Rehearsing my Electra monologue at Ephesus
Taking a rest in Pamukkale (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
The truth is what I cherish, and that’s my strength.
— Tiresias, in Oedipus Rex
Yesterday in Beirut, my students and I staged several scenes from the play Oedipus Rex under the palms outdoors. As the call to prayer was emanating from the minarets of the mosque down the street, my students began to perform–with surprising pathos–tragic scenes from this gripping Greek drama.
Our exploration of Greek drama has forced us to contemplate a number of big questions, such as: is life inherently tragic, since we all must die? Or is life inherently comedic, since we must die–yet we spend much of our precious time ruled by our egos, trying desperately to show ourselves and the world just how important we are. Trying, in vain, to be a “somebody” instead of a “nobody” (Facebook, anyone?). Above all, we had to ask ourselves–what is Sophocles trying to show us about our own blindness to truth?
So, you mock my blindness? Let me tell you this.
You with your precious eyes, you’re blind to the corruption of your life,
to the house you live in,
those you live with-who are your parents? Do you know?
— Tiresias, in Oedipus Rex
Theatre "masks" carved at Myra (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
