Homer, Iliad & Odyssey -- 8th c. BCE
Aeschylus,
Seven Against Thebes -- 5th c. BCE
Sophocles, Antigone,
Oedipus Tyrannus (a.k.a Oedipus Rex), Oedipus at Colonus
-- 5th c. BCE
Euripides, Bacchae, The Phoenician Women -- 5th
c. BCE
Callimachus, Hymns -- 3rd c. BCE
Ovid, Metamorphoses
-- 1st c. BCE
Seneca, Oedipus Rex -- 1st c. CE
Statius,
Thebaid -- 1st c. CE
Saga has historical basis. Greek sagas are concentrated in the period 1600-1100 BCE, the later Mycenean period; this seems to be the Heroic Age that Hesiod refers to between Bronze and Iron Ages. These stories are centered on major cities, such as Mycenae, Sparta, Argos in the Peloponnese, Thebes in Boeotia, Athens in Attica, Troy in Asia Minor.
You may want to see if Oedipus (or even Antigone) follows the narrative motifs that Propp found typical of the hero's story. Check out the list and compare Oedipus (or Antigone) against the list. You can check out the list on pp. 289f. or by clicking here.
Thebes was one of the major Greek cities, even in historical times. Its chief stories revolve around the unhappy household of Laius and his descendants. But the connection of Thebes with Cadmus and Europa, who left Asia Minor and came to Greece, or Crete, suggests again the movement from the Indo-Europeans into Greece from the North and East. Zeus himself grew up on Crete, and Dionysus came to Greece from the East (through Thebes).
Note that Ovid emphasizes the strangeness of the story of Europa and the bull. He points out that love makes Zeus do strange things: "abandoning the dignity of his royal office..."
You may remember Cadmus from Euripides' Bacchae, where he was an old man in drag (albeit moved by important political considerations). As this section points out, Cadmus seems to have a pretty good "in" with the gods. His wife is the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite (how does a child named "Harmony" come from that union?). Despite his wife's name, Cadmus' life is anything but harmonious. His daughter Agave accuses her sister, Semele, of being a slut, and he sees his chosen successor, Pentheus, slain.
Cadmus' introduction of writing -- not sure where this story comes from, but historically it is incorrect. The Greeks did not achieve literacy, as we might see it, until the 7th c. or so. It does though associate Cadmus with Hermes and Prometheus, who are also credited with teaching humans letters. Of course, writing does appear in works about the heroic period (remember the letter Phaedra left in Euripides' Hippolytus?).
I find it interesting that the holy spring of Dirce, one of the places that were supposedly poetically charged, comes from the blood of a slain enemy. You'd think that blood should be a pollution. Is it different because they were avenging their mom? (There is a Sweedish legend, which Ingmar Bergman made a film about in The Virgin Spring, where a holy spring shoots forth from where a young girl was slain -- sounds like the same sort of idea).
Don't make much of Laius' exile -- even in the historical period, such exiles did occur. What is surprising is that, welcomed into Pelops' home, he abducts Chrysippus. What was he thinking? Even assuming he loves the young man, such a violation of hospitality is striking. Even as an old man, though, he shows arrogance which leads to his death.
The story of Oedipus was singled out by Aristotle in his Poetics (the earliest analysis of drama we have). In Sophocles' version, Aristotle felt that version was tragedy as it should be:
This view of tragedy was used by scholars even into the 20th century. Some scholars tried to twist certain tragedies to fit Aristotle's model. You might consider if Aristotle's model even fits the Oedipus perfectly.
Like Pentheus' story in the Bacchae, it's easy to see Oedipus as a sort of human sacrifice to the gods (as the title of tragedy ("goat's song") may indicate -- a human, like a goat, is an offering to the gods).
Focus on this story as presented in the book, and watch carefully as we look at the film version of the play. It's a play of contrasts (seeing vs. blindness; son vs. lover; health vs. sickness; high vs. low; hero vs. villain). Levi-Strauss felt that the chief purpose of myth was to explore the binary world of language that we live in, and to somehow see past it. Oedipus leaps the lines that should be guiding his life with disastrous circumstances. What does that suggest about our place in the world? Also consider the question of Fate (the Greek word for "fate" is moira ("portion"). Can Oedipus act other than he does? Is Fate the same as "predestination?" What does it say about the Greek view of human existence?
You may check out Lévi-Strauss' discussion (in a site from Tim Spurgin of St. Lawrence U.) of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex by clicking here. Be sure also to check out the chart to which he has a link.
Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes and Statius' epic poem, Thebaid, treat this story. The play is very stagy, with seven pairs of speeches -- a messenger reporting to Eteocles, king of Thebes, about the threat at one of Thebes' seven gates followed by Eteocles' response on how he will meet the threat. At gate # 7, his brother Polyneices must be met by Eteocles himself, with disastrous results. Statius' epic, his greatest work, is a moody, dark work, something like Wuthering Heights meets war film.
This is an early play by Sophocles that treats the issue of what is right. Antigone breaks the king's law to do right by her brother; when the king and Antigone go head to head, people die, and, in true Greek fashion, the gods teach people "through suffering" (makes you want to audit, doesn't it?).
This was Sophocles' last play. It deals with the aged Oedipus, after years of wandering following his exile from Thebes, finds peace and welcome in an area near Athens. There was a shrine to the hero, Oedipus, at Colonus, and Sophocles here treats the legend behind that shrine. Here we have a tragedy not about "learning through suffering," but about a man whose life has been tested through suffering, and who has attained wisdom.
You may want to read about hero cults by going to M & L's site by clicking here.
There is a story that Sophocles' sons sought to have him declared incompetent (he was in his 90's). At the trial to decide Sophocles' competence and mental ability, he read selections from this play. The jury found for Oedipus and against his sons, so moved were they by the play (which has a wonderful speech by Oedipus against his sons).
How is it that the # 1 prophet of Greek literature could end up drinking from a poisoned fountain? Did he miss something?
Thebes does not send a contingent to Troy according to Homer; the implication is that, following the troubles of Oedipus and his family, the city had not yet recovered. Despite the literary license, it is possible that Thebes had been a powerful city in the early part of the Heroic Age, but fell through some disaster.
Check out the activities page on M & L's site by clicking here. Especially good is Apollodorus' version of the Oedipus story. Interesting films have been made about the Oedipus story: George Tzevellas's Antigone (1961), with Irene Papas; the filmed version of the Tyrone Guthrie production of Oedipus Rex (1957); Pasolini's film, Edipo Re (1967) also treats the story contained in Sophocles' play. If you ever get a chance, check out Bob Telson's The Gospel at Colonus (1986), which combines Oedipus at Colonus with gospel music and themes. Unfortunately, this is not available on video at this time.
For a powerpoint presentation on this chapter, click here.
For additional notes, questions and possible ids on this chapter, click here.