5. Background Info Cont. Author: Sophocles – Born 496 - 406 BC – 1st to introduce the 3rd Actor (Chorus) – Won over 52 competitions --Most feted play write (50yrs) – Wealthy and well educated family – Works: Ajax, Philoctetes, and The Woman at Trachis
6. Background Cont Theban Plays – Oedipus the King – Oedipus at Colonus – Antigone
7. Theme Fate: Seen when Oedipus and Teiresias are arguing Teiresias says, “Listen to me. You mock my blindness, do you? / But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind: / (IRONY tehe) You can not see the wretchedness of your life, / Nor in whose house you live, no , nor with whom. / Who are your father and mother? Can you tell me?” (Scene 1, 195-199) Later in the play we learn that King Laius (Oedipus’ father) was told he would be killed by his son. So they abandoned Oedipus. Oedipus fulfills his fate by killing his father while fleeing from Corinth to Thebes.