STUDY QUESTIONS FOR OEDIPUS TYRANNUS, PHOENICIAN WOMEN AND ANTIGONE:

1. All three of these plays (and the Seven Against Thebes, which we read earlier) are set in the city of Thebes. To judge from the plays, what is Thebes like? How is it different from Argos? What do you think accounts for this difference (these differences)?

2. To judge from the plays, what kinds of myths are associated with Thebes? How are these myths different from the myths associated with Argos? How do this broader mythic framework affect the way we perceive what happens in these three plays? More generally, how does this broader mythic framework determine the kinds of stories that can be set in Thebes? (In thinking about this go beyond the simple idea of “Oedipus is from Thebes , so a play about him has to be set there.”)

3. What is each of the plays about? What issue(s) will we talk about after the play?

4. What is Oedipus like in the Oedipus Tyrannus? (Not, “What does he do?” or “What issues does he face?” but “What is he like as a person?”)

5. What is Antigone like in the Antigone? (Same idea as in question 4.)

6. What is Creon like in the Antigone? (Same idea as in question 4.)

7. Some people (including the Greek philosopher Aristotle) have considered the Oedipus Tyrannus to be the greatest Greek tragedy. What is so great about the Oedipus?

8. Some people (including the German philosopher Hegel) have considered the Antigone to be the greatest Greek tragedy. What is so great about the Antigone?