Oedipus the King Performance

This year, the Year 12s are learning about the Greek tragedy of Oedipus Rex, a story of mystery, betrayal, and most importantly hubris. On Tuesday 30 July, we enjoyed a performance of ‘Oedipus the King’ in Sharman Hall.

The play was written by Sophocles, a native Athenian, during a time of plague and war which swept over the Greek city states of the late 5th century BCE. Democracy was at stake as the Spartan Peloponnesian League battled the Athenian Delian League for political hegemony over the Greek world, and a devastating plague was ravaging the lands of central Greece, Athens in particular, which historians estimate to have killed a total 300,000 people. And so to reflect the current situation of the Greek world, Sophocles wrote ‘Oedipus the King’ to explore the values of the Athenian world when faced with extreme strife, and also to explore humanity's relationship with the divine and how they both fit into the known world.

Comparisons could be made between the story of Oedipus and the gods of the Greek pantheon, namely when it comes to prophecy. The titan Kronos saw a vision in which his children would overthrow the rule of the titans and initiate an era for the gods, to which Kronos would attempt to dispose of them and fail. Similarly, Oedipus was given a drastic vision where he would become the downfall of his parents, where by attempting to run from his fate he initiated the events of the prophecy to occur. It can be argued that Sophocles purposefully draws a comparison between Oedipus and the pantheon to show his larger than life character and the price he pays for it.

‘Oedipus the King’ ultimately serves to explore the ideas of fate and hubris in the context of humankind, all ideas which the year 12s will discuss for this unit of English!

Spencer OConnor - Year 12