Oedipus Tyrannos: Tragic Form and Function

Robert S. Knapp
November 4, 2005

1. Introduction
1. The Gospel at Colonus
2. Antecedents and influence
1. OT as reference to “origins”
2. OT as index of the inscrutable
2. Oedipus Tyrannos as  “classic”
1. Classic as noble, as model
2. Classic as democratizing
3. “Classic” as non-biodegradable
3. Analyzing the plot
1. Aristotle on tragedy
1. Canonical work of art like a fine machine  or an elegant proof
2. Action as causal and logical sequence
3. Coincidence of moments of reversal (peripeteia) and recognition (anagnorosis)
1. Hamartia (missing the mark)
4. Outcome of process of reasoning coincides with outcome of historical process
2. Oedipus as visible sign of own intellectual error
1. Combination of rational elegance and irrational particular
3. Plot as epistemological exercise, driven by dramatic irony
4. Historical conditions
1. OT the intersection of two different realms (quasi-divine & bestial)
2. The Athenian “enlightenment”
3. Invention of philosophy, historiography, political democracy, tragic theater
4. Oedipus as symbol of Athens
5. Oedipus as symbol of the “modern”

Some References:

• Arnold, Matthew.  Culture and Anarchy. 1883.
• Derrida, Jacques.  “Biodegradables:  Seven Diary Fragments,” Critical Inquiry 15 (1989)
• Goldhill, Simon.  Reading Greek Tragedy.  1986.
• Knox, Bernard.  The Heroic Temper:  Studies in Sophoclean Tragedy. 1964.
• Loraux, Nicole.  The Mourning Voice:  An Essay on Greek Tragedy.  2002.
• Meier, Christian.  The Political Art of Greek Tragedy.  1993.
• Segal, Charles.  Tragedy and Civilization:  An Interpretation of Sophocles.  1981.
• Vernant, Jean-Pierre, Pierre Vidal-Naquet.  Myth and Tragedy in Ancient Greece. 1988.
• Winkler, John and Froma Zeitlin, eds.  Nothing to do with Dionysos:  Athenian Drama in its Social Context. 1990.