Oedipus #2

To answer this prompt, you will need to create a Blogger account. The prompts to do so will pop us as you attempt to answer from this site. Please use a name by which I can identify you easily, preferably your first name and last initial. This is a public blog, not a district-restricted blog. NO LAST NAMES!

Due date: Saturday, October 12, by Midnight . . . to avoid confusion, that's the midnight between Saturday night (when I'll be sound asleep) and Sunday morning (when I'll be awake and fully caffeinated and ready to read your highly entertaining and informative blogs).

This week, you have two questions from which to choose. Some of you didn't participate in the first blog. Answering both of these questions might mitigate the issues in Blog #1.

Question 1: The first sentence of Aristotle's Metaphysics is "All men by nature desire to know." Explain what Oedipus the King says about the THEME of knowledge - the universal human desire to know. Is Oedipus's tragedy that he is simply too true to human nature? Is the desire for knowledge the finest of human attributes, or is it the road to ruin? According to the play, what are the glories and the limits, the rewards and the punishments, of knowledge?

OR

Question 2: Using only the text of Oedipus the King, demonstrate how it either conservatively controls a potentially subversive response by the audience (such as anger at the gods for their cruelty and perhaps anger about authority in general) or subtly invites such a subversive response. ?


Answer: A great answer will consist of the following: Several well-written paragraphs with at least ONE text reference. At least one response to another student that covers more than "duh" or "ditto." For this blog post, I'll be looking for responses that closely target the the prompt and are more than one paragraph in length.

When quoting lines of poetry, include the line number(s) ONLY in parentheses after the quote and before the period at the end of your sentence. If you quote more than one line of poetry, use the / sign to indicate the end of one line and the beginning of the next.

Oedipus #1

To answer this prompt, you will need to create a Blogger account. The prompts to do so will pop us as you attempt to answer from this site. Please use a name by which I can identify you easily, preferably your first name and last initial. This is a public blog, not a district-restricted blog. NO LAST NAMES!

Due date: Saturday, October 5, by Midnight . . . to avoid confusion, that's the midnight between Saturday night (when I'll be sound asleep) and Sunday morning (when I'll be awake and fully caffeinated and ready to read your highly entertaining and informative blogs).

Question: Who is the biggest victim in this play? Oedipus? Jocasta? Their children? The people of Thebes? Some other character?

Answer: A great answer will consist of the following: Several well-written paragraphs with at least ONE text reference. At least one response to another student that covers more than "duh" or "ditto."

When quoting lines of poetry, include the line number(s) ONLY in parentheses after the quote and before the period at the end of your sentence. If you quote more than one line of poetry, use the / sign to indicate the end of one line and the beginning of the next.