May 1st! Happy May Day!

Starting in small groups you will work through the following figures, terms, and questions covering the first episode of Oedipus Rex. 

1. Identify the following characters, monsters, deities:

Oedipus, Ismenus, Creon, Chorus, Teiresias, Jocasta, Herder of Laius, Polybus, the Sphinx [Various deities include Pluto, Pallas Athena, Artemis.]

2. Terms to know:
Ode- Lyric poem in a form of an address on a particular subject. Elevated style and form.
Strophe- First section of a Greek choral ode. Sticks to one subject. Divisions in an ode.
Antistrophe- Responding section to the prior strophe. Reflects or counters the subject raised in the previous strophe. Can raise a question from previous strophe's discussion.

3. Reading Questions:

• What agricultural problems has Thebes been having at the opening of the play?
• Why are seers like Ismenus trying to create prophecies and why are folks crowding to the shrine of Pallas Athena to make offerings?
• What three "blights" have fallen on the city in lines 27 onward?
• When the chorus states that the realm of Pluto "is full fed," what does that mean?
• What is the "fell songstress" referred to in lines 40-45, and why do the crowds consider Oedipus especially suitable for solving mysteries or riddles as a result of his encounter with this singer?
• In lines 64 onward, Oedipus refers to the people of the city as "my poor children." What does this reveal abut Oedipus's attitude toward his relationship with the city of Thebes?
• Who or what is the Oracle at Delphi and why do the Thebans hope this Oracle can help them?
• Who was King of Thebes before Oedipus took the job?
• Why didn't the Thebans avenge the king's death? (i.e., What new and more pressing problem distracted them from finding and punishing the murderer?)
• When the chorus sings in the first strophe, they call upon three gods. (1) Apollo (the Healer of Delos who inhabits the Pythian shrine), (2) Athena, and (3) Artemis. Why are these three gods suitable for invocation before hunting a murderer? Why not call upon Nike (Victory), Rhea (Justice), or Zeus the Avenger?
• In Strophe 3, the Chorus prays that Ares should flee "in sudden rout." Why do they want Ares to run away? Why do they call upon Apollo (the morrow's sun) and Father Zeus to slay the immortal Ares? Isn't killing a god technically impossible? So what is Sophocles getting at figuratively?
• In Antistrophe 3, the Chorus calls upon Apollo (the Lycean King) and Bacchus. We hear that Bacchus has "golden-snooded hair." What is a snell, and what does it mean to be snooded? Why is it appropriate to call on Bacchus?