Sophocles' Oedipus the King

     So this week, not only did we read Oedipus the King, but I was in the group that actually got to teach the class on Oedipus. First of all, let me say that I think my group did an amazing job, and I feel that I was very fortunate to work with the people that I did. If you would have told me before that I would have had to teach an entire class period on a book that I'd never read, not only to a bunch of people that I'd never met, but with people that I'd never met, I probably would have freaked out. As it were, however, the build up to it was a lot worse than the actual project itself. Once we were actually up there in front and the nerves settled, honestly I had a pretty good time.
     One thing that I wanted to touch on a little more that we didn't have time for was the text's favor of fate over free will. I think this was a significant dynamic in the text, and perhaps mirrored their belief as a society. Sometimes, its hard to distinguish from these texts a society's value form an author's value, but I believe this may have been the former. No matter how hard the character's in this play try to do the right thing and avoid their fate, it appears to be inescapable. Oedipus, for example, knew that it was prophesied that he would kill his father, yet he was confidant that he could avoid it by staying away from his family (or so he thought). As it were, the exact actions that the characters took in order to avoid their fate were the one that propelled them towards it.
     All in all, I thought the text to be captivating, and the controversial nature of the play gave us plenty to talk about in class. The biggest piece of advice that I can give to everyone else is to make sure to prepare your section. The more prepared you are, the less nervous you will be. Also, do not underestimate the willingness of your peers. We had budgeted our time beforehand, but we had no idea that the discussions would go as well as they did (which was awesome). I thought there would be a few minutes given to each question, and I was very proud when a couple of our questions hosted quite lengthy discussions. Thank you very much everyone for your insightful and pertinent contributions....good luck with all of your projects, I look forward to experiencing them!