31. Antigone I
READ: Hellas, pp. 116-124 (top), and HANDOUTS, "Background to Antigone,"AND READ: In Sophocles, The Oedipus Cycle (the other book you bought at the start of the term)"Antigone," to Scene III (end p. 216).
When reading the two plays, keep in mind that there is an excellent "Index of Names" in the back that has colorful and complete descriptions of the people, gods and places mentioned in the plays. You may want to watch this 10-minute YouTube clip, a climactic scene among Creon, Antigone, and Ismene from the end of the passage you read last night. Note that this production uses a different translation than the book you have.
QF: Ismene, Antigone and Creon face different but equally agonizing dilemmas.
32. Antigone II
READ: Finish Antigone
Is Haimon weak? Smart? Conniving? On pp. 235-236 Creon changes his mind. Why? In the end of the play who "won"? You may like to watch this scene on YouTube.
33. Oedipus Rex I
READ: Oedipus Rex, to Ode II (end p. 45). Here, on YouTube is an entire production of Oedipus broken into various parts. I recommend watching Part 3 today.
QF: The play is full of reversals--reversals of position, reversals of fortune, reversals of respect, etc.
34. Oedipus Rex II
READ: Finish Oedipus Rex; I recommend watching part 7 and/or part 8 of the YouTube play.
What is the moral of the story?
35. Surviving the plague
READ: "Can Greek Tragedy Get us Through the Pandemic?" New Yorker, Sept. 1, 2020. You can find this document in the dropbox folder. File name: Oedipus_Pandemic_New Yorker
QF: Art gets us through.
36. Debate #3 (Day of the final)