Oedipus+Notes

 1. **Tiresias **: What is the function and importance of Tiresias in Oedipus? What does he bring to the characters he confronts? How is he treated? What does his message have to do with the larger themes of the play?  //Note that in Greek mythology //:  • Tiresias accidentally came across Athena while she was bathing, so she blinded him. • At his mother's pleading Athena gave Tiresias the gift of prophecy to compensate for his blindness. • Among his prophecies were: A warning to Pentheus to recognize and honor Dionysus when he first appeared in Thebes. • A prediction of the greatness of Heracles. • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">He revealed to Oedipus that Oedipus had unknowingly murdered his own father. • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Advice to Odysseus on how to placate Poseidon <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">2. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">The Chorus **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: Some say the chorus represent elders or citizens of Thebes. Others say they share <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">the perspective of the audience. Can both of these perspectives be true, or are they mutually <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">exclusive? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">What is the dramatic function of the chorus in Oedipus? • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">How does the playwright represent the chorus? • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">What values are associated with them? • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">What dramatic purpose do they serve? • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">What part of the community do they represent? • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">What message do they convey to the audience? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">3. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Physical & Moral Blindness **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Trace the motifs of blindness and sight throughout the play; what do they suggest about the play’s <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">larger themes? • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">“Oedipus can see, but he arrogantly believes that he can circumvent prophecy; Tiresias cannot see <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">physically, but he is expert at divining the will of the gods.” Defend the previous sentence with <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">multiple examples. At the end of the play, then, why does Oedipus blind himself; is this an act of <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">weakness or one of strength? • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Do other characters suffer from this moral blindness, e.g. Jocasta, who can't see swollen-footed <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Oedipus, who looks like Laius, as her son? • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Agree or disagree: "Oedipus's pride prevents him from seeing the truth, and this is why he takes <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">such a fall. Oedipus is blinded by his pride and cannot accept that he could not avoid his fate. The <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">irony is that the only time Oedipus is not blinded by his pride, is when he blinds himself <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">physically." <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">4. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Full & Partial Knowledge **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: Men often aspire to full knowledge; partial knowledge involves <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">perils as well as protections. Who are the characters with partial knowledge and what happens <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">when they seek full knowledge? What conclusions can you draw from considering the idea of <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">'knowledge' in Oedipus? Could man’s desire to know all (grasp/possess knowledge) be <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">considered a form of hubris? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">5. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Fate & Free Will **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">To what extent is Oedipus a dupe of the gods who have sealed his fate? To what extent does <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Oedipus bring about his own downfall? [Hint: If someone prophesied that you would kill your <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">father and marry your mother, the prudent person would avoid killing all men and resist marrying <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">an older woman.] • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Do Oedipus's attempts to escape his fate and even his search for truth constitute an attempt to be <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">all-seeing and all-knowing? Or does Oeidpus actually gain stature because he is striving against <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">the gods? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">6. **//<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic';">Hamartia //****<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">in ****//<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic';">Oedipus //**<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: What is Oedipus’s flaw or error? his arrogance? his unrelenting desire for <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">truth? his desire to be, again, the savior of Thebes? his striving against the gods and fate? Does <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Oedipus have a tragic flaw, or does he simply make a “mistake”? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">7. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Jocasta **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">When did Jocasta know that Oedipus was the baby she had ordered to be killed? She <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">should have known him when she first saw his feet (the name, "Oedipus," literally means <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">"swollen foot," or maybe even "wounded foot"), but did she? Pinpoint in the play when <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Jocasta seems to know--is it only right before she kills herself, or could it have been some <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">time before that? • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Why does Jocasta try to undermine prophecy? Does Jocasta love Oedipus? Does Jocasta <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">downplay the prophecies to spare her beloved husband--or is she trying to spare herself <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">public shame? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">8. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Verbal Irony **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Trace instances of verbal irony (including intentional sarcasm?) in the confrontations between <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Oedipus and Creon as well as Oedipus and Teresias. • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Does Jocasta speak verbal irony, or does her attempt to calm Oedipus by debunking prophecy <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">result in dramatic irony--the unexpected happening? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">9. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Dramatic irony **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">is created when a statement made by a character has one meaning for the speaker <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">and and additional and quite different one for the audience. For example, at the beginning of the <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">play, Oedipus is enraged at Laius' death and he wants to hunt down the killer; he talks about all <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">the terrible things he wants to do to the killer, yet the audience knows that he is the killer. This is <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">dramatic irony. • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Give examples and state the impact of dramatic irony on the story of Oedipus? • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">How does the dramatic irony increase the sense of tragedy? