CLAS 1000 1st Edition Lecture 29**Final Exam: May 4th 8-11am in breakout rooms (113/114 of Park Hall)Outline of Last Lecture - The Rise and Fall of Athens: Classical Periodo E. Attic Theater Tragedy- Sophokles’ biography- Antigone- Oidipous TyrannosCurrent LectureOidipous Tyrannos | Divine Knowledge- Dark- Concealed- Riddling, ambigious, vague- Need for interpreters (prophets) to analyze the signs from godso Blindness/sight dichotomy On a human level: see vs. being blind On a divine level: seeing the future, foretelling- Hubris: human over divine; humans seeing the futureOidipous Tyrannos | Human Knowledge- Misunderstanding – eg. Debate over whether Oidipous’ father was killed by one or manyrobbers (Oidipous actually killed him)o Kreon and the Chorus say robbers, Oidipous says robber Unintentionally giving away that he killed his father- Seeing the actors on stage, the spectators see the process of human knowledge and feel the power of divine knowledge- Puzzlement and doubt – “What do you mean”o Characters not understanding each other- Cross-examination (in stichomythia) – interrogating characters o Little by little the truth comes out- Human knowledge is market by process- contemplation, thought, over timeThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- Seeing is knowing- “I can tell you what I saw but my words are not enough.”o Language is not a substitute for experienceo Blindness vs. sight: Human sight is fallible, open to mistakes (seeing v. understanding) Human blindness- humans who can see visibly cannot see divinely and vise versa  Self-blinding- Oidipous gouges his eyeballs out and then gets divine sight; Oidipous becomes prophetic once he can no longer see with his eyesOidipous Tyrannos | KnowledgeOidipous Tyrannos | Oidipous- A typical Sophoklean character with the heroic temper- Hubris: his belief that human knowledge can be better than devine knowledgeo Attempts to avoid the oracle to prove the gods wrong, to beat fateo His treatment of Teiresias (a prophet), Oidipous thinks that his own knowledge is better- A tragic Figure: pathon manthaneis, one learns through sufferingo Takes a lot of pain and suffering for him to finally “get it”o Failure of human knowledge, kills his father and sleeps with his mothero Oidipous is an intellectual hero, not like the other heroes who do things (kill people, fight, conquer); Oidipous answers the riddle of the Sphynx and causes her to kill herself which is why he is a hero. The riddle: what has four legs in the morning, two legs in the day time, and three legs in the evening- Answer: a humanOidipous at Kolonos- 401BC, posthumous o we don’t know if this was intended to be a sequel to Antigone and Oidipous Tyrannos- This is a different kind of tragedy – there is no fall, not much action; it is very intellectualo Development of Sophoklean character – evolution, he learned from his fall- This tragedy is about Oidipous, Sophokles, and Athenso Kolonos- a deme of Athens where Sophokles was borno A conflict between Oidipous and his children; this could be a reflection of Sophokles’ own life and a conflict between himself and his childrenOidipous at Kolonos | Oidipous at the EdgeOidipous at Kolonos | Solving the Riddle- A conflict within and about the character of Oidipouso The crossing of a boundary- Oidipous learns to respect boundaries through his suffering- Ethical in turn: the question of guilto Miasma/pollution:  Old idea: if you do it, you are guilty regardless of the intention New idea: intention matters o Oidipous admits he is guilty of doing the act (killing his father), but says he didn’t mean to (his intent was innocent) and therefore he is innocent. Claims he had no knowledge of his actions Says he acted in self-defenseo Rejection of Polyneices’ supplication Oidipous doesn’t think Polyneices is sincere in his supplication, so he rejects it: intent matters.Oidipous at Kolonos | Redemption- Respect towards divinityo Not seen in Oidipous Tyrannos Running from the oracle Rude to Teiresiao Oidipous at Kolonos: acceptance of the divine Appolon’s oracle Accepts his fate Becomes