Structure Intro

Journal •If you could know how the rest of your life panned out, as well as the time and place of your death, would you want to know? Why or why not?

Does knowing an outcome affect the way you get there?

• Think-pair-share • Does knowing the end ruin the journey? • Do spoilers ruin an episode of your favorite show or book? • Does knowing the end ruin Oedipus? • Think about it– don’t say it out loud yet.

FATE

Fate dictated everything. • No one could change the outcome of fate set before them. • Zeus can’t • Oedipus can’t • Tales of mortals trying to escape fate are everywhere in Greek myth. • Is it true for us today?

The Dramatic Structure of “Oedipus the King”

The Greek Tragedy • Believed that dramatic structure of Greek tragedy influenced the eventual division of a play into acts and scenes. • Greek tragedy divided into five sections.

1. The Prologue (Prologos) • Opening portion of the play • Sets the scene and contains the exposition

2. The Parados • Entrance song of the Chorus • Named after the broad isles on either side of the theatron (theatre), where the Chorus entered and exited from.

3. The Episodes (Scenes) • Scene in the action (plot) of the drama. • Scenes (episodes) are performed by the actors (distinguished from stasimons— performed by the Chorus).

• Episodes alternate with the stasimons.

4. Stasimons (Odes) • A choral passage (performed by the Chorus) • Alternates with the episodes • Type of lyric poem. • Chorus performed through song and dance accompanied by instruments.

5. Exodos • Concluding section of the tragedy. • Ends with the chorus singing their final lines as they exit.

How Oedipus relates to Plot Structure: • Exposition—Prologue, Parados • Rising Action—Scene 1, Ode 1 through Scene 3,Ode 3 • Climax—Scene 4 • Falling Action—Ode 4, Exodos • Resolution--Exodos

The Breakdown ( Dover Edition)

• • • • • • • • • • •

Prologue: Beginning through the entrance of the chorus ( 1-6) Parados)(pg. 6-8) Episode 1 (pg. 9-17) Stasimon 1 ( chorus song/commentary ) (pg.17-19) Episode 2 ( pg. 19-31) Stasimon 2 (pg. 31-32) Episode 3 (pg. 32-39) Stasimon 3 (pg. 39) Episode 4 (pg. 40-42) Stasimon 4 (pg. 42-44) Exidos (pg. 44- end….. Chorus exits)