1. The Unities of Aristotle

2. Instructions
On a piece of notebook paper, set up a Cornell Notes page.
List the unity in the left column
Record information about the unity in the right column.

3. Developed from Aristotle’s writings
Unities
Developed from Aristotle’s writings

4. Unities
Unity of Action
Unity of Time
Unity of Place

5. Unities
Unity of Time
A Greek play occurs in “real time.” Scenes progress in continuous time beginning in the morning and ending later that day.
The action of the play should take place over no more than 24 hours.
All events in Oedipus Rex take place in a single day.

6. The entire play is unified around a single storyline.
Unities
Unity of Action
Unlike modern plays and novels, a Greek play has only one plotline – no or few subplots
The entire play is unified around a single storyline.

7. Unities
Unity of Place
All the action of the play takes place in a single location.
The stage does not represent more than one place.
Messengers are used to report events occurring elsewhere.

8. Unities
Summary: In the summary section, explain how Oedipus follows the three unities, based on what we’ve learned in the Prologue.
[see next slide]

9. Unities
Time – what can we expect about the time frame of Oedipus’ downfall?
Place – where will all the action of the play take place?
Action – what will be the single storyline of the play?