Oedipus Rex Background

 

(image of Sophocles, a Greek playwright)

Sophocles is a famous Greek playwright who was born around 496 B.C.E.. He won many first and second prizes in Annual Athenian dramatic competitions. He was also elected as a high military official although he was never active in military. He wrote more than a hundred plays including Electra and Oedipus Rex. 

(image of Oedipus Myth, solving Sphinx's riddle)

Oedipus Rex is a famous Greek myth about Oedipus, who was born  to kill his father and to marry his mother. Oedipus was born as a son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta but after his prophecy is revealed, he is abandoned by his parents. Oedipus is raised in stepparents' hands; after knowing his prophecy, Oedipus decides to leave his stepparents thinking they're his biological parents. On the way, he kill a man who's Oedipus's biological father. Also after defeating the Sphinx, Oedipus marries the widowed Queen Jocasta, who is his biological mother and becomes the king of Thebes. 

(image of Oedipus Rex, the play)

Oedipus Rex is an Athenian play written by Sophocles and first performed in B.C 429. It's performed in the Theater of Dionysus (semi circular stadium with about 17,000 curved seats). Sophocles wrote this play that is full of taboos so people will avoid and refuse them. It's performed during the Dionysus festival so it can warn the audience from taking wrong actions. It also contains some religious faiths like men cannot change what god's predestined. 

(image of Oedipus and Jocasta)

Oedipus was born as a prince of Thebes but soon he was abandoned by his parents because of his prophecy. He was raised by caring stepparents and Oedipus leaves them when he acknowledges his faith. Oedipus tries hard to change his faith but as it turns out, he eventually follows the faith. He represents that it's impossible for men to change their faith. He is also the tragic hero because he never escapes from the abyss.

(image of a Greek Tragedy, Miscellanea dionysiaca)

Greek Tragedy includes Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Greek Tragedy begins with a prologue where one or more character explains about the story. Then there's parados which story reveals three or more episodes. Lastly the tragedy ends with exodus which concludes the story. The origin of tragedy is unknown, but usually Greek Tragedy has its stem on epic and lyric poetry.

(image of Dramatic Irony)

Dramatic Irony is when the audience know what's going to happen but the characters does not. Romeo and Juliet is a example of dramatic irony because the audience knows that Romeo and Juliet will eventually die but the characters don't know. Dramatic Irony is used in tragedies; In the Oedipus Rex, the audience knows who Oedipus murdered and who he married but Oedipus doesn't knows. Dramatic Irony makes the play more tragic because although the audience know the tragic that will happen they cannot change it.

(image of Hubris, excessive pride)

Hubris means excessive pride or arrogance. In ancient Greek, the word hubris means shame of victim so the abuser has joy. In Greek literature, it means infractions by mortals against other mortals. The word explains Greek view of honor and shame. If one is honored, someone has to be shamed. 

(image of Aristotle)

Aristotle is a Greek philosopher born in 384 B.C.E.. He contributed in Greek physics, poetry, theater, music, logic, and politics. He was also the tutor of the Alexander the Great. He also defines the word Hubris as shaming the victim for one's gratification. 

(image of Teiresias, transformed into a woman by Hera)

Also called Tiresias, Teiresias is the blind prophet of Thebes. He was transformed into a woman by Hera for seven years. Moreover, he helps Oedipus find the murderer of previous king Lauis; but he doesn't tell Oedipus the murder, which Oedipus gets very angry at and Oedipus throws him out of the palace. He also gives advice about cattle of Helios to Odysseus in the underworld. 

(image of Moirai, of the fates)

In the Greek mythology, the Moirai or the fates predestine what one's faith. The three Moirai are Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. In Greek mythology, oftentimes heroes are destined by the Moirai, like Oedipus the king. The heroes tries to follow or change their faith but as in the Oedipus Rex, the faith is unchangeable even for the gods. Therefore, Greeks believed human's life was predestined and they will follow their faith no matter what.  

The Blessing

Baraka, the blessing, was a great movie to watch in the beginning of 2nd semester. As the class learned in 1st semester, the movie proves that world is closely linked and people are alike.

The first animal that appears in the movie is a monkey bathing in a hot pot. It almost seemed like the monkey was wondering about something and it looks at the stars. It seemed to me that the perspective of the movie may have been the monkey's perspective. In a monkey's perspective different people may seem same.

Mary Ann Brussat suggests healing of the world is responsibility of all human beings. In the film, beautiful natures are shown, such as enormous waterfalls and beautiful rainbows, and then it changes to a scene of a tree that's being cut down. Soon the scene portraits little children marching and playing on the street. I thought this represented how people has to protect the nature so future generation can keep it.

To me, the most impactful and moving scene was comparing people who's getting their subway tickets to the chicks getting their beaks burnt and checked. That was one of the most disturbing scenes in the movie because it made me think if urban society is actually decreasing individualities and destroying the culture. Also I found it disturbing that people are living in such uniformed rules and laws even without recognizing them. No one questions why traffic lights work in order. At the end, a man appears and has a seizure. I believe the man represents how this uniform society has bad effects on people.

Compare to Brussat's impactful scenes, mine is about modern society and how it emotionally and mentally affects people but she focuses more on human harms on nature. 

The musics in the movie are sound of flute (or some instrument), human voice, sounds of nature (like waterfall), and man-made sounds (siren, cars, ceremonies). Especially in scenes with religion, the music is accompanied by bell sounds and has a clear and peaceful tone. There are scenes of skies in the movie. It shows how clouds move and color changes as the time goes. The music allows the viewers to feel either relaxed or alarmed; and the movement of the camera directs where to look. 

Overall, The film teaches that World is very alike to each other and people should work together. 

