Oedipus Rex Part 1 Summary

386 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Character analysis of the character oedipus

Oedipus Rex

1. Creon informs Oedipus that, according to Apollo, the men who murdered Laius must be killed or exiled; the people are being punished for their sins with a plague that kills infants during childbirth and stops crops from growing.
2. Oedipus decides to obey Apollo and avenge the former king.
3. Teiresias is a mortal who “sees” just as well as Apollo; Creon suggests getting help from Teiresias, which is why Oedipus calls for him.
4. There are rumors floating around that Laius was killed by travellers.
5. Oedipus accuses Creon of plotting with Teiresias in order to overthrow the king, thus resulting in the exile of Creon.
6. Teiresias predicts that the Theban murderer of Laius will suffer in poverty with a woman who is both his wife …show more content…

When Jocasta hears King Polybus has died a natural death, she believes the prophecy was wrong and her husband is not a murderer.
9. Queen Jocasta is saddened by the messenger’s story because she finally realizes who Oedipus truly is, and that the prophecy has proven to be correct. Jocasta does not want Oedipus to discover who he really is, which is why she attempts to keep him from sending for the other servant.
10. Jocasta’s final words are, “‘Woe, woe, unhappy! This is all I have to say to thee, and no word more, for ever’” (Sophocles 38).
11. Oedipus realizes he not only killed his father and married his mother, but he also committed incest and reproduced with his own mother.
12. Oedipus wants Creon to exile him so no other Theban will lay eyes on the fallen king. Oedipus is most worried about how his two daughters, Antigone and Ismene, will be treated after his exile.
13. The adopted parents of Oedipus are Polybus and Meropi; Oedipus’ biological parents are King Laius and Queen Jocasta.
14. The word “Oedipus” means “Blinded by Fate”.
15. Infant Oedipus was abandoned on the mountain named Kitheron. Cadmus is the founder and first king of Thebes; all that is left of the House of Thebes is Harmonia’s necklace, which was taken to Delphi and shown to pilgrims for hundreds of

Show More
Related

  • Proactive or Paranoid?

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is told that he will marry his mother and murder his father. He is told by the Delphic oracle this information but he wants to change his fate so he banishes himself from what he believes is place of birth. As he is wondering, he stumbles across a caravan. After some arguing, due to his hubris, he kills all the men in the caravan. One of the men in the caravan turned out to be his father, King Laios. Oedipus at the time did not know this. He then entered the city of Thebes and broke the plague of the sphinx by solving its riddle. Because of this he was awarded the recently widowed Queen Iocaste, who is actually his mother. He married Iocaste and had children with her.

    Read More

  • Free Oedipus the King Essays: Oedipus as the Hero Archetype

    493 Words  | 1 Pages

    Twenty years later we enter the story and find the city under the cloud of a plague. Apollo's oracle has decreed the only way to end the plague is to seek out the murderer of the predecessor to the throne, Laius. Oedipus swears to find this murderer and cause of the pestilence in order to save his city.

    Read More

  • Joocasta In Oedipus The King

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    The role of Jocasta in Oedipus the King is crucial. Jocasta sees the reality of the situation before Oedipus and the chorus do. The prophecies made themselves known long ago, and Jocasta believed that they would come true. Jocasta did have faith in the oracles, but only enough faith to suit her own purpose. She worked to suppress much of the faith Oedipus had in them, in the interest of keeping the city, herself, and Oedipus in a powerful yet strong position. Jocasta's role in the story influenced Oedipus to think back to Laius' death and begin to try to solve the Sphinx's riddle.

    Read More

  • Oedipus Rex Essay

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    The name “Oedipus” means “swollen feet” in Latinized Greek. His parents, Laius and Jocasta, gave him this name while piercing a metal rod through the ankles of his feet, in order to prevent the fulfilment of the oracle’s prophecy. Despite this heinous act, their efforts were in vain as Oedipus’ free will conquered the theme of fate. In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the tragic hero, Oedipus, demonstrates hamartia, a fatal error in judgement, which brings about his own downfall. It was Oedipus’ hubris that was responsible for the tragic ending of this play. Evidence of this statement occurs when Oedipus’ determination towards solving the mystery behind Laius’ death ironically lead to the truth behind the oracle’s prophecies. Additionally, Oedipus’ overweening pride and ego resulted in the murder of Laius, which was a major stepping-stone in the prophecy. He illustrates his error in judgment through his pride, blindness, and foolishness and therefore is at fault.

    Read More

  • Jocasta And Jocasta

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Oedipus Tyrannus, the cultural way of thinking has been challenged by Oedipus himself and also the queen of Thebes, Jocasta. Oedipus is a king of Thebes who claimed himself to be incredibly smart for solving the riddles and he has helped the city who happened to be falling apart from the missing of their king. While in searching for the murderer of Laius, Oedipus called upon the presence of Teresias – the blind prophet. Oedipus requested Teresias to inform him about the truth that he knew about the secrets of the heaven and the earth (Sophocles, 1970). As a king Oedipus looked at himself as the one who hold the power and Teresias is expected to give what he asked for. However, Teresias refused to answer Oedipus’ question. He describes this

    Read More

  • Justice in Oedipus the King

    459 Words  | 1 Pages

    accuses Creon of plotting with Tiresias to hatch a plan to overthrow him. & nbsp;    &nbsp ; I don't think that fate is inescapable.  If it was, then why would blind prophet Tiresias tells Laius, Jocasta, and Oedipus their future, if not to. let them change.  I believe they were all involved in their own 'fate'.

