Oedipus the King

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Oedipus the King
Antigone Leads Oedipus out of Thebes by Charles Francois Jalabeat
Written by	Sophocles
Chorus	Theban Elders
Characters	Oedipus Priest of Apollo Creon Tiresias Jocasta Messenger Herd of Laius
Setting	Before the Palace of Oedipus in Thebes

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Oedipus the King (in Greek)

Oedipus the King (Greek Oἰδίπoυς τύραννoς, "Oedipus Tyrannos"), also known as Oedipus Rex, is a Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles and first performed in 428 BC. The play was the second of Sophocles' three Theban plays to be produced, but comes first in the internal chronology of the plays, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. Many critics, including Aristotle, consider it the greatest tragedy ever written.

1 Plot
2 See also
3 Translations
4 Additional references

[edit] Plot

Much of the myth of Oedipus takes place before the opening scene of the play. The main character of the tragedy is Oedipus, son of King Laius of Thebes and Queen Jocasta. As a baby, Oedipus was sent to die or be killed with his ankles bound and his feet punctured. His parents sent him with a messenger to leave him for dead on a mountainside, but instead the baby was given to a shepherd and raised in the court of King Polybus of Corinth. Hearing from an oracle that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, he left Corinth under the belief that Polybus and his wife Merope were his true parents. On the way he met Laius on the road and became involved in a fight over right of way. In this fight Oedipus killed Laius, fulfilling the first half of the oracle's prophecy. Oedipus went on to solve the Sphinx's riddle: "What uses four legs in the morning, two in the day, and three at night?". Oedipus' reply was "Man". (Infants crawl on their four limbs, adults walk on two legs, and the elderly walk with the aid of a cane.) His reward for freeing the kingdom of Thebes from the curse of the Sphinx, was the rule of the city and the hand of the queen. Jocasta, believing her son to be dead, does not suspect the possibility of incest.

The play begins some years after Oedipus takes the throne of Thebes. The inciting incident is the chorus of Thebans crying out to Oedipus to save them from the plague sent to them by the gods in outrage at Laius' murder. The play shows Oedipus' investigation, in which he curses and promises to exile those responsible for the murder, unwittingly damning himself. Because the blind prophet Tiresias warns Oedipus not to follow through with the investigation, Oedipus is enraged and accuses Tiresias of conspiring with Creon, Jocasta's brother, to overthrow him.

Oedipus then calls for a former servant of Laius, the only surviving witness of the murder, who fled the city when Oedipus became king. Soon a messenger from Corinth also arrives to inform Oedipus of the death of Polybus, whom Oedipus still believes is his real father. At this point the messenger informs him that he was in fact adopted and his real parentage is unknown. In the subsequent discussions between Oedipus, Jocasta, the servant, and the messenger, Jocasta guesses the truth and runs off. Oedipus learns the truth more slowly, but soon does and runs off to join his wife/mother. A second messenger fills in the unseen details: Jocasta has hanged herself, and Oedipus, upon discovering her body, blinds himself with the brooches of her dress. The play ends with Oedipus entrusting his children to Creon and going into exile, as he promised at the beginning.