Honors Oedipus Test

11-5-2013 Honors Oedipus Test  Choose 4 of the 8 topics. Each essay is 20 points each. Discuss and elaborate.  You may do 2 essays for extra credit for 10 points each.  Each essay should be at minimum 1 page.  Each essay must introduce the topic, answer all parts, include quotes from parts 1-12 or from the textbook (starts on pg. 469)

1) With what attitude toward the gods and a sense of cosmic order does the play leave you? Do the gods seem tyrannical, benevolent, just, cruel, indifferent? Does the play reflect reverence or irreverence toward the gods? Is the play indifferent to the gods? Do you feel Sophocles believed in cosmic order? Support your responses with textual evidence. 2) Over the entrance to the temple at Delphi are inscribed these words: “Know Thyself”. Defend the statement that Oedipus is the classic example of the man whose central problem is that he does not know himself. Support you ideas with textual evidence. 3) Character analysis of Oedipus the King using the 10 points of a character analysis essay. 4) 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? 5) How does Oedipus see himself? How is this similar or different from how he is perceived by others throughout the ENTIRE play? How does the chorus’ perspective of Oedipus change? 6) What function does off-stage action have in the Oedipus trilogy? Why, for example, does Sophocles sometimes have messengers describe actions that have occurred rather than portraying events directly? 7) What are some examples of dramatic irony (when we know events the characters don’t yet realize) in Oedipus the King? 8) In Greek, the name Oedipus means “swollen foot.” How has the torture Oedipus suffered as an infant “scarred” not only his ankles, but his entire life?