In class this week we are reading the story of King Oedipus. Which is a Greek story that they would have performed way back then. This story is so sad but I love it! I love stories and plays they seem to just stick in my head better then poetry and other things like that. They are so much more fun and you get to know the characters. But anyways in this story Oedipus's dad(Laius) was cursed for killing Apollo's ( the sun god) favorite snake. They curse is that Laius son will kill his father (Laius) and marry his mother and have kids with her. As much as I want to tell you what happens I'm not going to because I want you all to read it for yourself. This is one of the best plays I think I ever read and I think everyone should read it. Now the picture that I have chosen for this blog seems creepy ( well the rest of my class thinks it is I think they are really cool) but it is the mask they would wear when they would act out this play. Now I haven't looked this up yet so don't hold this to me, but I wonder if they made them so big so people in the back rows can understand the emotions that the character is going threw. They didnt have the big screens that we have today to see. What do you think?
I've read Oedipus before, and its definitely a very messed up family drama. I suppose its possible thats why they made the masks that way. Perhaps they wanted the emotions to be somewhat exaggerated.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, Oedipus, poor...POOR Eddie... Those greeks and their "incest" stories... makes me wanna stab my EYES out with my mother's hair pins just reading it. However, it is such a beautiful story itself and has an excellent plot line.... considering a son marrying his mom and killing his father... O____O
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed reading this classic play. I think your point about the masks is very interesting. That may be why...the audience maybe would concentrate, then, on the sorrow instead of the actors? It would be very difficult to see faces in that large theater we saw in the video, so the masks would be helpful. You are a good thinker, Scarlet. Never doubt that.
ReplyDeleteYeah the perfect example of a dysfunctional family. You kill your father, you marry your mom, she has your children, she kills herself, and then Oedipus stabs his eyes out. Greek tragedies are all about prophecy and how they intend on fixing their future and fate.
ReplyDeleteThis story is really tragic and yet really gross. I cannot understand how the mother feels when the truth is revealed. I doubt many people think much into how she felt and what was going through her mind at this time. It might have been disgust at herself, but there was still a love between them. I bet she felt dishonored, sinful and much more.
ReplyDeleteI liked this play also because it didn't have slow moments like most plays do and it kept the action going always adding to the story.
ReplyDeleteYep the Greeks paved way to future techniques. And not just in writing, but in other things as well. (See: The Romans.)Of course they had some wired (censored) that made rocky horror picture show look like a kids movie. (And I have a feeling that I said something like this before.) {I DID!}
ReplyDeletethe mother actually killed herself after she found out
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