oedipus context

Question 1

war

Answer 1

Peloponnesian war 431-404

• Athens V Sparta: state of politcal turmoil

Question 2

Politcal leader

Answer 2

• Pericles
• Prominent and influential Greek statemsan, highly loved
• such a profound influence on society that historians have named him as the ‘first citizen of Athens’
• died to the plague in 429BC

Question 3

Plague of Athens

Answer 3

• epidemic that devestated it in the second year of the Peloponisian war, just when victory seemed within reach

Question 4

care for sick and dead

Answer 4

• the plague was highly contagious
• this meant people were not willing to care for the sick
• the dead were heaped on top of eachother, left to rot or shoved in mass graves

Question 5

Religious strife

Answer 5

• the plague also caused uncertainty and strife

- temples were sights of misery as refugees from Athenian countruside had forced to find refuge there

Question 6

Medea

Answer 6

• Euripides
• Opens in state of conflict
• Downfall of influential figure - Jason, hero in Greek Soc due to golden fleece

Question 7

How is Oedipus’ ending like Medea

Answer 7

• messenger recounts grusome detail
• Medea murders her children and flees the scene in a dragon-pulled chariot
• jason doesn’t die, but potentially suffers a fate much worse

Question 8

importance of household

Answer 8

• birth of a son to inherit the household was significant

- aka giving up a son = crazy. Highlights belief in prophecy

Question 9

Death and burial

Answer 9

• a highly developed set of rituals
• lack of proper burial meant no access to underworld
• ancestors of the dead would honour in annual festivals with grave decorations