Tuesday, 24 June 2008:

Film / video presentation (option 3): Amanda Waddell

1984 TV movie of Oedipus at Colonus

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus

Background / Plot Description:

• Video clip number 3 of 12 corresponding to pages 13 through 20 of the handout
• After arriving in Colonus with his daughter Antigone, Oedipus rests in a sacred grove of the Furies and is instructed to leave. Oedipus refuses to leave and to accept that Colonus is his final resting place. This scene depicts the Chorus’ reaction upon learning Oedipus’ identity.

Note:

• The characters’ body language, especially that of Antigone toward Oedipus
• The language Oedipus uses when referring to Antigone and Ismene

Purpose:

• To illustrate aspects of genre and tragedy within the play (i.e., plot, evocation of fear or pity through serious action, dramatic competition, tale of horrible events)

For discussion:

• Based on the order of the plays with regard to dramatic action, Oedipus at Colonus is the second play after the Oedipal Conflict is revealed in Oedipus the King. Does prior knowledge concerning the Oedipus complex in the first play raise the question of the Electra complex in Oedipus at Colonus? If so, how does this contribute or foreshadow an underlying, unconscious theme in Antigone?

• Refer to the top of page 28 and the end of page 39 regarding the nature of the relationship between Oedipus and his daughters