) Literally: "God in the machine."

Hubris: Excessive pride. Exhibited by Oedipus in Oedipus Rex, the hero or protagonist bears a fatal flaw--in this case, hubris: a pride that damns him. 

Hamartia: A fatal flaw. 

Catharsis: In Ancient Greece, theater goers attended a production for a much different reason than we attend a movie or play. Often we do not know the outcome of the plot, and the key to our enjoyment is finding out who the killer is, for instance. In Ancient Athens, however, attendees already knew the outcome of the drama they came to witness. In such cases as Oedipus, which had been transcribed and adopted from oral tradition, theater goers attended for the purpose of enjoying the way the play was produced or interpreted. The experience brought on catharsis--a means to purge the emotions. This experience of catharsis is what we feel when we cry at sad movies, or feel the thrill of a good scare in a horror picture. The ancient Greeks weren't much different.   

Oedipus Rex

  Oedipus, 1957 (from mythmatters.blogspot.com)
Characters: 
Oedipus, the king of Thebes
Jocasta (or, Iokasta): Queen of Thebes
Tiresius: Blind Sage
Kreon/Creon: Queen Jocasta's brother
Antigone and Ismene: Daughters of Oedipus and Jocasta
The Chorus
Leaders
Attendants

Plot: Oedipus returns home from war and pillage (and from having solved the Sphinx's riddle) to find that there has been a plague set upon Thebes. Creon tells him that the plague has been sent by the god Apollo, because King Laius has been murdered at the crossroads. The plague will not be lifted until the king's murderer is brought to justice. Meanwhile, the prophet, Tiresius tells Oedipus that he is the murderer. 

Setting: The royal palace at Thebes. 

Themes: Arrogance (or hubris), blindness (actual and figurative), shame, outrage, irony, fate and free will, wisdom, power, memory.

Riddle of the Sphinx: The riddle goes what walks on four legs early in life, two legs in middle life, and three legs in old age? The answer of course, is man. Oedipus feels great self-satisfaction at his having solved the riddle and defeated the Sphinx. However, he takes this sense of pride a bit too far, and it leads to his downfall.