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">One riddle, the Sphinx's riddle, makes him a great powerful king while the other riddle, <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Tiresias' riddle, will destroy him. • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Tiresias is blind and can see the truth, hence him being a blind prophet. Oedipus can see but <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">can't see the truth (killing his father and Jocasta being his mother), but once Oedipus sees the <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">truth he blinds himself. • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">When the gods tell Oedipus his fate, Oedipus runs away from Corinth-- apparently away <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">from his "parents"--and goes to Thebes. But he is actually running towards his problems not <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">away. • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">He is abandoned on Mt. Cithaeron as a baby and is saved. Now he is going back to the same <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Mountain to die. • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Oedipus becomes the Sphinx. He protects the city, but in time becomes a pollution. The <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Sphinx protected the city, but would kill anyone who answered the riddle falsely. • **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">The riddle of the Sphinx is Oedipus's own life. Think about it. ** •  <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">The truth was ALWAYS right in front of Oedipus (his feet). He was blind to the facts. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Ironically, the only time he saw the truth was when he blinded himself physically. • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Laius and Jocasta helped fulfill the destiny by not insuring the death of their child. They <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">played it off as going perfectly as planned, although the gods had already ruled out this <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">destiny. • <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Tiresias is essentially what Oedipus becomes. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"> <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">A. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Hyperbole **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">(exaggeration): Are there places in the story where exaggeration seems to be deliberately <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">used by the speaker, making the event reported larger or more important than it is? (Hint: Check <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Creon's report of the Oracle and Teresias' predictions about Oedipus.) <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">B. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Foreshadowing **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: What instances of foreshadowing are there in the play, and how to they help build a <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">sense of inevitability? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">C. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Flashback **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: Sophocles uses flashbacks to recover pieces of Oedipus's past and create the <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">cumulative force of inevitability that comes down on Oedipus when he recognizes that he is the <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">killer of Laius AND that Laius was his biological father (and Jocasta his real mother). Trace the <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">movement of time in the play and list the clues that accumulate to pin down exactly who Oedipus is. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">D. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Contrast/Conflict **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: man vs. man (Oedipus vs. Creon), man vs. nature (Oedipus vs. the plague), man <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">vs. himself (Oedipus altruism vs. his pride), man vs. the gods (Oedipus vs. the oracles, [also Laius <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">and Jocasta] vs. the prophecy). <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">E. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Reversal **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">(of fortune) – see below <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">F. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Recognition **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: When the shepherd and former servant of Laius confirms that he gave the baby to the <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">shepherd from Corinth and that he got baby Oedipus from Queen Jocasta, Oedipus realizes that he is <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">that baby, that the man he killed where three roads meet was Lauis, and that Lauis was his father-- <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">and Jocasta his mother. Aha! and ruin (reversal of fortune from king to exile) occur in the same <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">instant. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">G. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Investigative Results **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: In the course of the investigation regarding Laius' murder, many facts came <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">out supporting the suspicion that Oedipus killed Laius. What were these statements and accusations? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Why was Oedipus not convinced initially and what was his reaction to such accusation? What do <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">these facts reveal Oedipus as a character? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">H. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Universals **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: Aristotle wrote that the difference between history and poetry is that poetry is a more <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">philosophical and serious business than history; for poetry speaks more of universals (what can <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">happen) than history of particulars (what did happen). What do you think is universal about the play <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Oedipus Rex? Is it the plot, the characterization, the theme or some combination of these or other <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">elements? Explain your answer using concrete references to the play. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">I. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Imagery **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: From the priest's description of the "ship of state" awash in a raging see of plague to the <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">"red hail" described by the messenger, this play is full of figurative language, especially in the choral <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">odes. Find, cite by line number, quote, and explain 5 important images. How do these images help <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">to set a tone for the play--and what is that tone? Imagery to look for: <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">sickness and pollution, the <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">ship of state, blindness vs. sight, light vs. darkness <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">J. **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Foils **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">: How are Creon and Tiresias both foils of Oedipus--whose personalities have traits opposite to <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Oedipus, thereby exposing aspects of O's character? Of the two, who is the more effective at <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">bringing to our notice O's personality traits? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">10. Why, do you think, is the play, Oedipus the King, still read today? What does the play hold for a <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">modern audience? For instance-- Does this play reflect on the notion that our lives are <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">determined either by our genetic heritage or by our upbringing (nature vs. nurture)? <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">11. How important is illusion in life? Give examples to support, and relate to Oedipus.
 * //<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Italic','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Italic';">Oedipus //****<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Notes and Questions to Consider **
 * <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Bold';">Examples of irony **<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">:
 * //<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic';">Dramatic Devices (besides irony): //**
 * //<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic';">“Real World” Connections //**//<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Italic','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'TimesNewRoman,Italic';">: //