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Oedipus Rex
More than 2,420 years old but still studied today, the play ‘Oedipus Rex’ tells a tragic tale of mistaken identities, inescapable fates, and horrific human misdeeds. Contributors typically compare and contrast the play’s characters, storytelling techniques, and subject matter with similar pieces of literature from the same and different settings and time periods.
3,240 Questions
What is the Oedipus complex mean?
The Oedipus complex is the attraction to your parent of the opposite sex and the hatred of your parent of the same sex.
Oedipus Rex killed his father and married his mother. (In his defense, he didn't know they were his parents.)
Is Antigone a good tragic hero?
Yes, Antigone is a good tragic hero. She has the quality of bravery in burying the body of her brother Polyneices against the manmade law of her uncle, Theban King Creon. In so doing, she shows that she acknowledges some moral authority higher than an earthly power such as a monarch. This makes her good. She also suffers for her convictions. She is arrested, receives a death sentence, and commits suicide. This makes her tragic.
Is Jocasta married to Oedipus?
Yes, Theban Queen Jocasta is married to Theban King Oedipus. It's her second marriage. Her first marriage ends with the death of her husband, Theban King Laius. She seems to be happy in her second marriage. But the couple's happiness ultimately is shattered with the revelation that wife and husband are also mother and son.
What gods are in the text of 'Antigone'?
In the play 'Antigone' some of the gods specifically are mentioned by name. For example, reference is made to Aphrodite, Bacchus, Pallas, Persephone, Pluto, and Zeus. Other gods generally are mentioned by attribute. For example, the fire and war gods are mentioned by the particular quality for which they're consulted and worshipped.
Theban King Creon is sent by his brother-in-law and nephew, Theban King Oedipus, to find out what can be done to solve the plague problem. He's sent to consult with the Oracle at Apollo's Shrine. The Oracle says that the plague only will end with the identification and punishment of the killer or killers of Theban King Laius.
What are the reasons that Oedipus wants to bring Laius' murder to justice?
There was a famine, and Oedipus went to an oracle who said that the only way it would be over was if he found out who killed Laius.
What accounts for the continued appeal of 'Oedipus Rex'?
One of the continuing appeals of 'Oedipus Rex' is the play's themes of poor judgment, mistaken identities, and cruel fate. They all give timeless insight into human nature. It asks some basic, timeless questions about the way we think out our lives. For example, Are we who we think we are? How well do we know not only ourselves but also others? And how innocent or responsible are we for the misery, pain, and suffering of ourselves and of others?
The play promises to be with us for all time, and in all places, because of its special relevance to those who experienced, or are related to those who experienced, the particular horrors of the second world war. The attempted annihilation of an entire people brings forth questions that will be with us and our consciences for all time. For example, How does it feel to find out that we or the people of our world are our own worse nightmares? What specifically do we do, in terms of the world's redemption, the victims' memorials, the perpetrators' punishment, and the nightmare's prevention?
He is son to Creon and Eurydice and brother to Haemon. He does not appear in Antigone because he died during the struggle between Polynices and Eteocles.
What is the opposite of 'Oedipus Rex'?
The play 'Oedipus at Colonus' is the opposite of 'Oedipus Rex'. The play 'Oedipus Rex' deals with Theban King Oedipus' rise to, and subsequent fall from, personal happiness and professional success. The play 'Oedipus at Colonus' deals with the King's humiliating, miserable time of exile and his ultimate return to favor with gods and mortals.
Thebes is where Antigone lives. It's her hometown. But before the action of the play 'Antigone', she leaves Thebes with her disgraced father, Theban King Oedipus. They travel around in humiliating, miserable exile until they reach Colonus. That's where Oedipus dies. That's when Antigone comes back home.
What gods does Creon mention in 'Antigone'?
Theban King Creon mentions only the chief god Zeus by name in 'Antigone'. Otherwise, his references are indirect in terms of Thebes' gods. For example, he speaks of Hades in terms of the underworld location of a mortal's afterlife. But nowhere does he mention the underworld god or the members of the underworld divine family by name.
No does not suicide he blind himself .. Jocasta who commit suicide by his own hands
Why or why not is Oedipus a dynamic or static character?
* Oedipus is the character - Oedipus Rex is the name of the play * Dynamic, because he experiences personal change. In fact he experiences one of the most dramatic life-changing crisis of all of literature.
He is not really gilty, because he didnt know that he killed his mother and married his father. But it doesnt really metter knew he it or now, he killed his birth father, and it is a shame.
For my opinion as i said i dont think he is guilty, but honest, he cut his eyes off, because he killed his father. I think he is a nice guy in the greek mythology.
Which general lesson does the chorus draw from the example of Oedipus' life?
Smooth sailing through life as a rare human experience is the general lesson that the chorus draws from the example of Theban King Oedipus' life. The chorus indicates that a pain free existence isn't something that the gods promise mortals. So the mortal who dies without any painful memories is few and far between in earthly life.
What does Antigone want to do?
Answer #1 Antigone wants to bury her brother who was just killed in a battle against her other brother over the throne of Thebes. Answer #2 Antigone wants to make sure that her brother Polyneices is honored with proper burial rites and rituals. Polyneices is being denied both the rites and the burial. Their uncle, Theban King Creon, wants the Theban dead who were disloyal to their hometown in a recent battle to be left, above ground and exposed to the weather, the dogs, and the birds. Antigone doesn't want to disrespect her brother's memory or his corpse.
Why are both Antigone and Creon at fault?
Traditionally: Creon for not allowing a proper burial and Antigone for not obeying the king and being rebellious.
Although you can feel free to give your own interpretation.
What does Oedipus do to discover the cause of Thebes' plague?
Theban King Oedipus tries to uncover the cause of pestilence in Thebes, by sending his brother-in-law and uncle, Theban King Creon, to Apollo's shrine. It's the correct choice to make. Creon comes back with the information that the killer[s] of Oedipus' royal predecessor, Theban King Laius, must be identified and punished with execution or exile.
Why did the citizens of Thebes make Oedipus the king?
The Sphinx was holding Thebes captive until someone answered it's riddle. Desperate for relief, Creon offers whoever can answer the riddle the hand of his sister Jocasta, recently widowed. Oedipus comes along and solves the riddle, earning himself the throne.
How does the meaning of the name Oedipus foreshadow the discovery of Oedipus' identity?
Oedipus' name means 'lame or swollen footed'. The name that's based on injury to the feet therefore foreshadows Theban King Oedipus' true nature as the discarded son of his true biological parents, Theban King Laius and Theban Queen Jocasta. An early injury to the feet has permanent effects on the appearance and the gait.
Laius had been warned of his future death at the hands of his own son. He therefore told Jocasta to kill the three day old Oedipus. A rod was run through the infant's ankles to make it easier to throw him onto a hillside and die from exposure to the weather, the dogs, and the birds.
But Jocasta couldn't bear to kill her own son. She instead hoped to save both her husband and her son. So she handed Oedipus over to a shepherd to raise far away from Thebes. The shepherd removed the rod. But damage to the Achilles' tendon left Oedipus with swollen ankles. It also gave him an abnormalgait.