    Read More

  • Creon's Changes in Oedipus the King and Antigone

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    Creon, who is Iocasta’s brother, claims in Oedipus the King that he does not wish to have the power and responsibility of being king. Towards the beginning of Oedipus the King, Oedipus has announced that Creon is to be banished from Thebes. Oedipus was exiling Creon because he said that Creon and Tiresias were trying to overthrow his power. Creon, being innocent of these accusations says that he has no desire to be king. He says, “Would any sane man prefer power, with al a king’s anxieties, To that same power and the grace of sleep? Certainly not I. I have never longed for the king’s power – only his rights.” (Oedipus, Scene II, L68-71) Oedipus, Creon, and Iocasta had the same amount of power in Thebes. The only difference was that Oedipus was the king. Creon said he was perfectly content with having the power without all the worries. Oedipus had the power but also had the people to worry about, Creon just had the power. By the end of Oedipus the King, it is revealed that Oedipus had killed the former King Laius and Iocasta is found dead. Creon decides to exile Oedipus, revealing that he may actually want to be king.

    Read More

  • Comparing Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone

    485 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Oedipus at Colonus (OC), one sees the beginning of Creon's decline. Creon has now come to occupy the throne that once belonged to Oedipus. It soon becomes apparent that his vision of the proper role of a king has changed to accommodate his new-found position. The emphasis shifts from that of a king who must rule wisely to one who must rule unyieldingly. The kingship becomes a selfserving instrument for Creon in his attempt to secure the return of Oedipus and the good fortune prophesied to accompany him. Creon's notion of justice is severely distorted in OC. He becomes monomaniacal - conducting his affairs with tyranny and belligerence. For example, he threatens to harm Oedipus' daughters if the blind beggar does not return to Thebes. His view of rightness and fairness is no longer in line with that of his subjects.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: Not Guilty of Any Crime

    517 Words  | 2 Pages

    While still traveling, Oedipus had come to the city of Thebes. There, he saved the city from the wrath of the Sphinx by solving her riddle. Seen as a savior by the citizens of Thebes, Oedipus was made king and subsequently, the husband of Jocasta. Oedipus and his wife-mother ruled together and had four children while never knowing of the true relationship between each other.

    Read More

  • Jungian Archetypes and Oedipus the King

    1161 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus finds out that he is the killer of King Laius and will become the archetypal sacrificial scapegoat for the city of Thebes. Throughout this passage from the play, Oedipus is continually gathering incriminating evidence against himself from the source of his own wife and mother, Jocasta. He discovers through her attempted reassurance that his quest from Corinth set his fate to be the killer of his biological father and the sacrificial scapegoat for the welfare of the people and land of Thebes.

    Read More

  • Oedipus Scapegoat Analysis

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    Just as Jocasta was, Oedipus is left in a confused state of mind and is quick to make the assumption that the oracles were false in their prophecies. "They led me to believe that I would kill my father. But he is dead and in his grave, while I stand here - never having touched a weapon" (Sophocles 22). At this time Oedipus is ignorant to the fact that Polybus was not his father. Although comforted in thinking that he was able to avoid the oracle because he did not kill his father, Oedipus still fears his union with his mother in bed. "But my fear is of her - as long as she lives" (Sophocles 22). If Merope was to have been Oedipus' mother, then he would not have been a sacrificial scapegoat, because one characteristic of the sacrificial scapegoat is the permission of the character to engage in sexual intercourse with a woman usually forbidden to him. It is not natural for a man to sleep with his mother, and Oedipus thinks he has managed to refrain from doing so. Later in this scene the messenger reveals information to Oedipus that contradicts everything that he had long believed. "Then you must realize that your fear is groundless. Because Polybus was no relative of yours" (Sophocles 23). The messenger proceeds in telling Oedipus about his childhood - that he gave Oedipus to Polybus as a gift after receiving him from another shepherd in the hills of Cithaeron. Because Oedipus wanted more information

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Oedipus the King

    465 Words  | 1 Pages

    Poor Oedipus discovers that he had killed his father and married his mother at the climax of the play when the Shepard is questioned. He states "I stand revealed at last - cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands!"³ He then finds his mother after she has committed suicide and proceeds to gouge out his own eyes with her brooches.

    Read More

  • Jocasta as the Victim of Oedipus the King

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    The play Oedipus the King by Sophocles has often been described as the story of a “tragic hero.” This story is indeed tragic; however, Oedipus is not the only character stricken by tragedy. Equally stricken may be the character of Jocasta. She, as well as Oedipus, suffers many tragedies throughout the story. Shifting the story to a different perspective quite possibly may increase how we view it. The point is not to denounce Oedipus’ role as a tragic hero, but to denounce his role as the only tragic character.

    Read More

  • Oedipus: A Victim of Fate

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Oedipus was born he was taken to an Oracle, this was custom for the rich. The Oracle was to tell his fate. The Oracle said that when Oedipus grows up he will marry his mother and he would also kill his father, "... Why, Loxias declared that I should one day marry my own mother, And with my own hands shed my father's bool. Wherefore Corinth I have kept away far, for long years; and prosperd; none the less it is most sweet to see one's parents' face..."(p36 ln1-6). When his parents herd this they gave Oedipus to a man and he was to get rid of the baby by leaving it in the forest, but an servant of Polybus, the king of Corinth, finds the baby and brings him to the king. The king falls in love with the baby and takes him in as one of his own.

    Read More

  • The Role of Creon in Sophocles' Oedipus the King

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus loses all trust for Creon and thinks that he is plotting to kill him and steal the thrown. This, however, is not true at all. Creon even says that he would rather not be king. He is equal in all decision making with Oedipus and Jocasta. So why would he want the extra hassle of actually having to be the king. Oedipus doesn’t listen and wants to have Creon banished or killed.

    Read More

More about Oedipus Rex Part 1 Summary

Open Document