Oedipus Rex by Sophocles: Ancient Greek Tragedy Lecture (Patreon)

‘You mock my blindness? You with your precious eyes, you're blind to the corruption of your life, to the house you live in, those you live with — who are your parents? Do you know? All unknowing, you are the scourge of your own flesh and blood.'

Today we are appreciating the sublime play that Aristotle considered the most perfect tragedy: Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.

We're discussing how myths encode universal truths, ancient prophecies, existential crisis, dramatic irony, the mythology of Thebes, fortune vs ruin, fate vs free will, sympathy, tragic flaws, Freud's Oedipal Complex, life lessons from Greek tragedy, and much more.

Please feel free to listen before, during, or after your reading, enjoying the work and talk at the pace that best suits you.

Timestamps:

0:00 the reputation of Oedipus Rex

2:00 how this great tragedy begins

4:00 plagues & war in Ancient Athens

6:00 playwriting career of Sophocles

8:00 Dionysus & in vino veritas

10:00 existential crisis in Ancient Greece

12:00 crash course in Theban mythology

14:00 the prophecy of Laius & Jocasta

16:00 solving the riddle of the Sphinx 

18:00 how did Oedipus become king?

20:00 the power of dramatic irony

22:00 the leadership of King Oedipus

24:00 ‘pay back blood with blood’

26:00 the birth of gothic & mystery 

28:00 be careful about what you curse

30:00 the story of the seer Tiresias 

32:00 is pride always the tragic flaw?

34:00 sympathy vs condemnation 

36:00 ancient prophecies & oracles

38:00 can fate arise from free will?

40:00 how to love your mortality

42:00 art gives meaning to suffering

44:00 why are tragedies so cathartic?

46:00 Oedipus argues with Tiresias

48:00 masterful dialogue of Sophocles

50:00 ‘your great fortune was your ruin’

52:00 a life lesson from Oedipus Rex

54:00 Jocasta’s dismissal of prophecies

56:00 Oedipus begins to see the truth

58:00 the symbolism of the crossroads

1:00:00 Oedipus did not heed the warning

1:02:00 the moment of anagnorisis

1:04:00 Jocasta’s response to the reveal

1:06:00 how Oedipus punishes his eyes

1:08:00 Shakespeare vs Sophocles 

1:10:00 stage history of Oedipus Rex

1:12:00 Oedipus takes responsibility

1:14:00 why does he remove his eyes?

1:16:00 why does this tragedy resonate? 

1:18:00 Sigmund Freud’s Oedipal Complex

1:20:00 psychological significance of myths

1:22:00 how reading is like dreaming

1:24:00 the anxiety of influence in art

1:26:00 appreciating Freud’s analysis

1:28:00 the universality of great tragedy

1:30:00 the ending of Oedipus Rex

1:32:00 life lessons from ancient tragedy

1:33:00 freedom to search for the truth

1:34:00 related tragic recommendations

1:35:00 your thoughts on Oedipus Rex?

Resources to Explore:

• Our Next Tragedy: Our next deep-dive appreciation will be for Medea by Euripides. Whilst my favourite translations for the Oresteia of Aeschylus and Oedipus Rex by Sophocles are those by Robert Fagles, my favoured translation for Euripides is the Philip Vellacott translation available in Penguin paperback (which also includes several more great plays). Of course, our anthology recommended anthology of Greek tragedies also has an excellent translation, and prefacing essay, by Rachel Kitzinger.

• Adaptations: In our previous discussion, I recommended checking out some superb adaptations of Oedipus Rex like this one from the BBC. For Medea, there is a phenomenal television movie adaptation from 1983 starring Zoe Caldwell that you can enjoy here. There's also another great film option from 1959 starring Judith Anderson here. For a dramatic audio performance, with a full cast, then this reading recorded by a group of World Literature teachers at a high school in California is superb. If you enjoyed the Pier Paolo Pasolini film of Oedipus Rex, then you might be interested to know that he directed an adaptation of the mythology of Medea too in 1969 starring the opera singer Maria Callas in her only film role.

• More Plays: If you were taken up by Sophocles, you might like to explore more of his works. Check out his other Theban plays, Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus. You could also check out his Ajax and Electra. Or you could return to Aeschylus and enjoy Seven Against Thebes. For a modern retelling of the Oedipus myth, you might find Jean Cocteau's The Infernal Machine interesting. And Shakespeare always makes for a powerful comparison. When it comes to themes of blindness vs sight, pair the tragedy of Sophocles with King Lear. Or, if our psychoanalytical discussion interested you, follow up Freud's recommendation and watch Hamlet. What differences, and similarities, can you find between Sophoclean and Shakespearean tragedy?

• History: If you're interested in the development of and relationship between myth, epic, tragedy, and history, you could check out the works of the two most influential historians of the Ancient Greek world: the Histories of Herodotus and the History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides. Herodotus, who was friends with Sophocles, gives us history that is still mythic, filled with prophecies, divine retribution, figures of legend, and moral lessons. Thucydides marks a grand break from this style of historical inquiry, giving us more empirical accuracy and political realism. One doesn't need to read these big works all the way through. It's rewarding to dip into them, and read a little bit here and there, as your interest dictates, over the long-term.

• Mythology: As we've been talking a lot about the anxiety of influence, it might be interesting to consider the relationship between the great Ancient Greek writers and the poets of Ancient Rome. Ovid came many hundreds of years after playwrights like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, but is still utilising the same mythic material (just changing the names and giving his own twist). So you might like to dip into some of our lectures on Ovid's Metamorphoses. We cover the backstory of the prophet Tiresias here, the founding of Thebes here, and the story of Jason, the Golden Fleece, and Medea here.

• Reading Exercise: You're staging your own City Dionysia in the Theatre of Your Imagination. We have now seen the tragic offerings of two sublime playwrights, Aeschylus and Sophocles, and are preparing ourselves for a great play from Euripides. But who wins the contest so far? Which moved you or impressed you more: the Oresteia or Oedipus Rex? You might want to rank them on their plots, characterisation, tragic feeling, handling of theme, potential for spectacle, intellectual arguments, and, with the concession that most of us aren't reading the original, language and lyricism too. Which playwright do you think is objectively stronger? And which one do you subjectively prefer?

Reading Assignment:

Our next tragedy will be Medea by Euripides, which will further deepen our appreciation of Ancient Greek theatre. Keep your eye on which playwright resonates most powerfully with you.

We're continuing with our alternating rhythm between our tragedies and our Big Read. So, this coming weekend, we will be returning to Lonesome Dove, and our discussion for Euripides will be the weekend following that. If you're reading both at the same time, let us know how you're finding the experience.

Questions for You:

1) Do you sympathise with Oedipus?

2) How did you feel during your engagement with Oedipus Rex?

3) Which playwright do you prefer so far? Aeschylus or Sophocles?

4) Freud believed that the destiny of Oedipus moves us because it might have been ours. Do you agree with his reading?

If this is your first experience with Oedipus Rex, I would love to know how the story met your expectations. If this is a reread for you, what is it like returning to the work? And please do share with us your favourite passage from this tragedy.

Happy reading, everybody!