AP Lit and Comp / Period 2
30 October 2008
Annotated Bibliography: Oedipus Rex
Knox, Bernard M.W. "The Oedipus Legend" Readings On Sophocles 56.2 (Sep. 2008): 85-88. Gale. Niceville High School Lib., Niceville, FL. 14 Sept. 2008 . In Bernard’s critical essay, he examines the multiple elements that make up the Oedipus legend (such as novelty, myths, and plot) throughout the whole story and provides a summary of the story as well. Novelty was the major attraction of audiences for Greek tragedies. This is why the story of Oedipus is so strange and rather unusual to attract a larger crowd. According to Knox, another element of Oedipus was that of the myths. Uses of gods such as Apollo were intertwined with Greek tragedies in order to influence the audience to recognize that their will isn’t the most powerful thing in existence. When the story first begins, the background is not instantly given. In fact, the majority of the background story isn’t given until later in the middle. Irony, a major theme in Oedipus, is witnessed in multiple segments of the story. One of those examples is when the blind sight seer has more sight than the fully capable eyes of Oedipus. The dramatic irony comes into play when the audience knows what the truth behind Oedipus’ story is, while the characters are still uninformed. The ignorance of Oedipus’ parentage is what causes the dramatic outbreak. (197) Lewin, Jennifer. “Oedipus: Greatest of All Tragedies.” Answers. 20 Sept. 2008. 26 Sept. 2008 . In this essay, Lewin supports her argument that Oedipus is the greatest of all tragedies. She notes that since Aristotle defined what qualities were found in a successful tragedy, many critics have been emphasizing each trait in Oedipus. For example, Aristotle says that tragedies contains action which is motivation of the play, which is a concept...