Οἰδίπους

Oedipus myth discussed in Ancient Greek.

Online Course: October 31st-December 19th 2021

The story of Oedipus, who killed his own father and married his own mother, is among the most multivalent and stirring that the Greeks have left us. Over the course of centuries, many poets and scholars have poured over the complexities of this story, at times out of an effort to interpret and deepen appreciation of the work, at other times out of an effort to rewrite it with artistic license, but in either case with a consistent interest in plumbing its depths.

In the sessions of this course, we will read and discuss in Ancient Greek the two tragedies which describe the story of Oedipus. Each lesson will consist of a guided reading of the most prominent passages in Oedipus Rex  and Oedipus at Colonus, with text explorations and exercises. These will help the course participants gain familiarity of these tragedies and deepen their proficiency of Ancient Greek.

In this course, we will explore a dark story replete with omens and prophecies, , we will trace the steps of Oedipus from Corinth to Thebes, and from Thebes to Athens, examining a crime that was committed a long time ago, in the evening, near crossroads that impose a fork in the road with one path leading to Daulis and the other to  Delphi.