Реферат: Oedipus Rex By Sophocles I c 496
Название: Oedipus Rex By Sophocles I c 496 Раздел: Топики по английскому языку Тип: реферат |
Oedipus Rex By Sophocles I (c. 496 – 406 B.C.) Essay, Research Paper It would be hard to find a play that has been more universally praised than Oedipus Rex (”King Oedipus”). Aristotle considered it the model tragedy, and that opinion has been widely held to the present day. No drama before or since has managed to so successfully combine a rapid, compelling plot, superb characterization, and elegant poetry into such a tight bundle. The tragedy of Oedipus Rex is not so much that Oedipus commits two horrible crimes; after all, he was fated to do so, and committed them unknowingly. It is, rather, that he, like his doomed parents before him, ran headlong into the destiny he was trying to defy, and then compounded his evils by his imperious refusal to believe the prophet’s declaration of his guilt. Pride was his downfall. The Greeks had a distinct word for this: “Hubris,” a heroically foolish defiance; the feeling that one is beyond the reaches of authority or convention. Oedipus Rex is notable for its use of dramatic irony: everybody in the audience knows from the start that Oedipus himself is the guilty party he seeks out for punishment. The viewers’ enjoyment comes as they see and hear the facts accumulate, bit by bit, until it suddenly dawns on Oedipus that he is his father’s murderer. The irony is heightened by blind Teiresias’ many tauntings and the chorus’ musical references to “seeing the light” Oedipus, though his physical eyes can see, is blind to the truth; and when he finally does come to see the truth, ironically, he blinds himself. The first and final – and most tragic and triumphant – irony, however, lies in the implicit acknowledgment that the very quality of Hubris (Oedipus’ arrogance in defying cosmic and priestly authority, fate and prophecy) is the same quality that enabled him to earlier confront and defeat the Sphinx and to save an oppressed city. Oedipus, then, is a hero who pits his pride against both gods and fate in the mold of Prometheus (whose downfall was caused by his sharing the gift of fire with man) and another heroine, Cassandra, who was cursed with the blessing of prophecy. And indeed, most Greek dramas carry this theme of human paradox. Perhaps the symbolism of the Sphinx, who haunts the background of Oedipus Rex with her simple yet terrible riddle, says all that is necessary: The true enigma of the universe lies not in any exotic intergalactic phenomenon; the greatest mystery begins and ends with man. |