The Oedipus Trilogy Group at eNotes

Critic Northrop Frye says: Tragic heroes are so much the highest point...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:59:51 PST

Critic Northrop Frye says: Tragic heroes are so much the highest point in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightening than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightening. So, by this definition, each of the tragic heroes in the trilogy are the "great trees" standing on the hill--human...

What is the role of each character in these plays?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:32:23 PST

What is the role of each character in these plays?

Teiresias, the blind prophet, predicts that Oedipus will be discovered...

Sat, 3 Oct 2009 16:26:03 PST

Teiresias, the blind prophet, predicts that Oedipus will be discovered to be a brother as well as a father to his children, a son as well as a husband to the same woman, and the killer of his father. By the end of the play, Oedipus learns that he was raised by a man who was not his father and that he has in fact killed his own father without knowing who the man was. Following the killing of King Laius, Oedipus married King’s widow, and had...

In Oedipus Rex, what are 3 examples of "whatever the gods decide, your...

Sat, 3 Oct 2009 15:24:37 PST

In Oedipus Rex, what are 3 examples of "whatever the gods decide, your fate cannot be avoided"?

Why is his identify of Teresias. especially ironic, and how does it...

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:17:36 PST

Why is his identify of Teresias. especially ironic, and how does it add great power to the play’s view of human rationality—and its limits?

Discuss Creon's personality and behaviour throughout the play.

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 08:32:44 PST

Discuss Creon's personality and behaviour throughout the play.

The baby was found by a shepherd lying in the wilderness. Leaving an...

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:12:57 PST

The baby was found by a shepherd lying in the wilderness. Leaving an unwanted baby to die in the wilderness was a common practice in the days of ancient Greece. The reason Oedipus was left in the woods was because a prophet had predicted the baby would kill his father and marry his mother. So the parents decided to kill the baby. As fate would have it, the shepherd gave the baby to a friend who took it to Corinth. The kind and queen of Corinth...

In "The Oedipus Trilogy", where was the baby found?

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:54:57 PST

In "The Oedipus Trilogy", where was the baby found?

What is the meaning of the long prayer by the chorus and how do Oedipus...

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 10:06:02 PST

What is the meaning of the long prayer by the chorus and how do Oedipus resond to the long prayer?

The gods play multiple roles in the lives of the characters involved in...

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:49:19 PST

The gods play multiple roles in the lives of the characters involved in the Oedipus Myth. First, King Laius and Queen Jocasta take their baby to the Oracle, and this Oracle predicts that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother. The oracle is a god - figure who warns the characters of a cursed future. The gods work as prophets who predict the lives of mortals. Secondly, gods are always upset with human's pride. Once a mortal...

How do gods play an important role in the characters' lives in "The...

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:37:42 PST

How do gods play an important role in the characters' lives in "The Oedipus Trilogy"?

Waiting For Time tells the story of todays Newfoundland a place where...

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:48:13 PST

Waiting For Time tells the story of todays Newfoundland a place where the past overshadows the future and shapes the future. Defend or contradict

Waiting For Time tells the story of todays Newfoundland a place where...

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:09:25 PST

Waiting For Time tells the story of todays Newfoundland a place where the past overshadows the future & shapes the future. Defend or contradict

The audience reaction to a Greek tragedy is always a combined sense of...

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:00:36 PST

The audience reaction to a Greek tragedy is always a combined sense of pity and superiority. The chorus praises Oedipus, but he is a Tragic Hero, and thus destined to fall because of his hubris (excessive pride).

How does the audience feel about Oedipus at the end? Compare this...

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:23:33 PST

How does the audience feel about Oedipus at the end? Compare this reaction to how the chorus felt about Oedipus in the beginning of the play.

There are numerous signals that things are not all they should be, and...

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:19:22 PST

There are numerous signals that things are not all they should be, and that Oedipus is involved somehow. These work with the shepherd's words to create a terrible frisson of pain. In the opening pages of "Oedipus the King," Oedipus speaks these lines:" Ah! my poor children, known, ah, known too well,The quest that brings you hither and your need.Ye sicken all, well wot I, yet my pain,How great soever yours, outtops it...

Why is Oedipus's life worse at the end of the play Oedipus at Colonus?

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:59:15 PST

Why is Oedipus's life worse at the end of Oedipus at Colonus? One additional reason to these following reasons would be helpful.

I understand that he is..

1)Cursed all his life.

2)People are afraid he will bring bad luck to their community.

I just need a third reason why his life is worse at the end of Oedipus at Colonus. I am writing my first analytical essay and I can't seem to think of another...

Why is oedipus's life worse at the end of Oedipus at Colonus? One...

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:55:34 PST

Why is oedipus's life worse at the end of Oedipus at Colonus? One additional reason to these following reasons would be helpful. I understand that he is 1)Cursed all his life.2)People are afraid he will bring bad luck to their community. I just need a third reason why his life is worse at the end of Oedipus at colonus. I am writing my first analytical essay and I can't seem to think of another reason. I wasn't sure if saying that he is blind...

I wonder if the issues Oedipus brought on himself are actually due to...

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:33:26 PST

I wonder if the issues Oedipus brought on himself are actually due to excessive arrogance, or if it is simply that any person who seeks to "act" in addressing the problems of the world, no matter their intergrity, will invariably "act" wrong. Is it simply that Oedipus possessed a degree of self autonomy that was incomprehensible to the common man and therefore the gods MUST be involved?

Oedipus is a man of high social standing and is a "hero"...

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:43:27 PST

Oedipus is a man of high social standing and is a "hero" since he embodies the qualities of the people of his land (though his true royal identity is hidden from him since he was adopted), he attempts to do the right things at great cost to himself, and he does put too much emphasis on his own abilities, ie, he is arrogant.He leaves his home to avoid the prophecy, only to fulfill it by killing his father and marrying his mother.He...