Do Now—Answer in your Writer’s Notebook: What plays have you seen or read? What do you like and dislike about theater?

Classical Greek Drama Theater was more than entertainment Part of religion Displayed loyalty to the city-state Honored local heroes Major social event Place of competition Philosophy was discussed

Theater of Dionysus, Athens Up to 15,000 spectators, sitting up to 55 yards away.

At the Theater Only men allowed to perform Wore masks, but Carried few props Violence always occurred off stage Typically, messengers would appear after the event to describe what happened Contained a chorus, that represented the commoners

The Golden Age Festival of Dionysus: Drama Competition Aeschelus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes Wrote in verse (poetry) Re-Wrote history

Tragedy and Comedy Comedy Tragedy Ridiculed Politicians The one comedic playwright ended in legal trouble for this Fall of a great man Hero should not be all good or all bad Falls due to their own hamartia

Sophocles Born in 5th Century BC to Wealthy Family Wrote 120 plays 24 Won the first prize at Dionysus Competition Only 7 plays remain intact Invented painted scenery & “deus ex machina” Believed in self-knowledge

Oedipus answered this. Can you? What walks on four legs in the morning, on two at noon, and on three in the evening? Man

Watching the Play Remember our Characterization Direct & Indirect Determine how characters are related

Exit Slip How do the lines of the chorus differ from other speeches in the play? How does Sophocles involve the chorus in the play’s action?

Do Now: Can you answer these Riddles? I can run but never walk I have a mouth but never talk I have a bed but never sleep I have a head but never weep. What am I? (Answer: A river.) This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down. What is this thing? (Answer: Time.)

Today’s Look Fors: Tragic Flaw Symbols Hubris Light and Dark Blindness and Sight

Exit Slip Take a stab at what the symbols might represent Remember: Symbols can represent themselves literally (e.g. Tiresias is actually blind) And they have a deeper meaning, too.

Do Now A cloud was my mother, the wind is my father, my son is the cool stream, and my daughter is the fruit of the land. A rainbow is my bed, the earth my final resting place, and I'm the torment of man. What am I? (Answer: Rain.)

Irony Verbal irony: IS saying the opposite of what one means “I have bad news for you! You got an A!” Wow! That shirt looks really good on you. (not)

Irony Situational Dramatic Discrepancy between what the speaker says and what the poem means i.e. We know the meaning, but the speaker is confused. It illuminates character Allows the author to indirectly comment on the nature of the person speaking Discrepancy between the actual circumstances and what is expected to occur If it snows on Memorial Day, right after the beaches open, it is ironic. We expected Okonkwo to not kill Ikemefuna because he loved him. The commissioner said he came to “civilize” the Ibo.

Play Tracker As we watch the end of the play, keep your eye out for irony. Does the irony help you understand the message of the play?

Literary Analysis Write an analytical essay about how Sophocles uses symbol or irony to highlight Oedipus’s tragic flaw (harmartia). Possible thesis: In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles uses (the symbols of _____ OR _______ irony) to show the king’s tragic flaw.

Essay due in Turnitin.com by Sunday at midnight