Execute or exile him is what Oedipus promises to do to Laius' murderer in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Oedipus is doing no more than carrying out divine will. A pestilence is overwhelming Thebes' will to survive what with ailing livestock, dying crops and failing livestock. Through the conduit of the Delphic oracle, the gods reveal that the guilty in the murder of Oedipus' royal predecessor, King Laius, must be executed or exiled.
Fear for his own life is the reason that Theban King Oedipus gives for finding the murderer of Theban King Laius. The reason is strange on two counts. On the one hand, that isn't the reason that's given by the Oracle at Apollo's Shrine for the man hunt. The Oracle says that the murderer must be identified, and punished with death or exile, in order for the devastating pestilence to end in Thebes. On the other hand, the reason is ironically strange, because Oedipus in fact is the murderer.
Exile is the punishment of Theban King Oedipus for killing Theban King Laius. The oracle at Apollo's shrine tells Theban King Creon that the murderer or murderers of Laius must be identified and punished with execution or exile. The choice of the punishment is up to Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law and uncle. Oedipus asks for exile, and Creon decides to honor that request, and Oedipus' request for protection to his two daughters, Antigone and Ismene.
Inciting incident
The murderer of King Laius must be found and punished so the gods will end the plague on Thebes.
Execute or exile him is what Oedipus promises to do to Laius' murderer in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Oedipus is doing no more than carrying out divine will. A pestilence is overwhelming Thebes' will to survive what with ailing livestock, dying crops and failing livestock. Through the conduit of the Delphic oracle, the gods reveal that the guilty in the murder of Oedipus' royal predecessor, King Laius, must be executed or exiled.
Fear for his own life is the reason that Theban King Oedipus gives for finding the murderer of Theban King Laius. The reason is strange on two counts. On the one hand, that isn't the reason that's given by the Oracle at Apollo's Shrine for the man hunt. The Oracle says that the murderer must be identified, and punished with death or exile, in order for the devastating pestilence to end in Thebes. On the other hand, the reason is ironically strange, because Oedipus in fact is the murderer.
Exile is the punishment of Theban King Oedipus for killing Theban King Laius. The oracle at Apollo's shrine tells Theban King Creon that the murderer or murderers of Laius must be identified and punished with execution or exile. The choice of the punishment is up to Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law and uncle. Oedipus asks for exile, and Creon decides to honor that request, and Oedipus' request for protection to his two daughters, Antigone and Ismene.
Inciting incident
The murderer of King Laius must be found and punished so the gods will end the plague on Thebes.
Theban King Oedipus wants to find his royal predecessor's murderer in order to end the suffering of his people. The Delphic Oracle says that Thebes is visited by a plague, for not having tracked down the murderer of their previous sovereign, Theban King Laius. The Oracle says that any perpetrator of that heinous offense must be identified and brought to justice. Otherwise, the suffering of the city and its people will continue unabated.Theban King Oedipus wants to find the murderer of his royal predecessor, Theban King Laius. His motive is his desire to end the plague He wants to stop the suffering of his people who are seeing their own numbers reduced as quickly as those of his livestock and as fast as the volumes of his harvests.
That Oedipus means what he says and says what he means and that the matter is serious is the relationship between Oedipus' curse on Laius' murderer and Creon's statement that Oedipus does not speak idle words in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus takes it upon himself to extend the divinely defined scope of the investigation into King Laius' murder. Divine will as expressed through the Delphic oracle merely states that the guilty must be executed or exiled. Oedipus extends the punishment option to those who are not forthcoming with information or who harbor or help the guilty. He actually cannot make that pronouncement since the type and applicability of punishment is a divine decision. Additionally, he acts to remove all mitigating circumstances by his overstepping zeal.
Dramatic irony occurs when a character describes a then existing situation as being greatly different from what it actually is. For example, the audience knows that Theban King Oedipus is the murderer of previous Theban King Laius. But neither Oedipus nor his own family and people knows that. So Oedipus issues a decree of banishment for the murderer when his identity is known. Oedipus' own decree ends up being used against himself, since he is the murderer who must be banished from his beloved Thebes.
That the murderer may try to kill him too is Oedipus' second reason for wanting to bring the murderer to justice in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus must identify and punish the guilty in the unsolved murder of his royal predecessor, King Laius. He gives as his first reason that the Apolline oracle says that these two actions will end the current pestilence in Thebes. Additionally, Oedipus expresses the concern that he needs to find the king-killer before the latter finds him.
That he will find the guilty in Laius' murder is Oedipus' reaction to Creon's information in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Creon brings back news from the Delphic oracle as to the cause and solution of the pestilence in Thebes. He indicates that the guilty in Theban King Laius' murder must be found and punished by execution or exile. Oedipus promises that it will be done.
That Teiresias does not want to talk or even be there is the information that leads Oedipus to believe that Teiresias is the murderer in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet is the royal advisor to all of Thebes' kings since the city's founding by founding King Cadmus. He must answer whatever questions that the current king asks of him. But he says that he does not even want to be in Theban King Oedipus' presence. Oedipus therefore states that Teiresias must be the planner if not the perpetrator of the murderous crime against King Laius, Oedipus' royal predecessor.
Catharsis is the dramatic function of the blind prophet Teiresias in the plays 'Oedipus the King' and 'Antigone'. Catharsis refers to a purification. Teiresias tells the people of Thebes of what hasn't been done, but must be done in order to remedy an impure situation. In the case of 'Oedipus the King', the city suffers because of a murderer in their midst. Teiresias says that the murderer of Theban King Laius must be banished. In the case of 'Antigone', the city suffers because of an insult to the gods. Theban King Creon refuses to respect god given traditions by burying the disloyal Theban dead. Teiresias says that the body of Creon's nephew Polyneices must be buried.