Tragic Heroes Reflection

This past week we finished up Oedipus Rex and began discussing tragic heroes. Oedipus like all tragic heroes starts at the top and slowly descends as he learns of his fate. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has a huge ego that led to his tragic downfall. This hubris, which can be traced throughout the entire play is shown to be Oedipus's biggest fault. Oedipus's hubris has an impact on his judgement. He is so focused on himself, and making himself look good that he begins to loose sight of reality. This shows how extremely arrogant he can be. Tragic heroes in my opinion have more impact than traditional heroes do, because they generally pull more emotion from the audience. It is definitely more shocking and powerful when a hero is constantly descending and never rises back to the top at the end of the story. The play ended some what unexpectedly and gruesomely to say the least at the end. It was definitely a sudden and unpredictable ending.
I am very excited for our next project because we get to work as a team and incorporate creativity into the posters. It will be interesting to pull pieces from Oedipus Rex the play and see how they relate to a modern day film. Though I am looking forward to working on it.

Oedipus Rex reflection

So far what I have read of the play has been pretty interesting to say the least. Oedipus is first in command and many people look up to him to be somewhat of a massager to the gods. The towns people including the priest are begging him for assistance and guidance. Oedipus seems to be under a lot of pressure and has a lot on his plate. As of right now he has the best interest of the people in mind and he is trying to save the city. Through my research so far I have a basic knowledge of the majority of the characters that will be introduced in the play. Though it is hard to understand some aspects of the storyline because it is crucial to know about all myths and underlying meanings. In the play the use of dramatic irony in Greek tragedies is brilliant. I never really understood until now the amount of effort and intelligence it takes to create such a production and intricate storyline.  

Oedipus Rex Introduction

Dramatic Irony- Used in many Greek tragedies, dramatic irony is when the fate of a situation is known by the audience but not by a certain character or characters. This literary technique is used to build suspense in the story line. It also builds on the personality of the character and how the audience my view him or her because the audience has knowledge the character may not have. 

Sophocles- He was born into a wealthy family and was offered lots of opportunities including very good education. He was a dramatic poet who competed in many competitions and won a good amount of them. The Athenians elected him to a high military office in his advancing age. He wrote over 100 plays which many have been published today.








Oedipus Rex (person/ myth/ play)- Oedipus becomes king of Thebes after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. He was adopted into the royal family after he was found left in the mountains with his feet bound together. Later in life he ends up killing his father and marring his mother. There is still no evidence that Oedipus is a real person, for all we know now he is a character based on a myth.
          Myth- Oedipus is born to the King and the Queen of Thebes. It is fate that he kill his father and marry his mother. In order to prevent this terrible fate his feet are bound together and left to die on the side of a mountain. The baby was later found and was raised by the kind and queen of Corinth. He learned of the prophecy and ends up killing his father and marring his mother in the end, and obtaining the thrown.
                                                    The play- it is a Athenian tragedy written by Sophocles, it was originally performed in 429 B.C.E. The classical tragedy is a story about Oedipus that begins after he has beaten the Sphinx and married his mother.






Greek Tragedy- Form of theater in ancient Greek and Asia minor. It's plots generally originated from ancient myths. Usually a character in a Greek tragedy is doomed from the start and is usually destined for disaster using dramatic irony often.






Teiresias- Was a blind prophet of Thebes. He was most known for transforming into a woman for seven years. He aided in the investigation of the killing of the former king Laius. Though his investigation revealed that Oedipus himself killed Laius. Due to this information that he reveals, he is thrown out of the palace.






Greek Theatres- These are large open air arenas, that use the natural surrounding to give the theatre a dramatic sloped effect. At the center of any Greek theatre there is an orchestra where all of the performing takes place. The audience is seated in the theatron where upwards of 12,000 people can be seated. Seats are divided into sections by stairs.



   Fate- this is a very influential topic in many Greek myths, many people try to alter or change their prescribed fate in some way. Many times when someone tries to change their fate they end up in more trouble than they were in, in the first place. Many believe that your fate is associated with the gods and the gods may decide the fate of a person.






Aristotle (tragedy)- This is a dramatic performance where a very serious topic is disgusted and acted upon by the tragic hero. Throughout the performance the audience should have emotions of pity and sadness for the hero that progressively get stronger throughout. The performance should usually close with a ultimate climax.


Aristotle (hubris)- This is extreme pride or pretentiousness in a character that leads to failure. This is a overestimation of someone's strength or personality qualities. When someone has hubris they are often disconnected with reality.

Baraka

The film can relate to studies in first semester in the fact that many of the scenes portrayed some believes of the philosophers we have studied. Like Joseph Campbell has famously said, "follow your bliss". In the film there were many people that were doing just that and following their true passion through meditation and connection to a higher power.Though as Jonathan Swift commonly assumes that humans are simply machines. In the film there were many people that seemed to just be going through the motions of everyday life and never stopping and enjoying themselves. This is a very accurate representation of society. Towards the middle of the film they showed a assortment of cluttered buildings, stacked on top of each other tarnishing in the air day by day. This collection of buildings was not well kept and lacked care and compassion. There is little acknowledgement for this forgotten place in the world and lack of compassion. Most people tend to forget about the less fortunate people of society.

I thought one of the most frightening images of the film was when they were sorting out the baby chicks. Most of the time in our sheltered society we don't see what lies behind closed doors and many people are unaware and uneducated of where our food and resources come from. It was eye opening and really gave me a different perspective. I also thought that the man walking through the Chinese town ringing a bell and meditating by himself shows how the outlier in society takes a different path in life and really follows his or her passions where most people just do what makes the most money or what is socially acceptable. My ideas are different from Brussat because I believe Brussat looked more for compassion, where I looked more for the things that are hidden from our everyday lives. The sound throughout the film was very important. It really set the mood and toyed with my emotions. I think the film teaches viewers to have more compassion for people outside of their comfort zone, and also to become more educated, and aware of our surroundings. The whole world is intertwined and not everyone can stay in their own bubble.