Oedipus Rex

No later than around 429 B.C.E. is the date by which the play "Oedipus Rex" was written by ancient Greek playwright Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the date actually refers to the play's first performance, at the Theatre of Dionysos in Athens, Greece. Only seven of Sophocles' 123-plus plays survive. Only two of those seven can be dated in terms of when they were written, and "Oedipus Rex" is not one of them.

That the pestilence in Thebes worries Thebans and that Oedipus is the king of Thebes are what the audience knows to be true in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the play begins outside the main entrance to the Theban royal palace. The audience knows that a priest of Zeus is gathered with suppliants around altars of their own building. The audience knows that Oedipus' presence is sought.

Because Oedipus does not see how he can be Laius' killer, because Teiresias' charges to that effect will lead to Oedipus' overthrow or death, and because Creon stands the most to gain, Oedipus refuses to change his mind about Creon in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet says that Oedipus is the mystery killer of previous Theban King Laius. Oedipus, his wife Jocasta and his brother-in-law Creon are joint rulers of Thebes. The charge against Oedipus is punishable by exile or death. Either way, Oedipus loses his job, and Creon therefore adds more responsibilities and power to his. Oedipus therefore assumes that Teiresias is making the charge up so that Creon can have all the royal power and glory for himself.

Why they are there is what Oedipus asks the Thebans gathered before his palace in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus exits from the royal palace. He finds altars set up and Theban suppliants gathered around the priest of Zeus. He opens the dialogue by asking why they are there since the city is suffering.

Suicide is what happens to Oedipus' queen in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Jocasta is Theban King Oedipus' queen. In the last part of the play, she correctly deduces that Oedipus is her son, the killer of her first husband, King Laius, and the half-brother of his children with her. The knowledge causes her to hang herself with the threads from her own robes.

It is because of divine curses that the evil is willed on Oedipus and Jocasta in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban monarchs Jocasta, Laius and Oedipus descend from the royal house of King Polydorus that is cursed by Dionysus the wine god. Divine curses leave only when the last descendants feel the cumulative weight of generations of divine wrath. Additionally, Laius offends the gods through his misbehavior with the under aged Chrysippus of Peloponnesus and through forbidden martial relations with his own wife, Queen Jocasta.

Teiresias is the blind prophet in the play "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, Teiresias is called to help Theban King Oedipus find the murderer or murderers of Theban King Laius. Teiresias is reluctant to cooperate in the investigation. The audience soon realizes that the reluctance stems from the fact that Teiresias alone in Thebes knows the identity of the murderer.

That it offends the gods is what the third choral ode says about pride in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the choral ode identifies arrogance, insolence and pride as objectionable in humans. The chorus insists that the three serve to advance one person at the expense of others. The members maintain that all three precede a divinely orchestrated fall.

That he quickly thinks that there are connections when there are none is the way in which Oedipus is schizophrenic in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the term schizophrenia describes a condition whereby an individual sees connections, people or things that do not exist. The description fits Theban King Oedipus' reactions to unexpected accusations by Teiresias the blind prophet. Oedipus jumps to the conclusion that Creon, his brother-in-law and royal colleague, revives King Laius' unsolved murder so that he and Teiresias can frame him for a murder that he does not remember committing. That murder charge leads to the loss of family, friends, home and job if not life too.

Yes, Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) uses dramatic irony to create tension in "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, dramatic irony refers to instances where situations are other than how they are perceived or understood by the characters so affected. The dramatist employs this literary technique in an attempt to increase audience interest. Sophocles achieves his purpose, because audience attention is caught up in ever more dramatically taut and tense interactions between characters whose understanding is incomplete or downright incorrect.

It is in self-defense that Oedipus kills the travelers in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Laius and his escort party approach the Delphi-Daulia intersection from the Theban side. Oedipus approaches it from the Delphi side. When they meet in the middle, Laius' charioteer jostles and Laius strikes with his double whip. Oedipus responds with his staff even though he is just one against six bullies.

