‼️‼️aqa greek tragedy‼️‼️

I'm aiming for an A on this exam, and at the moment I'm on target for it, so when I get back to my computer I can send you some of my essays to look at -it is only 40 markers though as I hand write the 20s and 10s. Other than that, re read all the plays -I'm on Medea at the moment, until you know it back to front. Another good thing I've found is learning context, it's not as important but it does show the examiner you know exactly what you're on about.

Example for Antigone: Creon's decree boarders on tyranny, which was a significant issue for Sophoclese's audience as they had the tyrant Hipparchus in 528BC -defeated by the Tyranacides if you did sculpture at AS! So the Athenians created a democratic system to ensure that no power was placed solely in one mans hands. That said, there was an incident at the time of writing Antigone with a guy called Themistocles, who had been chased out of Athens and accused of conspiring with the Persians in the Peoponesian war -inspiration for the Eotocles and Polynicies story. Themistocles was later refused burial on Athenian soil for his treachery. The audience understood this and therefore sympathise with Creon.

Oedipus: the plague at the beginning of the play is caused by a Miamsa -pollution. At the time of writing Oedipus Athens was actually suffering from a real plague so it was all the more real. Oedipus is potentially a metaphor for the "King" Pericles, who brought everyone inside Athens to protect them from Spartan invasion but also accidently caused the plague. This is supported by some of Oedipus' main speeches which are taken directly from the funeral oration of Pericles.


Hope that helps! All that is taken from the introductions of the plays in the Robert Fagles translation.

These are amazing! I can see why you're on track for an A, you definitely deserve it! Thank you!