Oedipus The King – Vocabulary and Metalanguage

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Oedipus the King (vocabulary and metalanguage).

Agon

A contest or formalised debate between two people.

Ambiguous

Open to multiple interpretations.

Anagnorisis

Realisation either of another’s, or of one’s own circumstances.

Apostrophe speech

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, place, or concept.

Callous

Unfeeling, insensitive.

Catastrophe

An event causing great and usually sudden damage or suffering; a disaster.

Catharsis

The purging or cleansing of emotions, often associated with the emotional release experienced by the audience in response to a tragedy.

Chauvinism

Unreasoning and boastful devotion to one’s country or sex; excessive or prejudiced support for one’s own cause, group or sex.

Chauvinistic

Relating to chauvinism; showing excessive or prejudiced support.

Choric ode

An elaborately structured poem recited by a chorus, praising or glorifying an event or individual.

Chorus

A group of performers who comment on the unfolding events and provide insight or perspective throughout the play.

Climax

The turning point of the story; the moment of greatest tension when the outcome becomes clear.

Culpability

Responsibility for a fault or wrong; blame.

Deity

God or Goddess, supreme being.

Denouement

The final part of a play, film, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.

Determinism

Similar to fatalism; all events are determined by external causes.

Dirge

A funeral hymn or mournful speech.

Dramatic irony

A literary device where the audience’s understanding exceeds that of the characters.

Episode

A section or division of the play related to the action, plot, or story arc.

Ethos

A character’s inherent trustworthiness or credibility perceived by the audience.

Exculpation

The clearance or release from a charge of guilt or fault; vindication.

Exile

Banishment or forced removal from one’s homeland.

Existentialism

Idea that people give meaning to their lives through their choices and actions.

Exodus

At the end of the play, the chorus exits singing a processional song that offers words of wisdom.

Expiation

The act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing; atonement.

Fatalism

All outcomes are predetermined; the path to get there may differ.

Fate

The predetermined course of events believed inevitable and unchangeable.

Freudian

Relating to or influenced by Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis, especially regarding sexuality.

Futility

Pointlessness or uselessness.

Hamartia

A fatal flaw in one’s character that leads to downfall.

Hubris

Excessive pride.

Human condition

The characteristics and experiences that compose the essentials of human existence.

Intransigence

Refusal to change one’s views or to compromise; stubbornness.

Ire

Anger, rage.

Isocolon

Perfect repetition of similar grammatical forms (phrases, clauses, sentences).

Juxtaposition

Two things placed close together with contrasting effect.

Kommos

A lyric song sung by dramatic characters and the chorus together at heightened emotion.

Lament

A passionate expression of grief or sorrow.

Lexical

Relating to the words or vocabulary of a language.

Lurid

Causing shock or horror.

Lyricism

An artist’s expression of emotion in a beautiful or imaginative way.

Matricide

The act of killing one's mother.

Moira

Fate or allotment.

Monody

A speech by one actor in which one person laments the death of another.

Morose

Sullen and ill-tempered.

Morphology

Structure of words.

Nadir

Lowest point.

Nostos

An epic hero’s journey home.

Oedipus complex

A psychoanalytic concept describing a child’s feelings of desire for the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the same-sex parent.

Oikos

Relation to home or household (household).

Oracle

A priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom the gods communicate, often providing prophecies or guidance.

Parados

The second section of the play, sung by the chorus as it enters; summarizes backstory and foreshadows events.

Paradox

A logically self-contradictory statement or situation (e.g., Oedipus and Tiresias—sight vs. blindness).

Pathos

A feeling of intense sorrow or sympathy aroused in the audience.

Patricide

The act of killing one's father.

Peripeteia

Reversal of fortune.

Petulant

Easily irritated or annoyed.

Piety

The quality of being religious, reverent, respectful.

Polis

City-state; a Greek political unit.

Prologos

Prologue; opening to a play that establishes context and background.

Prophecy

A prediction or foretelling of future events, usually delivered by an oracle.

Revere

To worship or honour.

Sacrilege

Disrespect to something regarded as sacred.

Self-aggrandisement

The action or process of promoting oneself as powerful or important.

Situational irony

An outcome that turns out very differently from what was expected.

Sophrosyne

The Greek ideal of balance, harmony, moderation, self-control.

Stasimon

Choral song performed between episodes; a stationary ode in the orchestra.

Stichomythia

A dialogue where line endings and beginnings echo, creating meaning.

Stoic

Enduring pain or hardship without showing feeling or complaint.

Subversive

Intended to undermine or overthrow; or a person who undermines the system.

Syntax

Sentence structure.

Threnody

A funeral song.

Throes

Violent anguish.

Tragedy

A form of drama characterized by the downfall of the protagonist due to a fatal flaw or external circumstances.

Tragic hero

A literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, with fate and external forces, brings about a tragedy.

Verbal irony

When what is literally said is opposite to what the speaker actually means.

Valour

Bravery in the face of battle.

Visceral

Instinctive; relating to deep inner feelings.

Zealous

Fervent; fanatical.