Last L.A. class of 2013

From the first day of school, Language Arts seemed like the hardest class. It is the only class that required summer assignment that kept me literate during summer; I usually neither read nor write in summer. Soon, as the time flows, my L.A. class of 2013 started to learn about Joseph Campbell's Hero's Adventure. I started to realize that this class is different from any of my former L.A. classes and that this is going to be very challenging. The real thing started from Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal. As well as learning satires, I also began to write formal essays, using and analyzing quotes from the text and relating it to the real life. Then, starts the never-lasting creepiness of Sir William Golding. Golding's Lord of the Flies was the longest and most time spent piece of the semester. I wrote lots of both formal and informal essays, journals, and reflections.

This L.A. class was very challenging. Even with the fact that L.A. isn't my strongest subject, I'm barely maintaining a good grade. The amounts of essays I had to write and the quality of essays it had to be really drove me crazy, sometimes. However, as much as it was challenging, I believe I had a dramatic improvement in my skills of writing. Moreover, I learned that literature is more than just a fable or a story but also contains deeper meaning into it. This class really helped me for college preparation.

Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies, from the beginning, was a book of my taste. The novel was plotted in an island, main characters are young boys, and they were representetives of human being. However, as I read, I began to realize that the strory was more deep than I ever imagined. On the last chapters of the novel, the island becomes a chaotic place; Jack steals the specs from Piggy and Piggy gets murdered by Roger. Ralph, who escapes, soon faces the hunting of Jack and Roger. Unlike the previous chapters, Roger became significant to the boys; the twins quote, "You don't know Roger. He's a terror" (Golding 195). With the fact that Roger killed Piggy, it proves that Roger may have equivalent or higher degree of evilness than Jack. When Ralph is running from Jack, "They had smoked him out and set the island on fire" (Golding 202). Ironically, Ralph gets rescued by a naval officer who visited the island because he saw the smoke. Ralph quotes "And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy" (Golding 208). Ralph and other boys on the island lost their innocence and darkness too well to go back to childhood. I thought it was funny how Ralph called Piggy as a friend because even to the moment of Piggy being killed, Ralph didn't listen to Piggy.

Simon of the Lord of the Flies

In the chapters 3, 4, and 5, Simon becomes more significant. At the previous chapters, he was described as African descent boy who was part of Jack Merridew’s choir. “The boys round Simon giggled, and he stood up, laughing a little. Now that the pallor of his faint was over, he was a skinny, vivid little boy, with a glance coming up from under a hut of straight hair that hung down, black and coarse” (Golding 22). In chapter 3, Simon shows his hard working by building the shelters. Ralph quotes, “They’re hopeless. The older ones aren't much better. D’ you see? All day I've been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing” (Golding 49). Also, Simon resembles the good aspects of religions. He is hard-working and kind. “..., Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back to the endless, outstretched hands” (Golding 55). From the quote, Simon proves his selflessness. Also descriptions such as “He came at last to place where more sunshine fell. Since they had not so far to go for light the creepers had woven a great mat that hung at the side of an open space in the jungle” (Golding 55), gives an image of religious prayers. Also phrases such as “candle-like buds” and “mats” are used throughout the chapter.

The Ultimate Frisbee

 Due to my friend Ellie's enthusiastic invitation, I started Frisbee this year. This is my official first team sport so I experienced various things from joining the team. First I learned running isn't too bad. I used to hate running; I hate it more than reading the pages of AP World History text book. But since the sport requires two laps before the practice, I had to run no matter what. That made me think of 'why am I doing thing that I hate the most?' However, after the lap, the practice is so fun that I forget about running the laps everyday. Playing sports with friends is really fun. It's unfortunate that I couldn't experience that from last years tennis team. By then, I just moved so I didn't know anyone, in contrast, this year, I had lots of friends that I met from choir last year, so I was more relaxed. Moreover, by joining a school team sport, I felt more committed to the school. I felt like I was representing the school in a way. If one goes to school and does not participate in any school or extra curriculum activity, one will just consider school as a place they learn academics only.

The Howler: King, Graham. Monarch Ultimate Frisbee catches Championship Title. 2012.

Piggy

A fat boy called Piggy in the novel, Lord of the flies, is an interesting character. He is described by quote, “He was shorter than the fair boy and very fat” (Golding 1), which suggests that Piggy has not very attractive appearance. Although, Ralph, who thinks he is superior than Piggy, thinks he’s better, Piggy is more logical than Ralph in many ways. When Ralph forced Piggy to run Piggy answers, “My auntie told me not to run,” he explained, “on account of my asthma” (Golding 7), which logically proves his statement that he should not run. From the quote, we can also find out that Piggy is dependent or faith in his auntie or an adult supervisor a lot. Throughout the chapter, Piggy mentions his auntie continuously. Also when Ralph brags about his father, who is a commander in the Navy, Piggy answers “My dad’s dead,” he said quickly, “and my mum-” (Golding 12). Also he quotes, “I used to live with my auntie. She kept a candy store. I used to get ever so many candies. As many as I liked” (Golding 12), which states that Piggy used to live with his aunt but not currently. Moreover, Piggy’s shape might have been a result of obsessive consumption of candies. Piggy is also a very intelligent character; when Ralph and Piggy finds the conch, Piggy immediately finds a way to gather up the scattered children: to blow the conch. However, even with his intelligence, Piggy is treated badly within the group. He is called nicknames from even the youngest, tiniest, and the most wick boys. Unlike the boys, Piggy has experienced loss of family members and is able to see the world in a critical way. While other boys don't accept the fact that they’re thrown in an island by themselves and think it’s a playful journey, Piggy quickly figures out that this is a reality. However, still as a young boy, Piggy didn't think about how the boys will react. Although it’s a fact, the boys refuses to hear the truth from Piggy and wants to hear sugar-coated-imaginations from Ralph.