Sophocles, Oedipus the King43028索福克勒斯的俄狄浦斯王43028.pptVIP

Sophocles, Oedipus the King (430-28? BC) Aristotle, Poetics, Chs. 6, 11, 13 Oedipus the King: exemplary tragedy for A. Hero has reversal of fortune (peripeteia) after making an error of judgement (hamartia). His downturn (catastrophe) in fortune brings with it suffering (pathos) and this reversal in turn leads him to a realization (anagnorisis) and to knowledge. The audience feel pity (eleos) and fear (phobos), emotions that are purged (katharsis) in the process of watching the play. Oedipus’ roles turn into their opposites (Jean-Pierre Vernant) Revealer becomes the revealed Detective becomes criminal Seeker becomes blinded one Saviour becomes scapegoat Hunter becomes hunted [In Freud’s terms, analyst becomes patient.] Oedipus the King Oedipus: We have wealth and power, the mind reaches higher, grows, Breaks its own fetters, our lives are great and envied, And the world rewards us—with spitefulness and hate! The language of exceptionality But Apollo means One man – who is this man? (188) I am a stranger to this story, And to the crime. …I shall not Exempt myself, although I am a citizen only In name, and not in blood. (192) Be brave, for my sufferings can fall to no one But myself to bear! (239) The language of representation Oedipus: Each of you has one sorrow, his grief is his own – But I must feel for my country, for myself, And for you. (187) Chorus: Every man who has ever lived Is numbered with the dead; they fought with the world For happiness, yet all they won Was a shadow that slipped away to die. And you, Oedipus, are all those men. (233) Rene Girard, Violence and the Sacred (1972) Tragedy apotropaic ritual (for turning away disaster). Idea of a scapegoat – absorbs all impulses towards violence and blame. Chosen as victim and killed ritually: the crisis and disorder of violence avoided in this way. Max Reinhardt’s 1910 production in Berlin (here transferred to Covent Garden) Emrys Jones: The constant comparativene