10/11/2023 update: If you have questions you want to submit for class 2 or 3, feel free to submit to me via email: reginaldjayne@boisestate.edu
Class sessions take place:
October 11 Topic: Antigone
October 18 topic: Oedipus the King
October 25, topic: Oedipus at Colonus
1:30-3:30 Mountain Time @ Yanke
If you are interested in reading the Plays, I recommend this collection on Amazon.
Here are three printable copies I found online:
For Session 1
Some questions to consider before arriving at our class session:
What did you find most interesting? Why?
What Character did you most align with, why?
Who is the hero? Why so and how so?
Who is "right?" Why so?
Do Creon and Antigone represent equal dangers to the state?
Why does the Chorus think Antigone is wrong throughout most of the play?
Why is Creon sure that if he does not punish Antigone he will show himself "weak before the people?"
Why is Creon absolutely insistent that his edict prohibiting the proper burial of Polyneices be observed? Why does he want to punish Polyneices even beyond death?
Why does Antigone confess so readily to having buried Polyneices? Are we meant to think that Antigone is "in love with death"?
Why does the Choragus find merit in what both Haimon and Creon say to each other in their argument?
Is Haimon sincere when he says to his father, "No marriage means more to me than your continuing wisdom?"
Why does Creon refuse to listen to Haimon’s advice regarding Antigone? Why does he declare that his son is an "adolescent fool?"
Why does Creon continually make wild accusations about bribery and anarchy? Why does Creon believe that those who defy him are bribed?
Why does Antigone refuse to judge Polyneices even though he attacked Thebes and killed his own brother?
Why does Creon change Antigone’s punishment from stoning to having her locked in a cave with food, which would "absolve the State of her death?"
Why does Creon reverse the order of actions the Chorus recommends, and bury Polyneices before he frees Antigone?
Why does Ismene want to die with Antigone for a crime she did not commit? Why does she claim that she and Antigone are "equally guilty?"
Why does Creon condemn Ismene but then later spare her life?
Why does Antigone have so little sympathy with Ismene’s decision to obey the law? Why does Antigone later reject Ismene, saying she has no "right" to share in her guilt?
Why does Creon finally change his will in response to the words of Teiresias? Why is Creon punished, even though he relents and agrees to release Antigone and bury Polyneices?
Is Antigone, like Creon, guilty of "stubborn pride?"
For Session 2
Some questions to consider before Meeting 2:
What did you find most interesting? Why?
What is the crisis or turning point of Oedipus Rex?
Why is Teirsias, the seer, blind?
Did Oedipus have alternative courses of action open to him?
How does this play change/alter your thoughts from Antigone? (if it does)
Pick one character other than Oedipus to discuss your thoughts on.
What is the narrative function of the 1st scene between Oedipus and Creon (beginning at line 617)? What do we learn about each from the scene?
Do you think Jokasta bears any blame for Oedipus’s fate? What errors does she make?
Who do you think is responsible for the tragedy of Oedipus? Why/how so? (Some candidates: the gods, Apollo, fate, Oedipus' hubris, Teiresias, Jocasta and Laius, the Sphinx.)
Give some examples of how the symbols of blindness and sight are connected with the themes of ignorance and knowledge in this play. How do you think the solution to the riddle illustrates Oedipus' knowledge and ignorance?
There is a lot of talk about feet in this play. How are the motifs of the swollen foot and the limp related to the answer of the Sphinx's riddle? Can you find some ways in which they are related to the symbols of blindness and sight and the themes of ignorance and knowledge?
Do you think Oedipus is innocent? If he is innocent, why does he not get angry and curse the gods? Does he blame the gods? If he is guilty, what are some of his flaws?
Consider the reasons Oedipus gives for blinding himself. Can you think of some others?
What do you think Oedipus learns from his suffering? What do you think the audience learns?
Laius and Jocasta were warned by Apollo that their son would kill his father and marry his mother, yet they did not kill the baby when they had a chance. Are they guilty of defying the gods, and did they bring their doom upon themselves as a result? Was their doom merited?
Laius and Jocasta were warned by Apollo that their son would kill his father and marry his mother, yet they did not kill the baby when they had a chance. Are they guilty of defying the gods, and did they bring their doom upon themselves as a result? Was their doom merited?
Early in the play, we learn that Apollo commands that the corruption (killer of Laius) be driven from the land, and that the person responsible for the killing is still in Thebes (lines 107-121). This decree sets the play in motion. Oedipus decides to find the killer and to ban him from Thebes. Throughout the play, Oedipus is given a number of opportunities to abandon the search for the killer, but he continues to press the search. Why does Oedipus continue the search? Does his continuance argue that he has free will?
Is Oedipus a just man? How/why so or how/why not?
For Session 3
Some questions to consider before class session 3:
What did you find most interesting? Why?
What is the crisis or turning point of Oedipus at Colonus?
How does this play change/alter your thoughts from Antigone and Oedipus the King (if it does)
How do you see the characters differently at this point?
Pick one character to discuss your thoughts on.
What’s the role of forgiveness and revenge in Oedipus at Colonus... If you were Oedipus, would you have forgiven Polyneices?
What is the role of prophesy in the play... What does it tell us about Oedipus the character and the gods?
Discuss the conflict between fate and destiny on one hand and free will on the other. Which dominates? How does each character grapple with their limited free will?
Compare and contrast the characters of Oedipus, Antigone, Creon, Ismene, and Polyneices in this play with their versions in Oedipus the King and Antigone.
Do you think that Sophocles also believes that suffering leads people to wisdom?
Why has Oedipus left Thebes?
Do you think that Oedipus blames the gods for his fate more than he does in Oedipus the King?
Why does Athens welcome Oedipus instead of treating him like an outcast?
Has the attitude of the gods changed because of Oedipus’ suffering? What is significant about godly attitudes changing?
Should Oedipus have forgiven Polyneices? Is Polyneices selfish, or noble?
Who is responsible for Oedipus’ situation?
Should Oedipus have taken the advice given to him by Tiresias, Jocasta and the Old Shepherd – to leave things alone and not pursue the matter?
Did Oedipus have any alternative choices available to him?