Medea and Electra Group

Question:

jettsta
jettsta
Student
High School - 10th Grade

Why does the play open with a mention of the tragedy of Oedipus?

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Posted by jettsta on Tuesday April 10, 2007 at 3:00 PM and tagged with medea and electra, oedipus.

Answers:


  1. sullymonster Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    eNotes Editor

    Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, seems have been written before Euripides set down his own dramas.  Many characters are reoccurring figures in Greek and Roman literature, as so much of the literary tradition centered around the mythology and theology of the time.  Electra, in particular, had already been well characterized by Sophocles when Euripides got ahold of the story.  It was only appropriate to make mention of this earlier work in order to separate and individualize his dramatization in the eyes of his audience.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/medea-electra/electra-prologue-para...

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    Posted by sullymonster on Friday August 17, 2007 at 8:36 AM