It is possible - but doubtful given her uncle's personality - that Antigone may have fared better if she had treated Creon with respect in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon criticizes Princess Antigone and her brother Polyneices but approves Antigone's docile sister Princess Ismene and ambitious brother Eteocles. In line with his expressed animosity toward women, Creon is on record for calling Antigone foolish for comforting her father and defending her brother's legitimate claim to the Theban throne. He is as unworkable as any stalker who debunks and ruins his prey, particularly by playing family members against each other.

Yes, Creon returns from Delphi before Oedipus accuses him of conspiracy in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus asks his brother-in-law and royal colleague, Creon, to go to Delphi. Creon comes back and shares his news from the Delphic oracle. Shortly thereafter, Oedipus gets angry over other related news that he dislikes. Based on the two pieces of information, Oedipus makes the accusation that Creon is conspiring to grab royal powers for himself.

A god and a nymph are the possible parents that the chorus suggests for Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus finds out that he is native to Thebes instead of to Corinth. He is in the process of finding out who are his biological parents instead of the Corinthian monarchs assumed to be his father and mother. In honor of Oedipus' reputation as the heroic savior and beloved ruler of Thebes, the chorus suggests that Oedipus well may be the son of Hermes the messenger or Dionysos the wine god.

Death by being walled up in a remote cave is the final sentence that Creon orders for Antigone in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, throwing stones until the guilty person dies is the punishment for disobeying Theban King Creon's edict against burying the disloyal Theban dead. So that is Creon's initial sentence for his niece and intended daughter-in-law Antigone. But he ends up changing his mind, to avoid Thebes being polluted by the killing of a member of the royal family.

That he accuses him of a crime for which the punishment is loss of job if not of life is the reason why Oedipus thinks that Teiresias is a traitor in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus asks for help in finding the guilty in King Laius' murder. Teiresias the blind prophet charges him with a crime whose victim he never remembers meeting. Killing a king is a serious offense against gods and mortals and results in execution or exile.

Polybus and Merope are Oedipus' foster parents in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Polybus and Merope are the couple who head the Corinthian royal house. They are childless and therefore overjoyed when presented with an infant abandoned outside the city of Thebes. They never speak of the true identity of their foster son Oedipus, whom they love as their own and raise as their heir apparent.

It depends upon the particular edition being consulted in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the lines in the original Greek deal with Theban King Oedipus' welcome of Teiresias the blind prophet. Oedipus discusses Apollo, Laius, Laius' murder and mortals. But English translations may be wordier and therefore refer to earlier events, such as Oedipus' comments about Laius to the chorus leader just after the parodos.

A voice to the caution, practicality and reason of the ordinary law-abiding citizen and to the repressed will of the traditionally defined female are the dramatic purposes of the character of Ismene in the plays "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Ismene is shown to have a supporting role within the cast of main characters. She therefore is almost as anonymous as the "man on the street." That she chooses to follow the rules of the here and now as opposed to the those of the later and elsewhere of the afterlife confirms her as the careful, practical, reasonable person who may be seen as just one of the gatekeepers instead of one of the movers and shakers in life. It also establishes her as the female whose presence is controlled and whose voice is not heard in a male-dominated society such as that headed by her uncle, Theban King Creon.

Ismene also serves as a dramatic foil to her sister Antigone. Whereas Antigone is stubborn in her resolve to bury her brother Polyneices regardless of the consequences, Ismene waffles between resolve to obey the letter of the law regardless of her own feelings and swearing to accompany her sister to the grave in guilt for not burying their brother. Her inconsistency highlights Antigone's constancy.

It is because he himself is arrogant, frightened and unaware of meeting Laius that Oedipus discredits Teiresias in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus demonstrates arrogance in asking for wise advice, which he rejects when he dislikes it. He exhibits understandable fear in hearing himself being charged with a crime for which the punishment is execution or exile. Additionally, he manifests incomprehension since he does not remember ever meeting the man that Teiresias the blind prophet claims is his murder victim.