Short Fiction: A Study of Genre

Lesson 8
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ELA

Unit 4

11th Grade

Lesson 8 of 15

Objective


Analyze Sophocles’s use of techniques common to his genre to develop Oedipus as a character.

Readings and Materials


  • Play: Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (from The Theban Plays)  pp. 8 – 19

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Target Task


Multiple Choice

When Tiresias refuses to share his knowledge, Oedipus responds by calling him “worst of traitors.” What does this sudden change of heart reveal about Oedipus?

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Sample Response

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Writing Prompt

Hubris is the pride that often plays a role in the downfall of Greek tragic heroes. How does Sophocles reveal Oedipus’s hubris in these scenes? Explain using evidence.

Greek tragedies have a distinct beginning, middle, and end that are linked by cause and effect. Each event is caused by the tragic hero. What does Oedipus do in these pages that moves him closer to his tragic fate?

Key Questions


  • Continue to track references to seeing, sight, blindness and eyes in today’s pages. Where do they appear? What is the possible significance of this motif?
  • To whom is the chorus speaking on pages 8-9? What are they asking for?

  • Who arrives to answer the chorus’ questions? How does this action reveal the hubris of Oedipus?
  • What does Oedipus ask the people of Thebes on page 11? What does he say will happen to the man who remains silent? What curse does he announce? What orders does he issue?

  • How does the author use dramatic irony here to foreshadow the fate of Oedipus? How is his fate linked to his hubris?
  • Who is Tiresias and why did Oedipus send for him?
  • How does Sophocles use the prophet Tiresias to develop the motif of blindness and sight on pages 13-15? Explain. 

  • What can we infer is Tiresias’s motivation for refusing to share his knowledge with Oedipus? How does Oedipus interpret Tiresias’s refusal? What does this reveal about Oedipus? 
  • What is the significance of Tiresias’s final words to Oedipus before he departs?

Notes


  • Today’s reading should pick up with the entrance of the Chorus on page 8.
  • In Greek tragedies, the chorus provides background information, including changes in scene, shifts in mood, and information about characters. The chorus was a group of men who would be stationed in front of the stage and who were both participants in the action and commentators on the action of the play.

Next

Analyze how Sophocles uses dramatic irony in this section of the play.

Begin to define “hamartia” and identify how Oedipus is contributing to his own tragic ending.

Lesson 9
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Lesson Map

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