Here are the OEDIPUS essays I gave you on Thursday. Please work on your essay in class on Friday and Monday. Your essay will be due on Tuesday.

ESSAY TOPICS FOR THE OEDIPUS TRILOGY


1. Choose one tragedy and discuss the role of the chorus. Does the chorus
change over the course of the play? How does the chorus affect the action? How does it focus and intensify the audience’s responses?

2. In Oedipus the King, Jocasta, like Oedipus, sees the horror of her identity
unfolding. Compare Jocasta to the tragic hero. What are her own ideas
about Fate and prophecy? How does she react to her suspicions about
Oedipus’ birth? How does her final despair differ from Oedipus?

3. Choose a character who appears in two or more plays of the Oedipus Trilogy, and discuss the similarities and differences in characterization in
the plays.

4. As a prophet, Teiresias speaks for the gods and for Fate. How does the
character of Teiresias function dramatically in Oedipus the King and
Antigone?

5. In Antigone, who is the real main character - Antigone or Creon? Make a
case to support your choice.

6. Discuss the differences between Antigone and Ismene in their views of
women in society. How does each sister’s view shape the choices she
makes in the play? How consistent is each in her view?

7. Do you agree or disagree that Antigone is primarily a drama of politics, not
of fate.

8. Discuss the use of situational irony in the Oedipal Trilogy. Give specific
evidence to support your thesis.

9. Discuss the role of Fate in the Oedipal Trilogy. Discuss the adversarial position Oedipus takes with Teiresias, the oracle of the gods, in Oedipus the King, and his subsequent position near the end of his life at Colonus. Discuss Sophocles' probable intent in Oedipus' change of view regarding Fate.

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