Oedipus Rex

It is in a motherly way that Jocasta interacts with Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta dismisses her husband's dispute with Teiresias the blind prophet by announcing that seers do not always get it right. She dismisses Oedipus' quarrel with her brother Creon by calling time out in their separate rooms. She dismisses Oedipus' search for his true identity even though it is part of a divinely mandated murder investigation.

That he is Laius' killer and that the truth of his existence will destoy him are the two truths that Teiresias reveals to Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus asks for help identifying the guilty in King Laius' murder. But he dislikes what Teiresias the blind prophet tells him. Teiresias charges Oedipus with the crime. He elaborates that before the day is over Oedipus will be destroyed by the truth of his birth, crime and marriage.

To end the pestilence and to protect himself are two reasons why Oedipus wants to find Laius' murderer in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Delphic oracle advises that the pestilence in Thebes will end with the identification and murder of the guilty in King Laius' murder. Theban King Oedipus cares for his city and his people. So he is motivated to do what the oracle says. But at the same time, he mentions that anyone who kills one Theban king may seek to kill another.

That he does not see how Laius can be both his father and victim are the reasons why Oedipus doubts what Teiresias tells him about Laius' identity in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet says that Oedipus is the killer of his father and of his royal predecessor. Oedipus never remembers meeting Laius. Additionally, he believes himself to be Corinthian born even though in his youth he hears rumors of his presumed parents, Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope, not being his biological parents.

Neglecting to undergo cleansing rituals, threatening his royal advisor and royal colleague and trying to choose his own punishment are examples of Oedipus' hubris in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, hubris refers to "an exaggerated sense of self, arrogance, pride." The description fits Oedipus. For example, Oedipus kills five strangers and arrogantly makes no confession, seeks no punishment and undergoes no cleansing rituals. He then moves on to Thebes, where he arrogantly neglects to carry out investigations and purification procedures regarding the recent, mysterious murder of his royal predecessor, King Laius.

Years later, when Oedipus is forced to find and punish the guilty in Laius' death, he does not like what Teiresias the blind prophet says. He arrogantly decides that his royal advisor must be conspiring with his royal colleague and brother-in-law, Creon, to seize the crown and throne of Thebes. When he is overthrown for being Laius' killer, his mother's husband and his children's half-brother, Oedipus arrogantly tries to force the issue of receiving a punishment of exile instead of execution. It is understandable that he is fighting for his life, but unfortunately that is not his call to make: decisions regarding exact punishment are up to the gods.

In the bedroom is where Jocasta kills herself in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta is outside the main entrance to the Theban royal palace when she puts all the pieces together and realizes that her second husband is her first husband's killer and her son. King Oedipus keeps on pursuing the truth despite Jocasta's efforts to stop him. Jocasta runs inside the palace and shuts herself inside the royal bedroom in order to hang herself.

The Sphinx is what Oedipus defeats before becoming King of Thebes. The monster forces anyone entering or leaving Thebes to answer a seemingly unanswerable riddle. No answer or a wrong answer means that she gets to devour the hapless respondent.

Oedipus alone figures out that it's a human being that gets around on fours in the morning [of life], on twos in the afternoon, and on threes in the evening. Specifically, it's a question of a crawling infant, a healthy adult, and an elderly person with a cane.

The Sphinx is so upset that she throws herself to her death. The relieved Thebans see to it that Oedipus meets the city's beautiful, newly-widowed queen, Jocasta. Everyone is happy to encourage the couple's romance and marriage.

That he seeks to enforce Oedipus' fate is a way in which Teiresias is an antagonist in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the term antagonist describes the main individual who thwarts the hero's deeds and helps turn the hero's life in an unfortunate direction. The description fits Teiresias the blind prophet. Teiresias is committed to Oedipus' fate as his father's killer, his mother's husband and his people's blinded exile.

Teiresias is the wisest man in Thebes according to "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias is a blind prophet and friend to Cadmus, Thebes' founder and first king. Teiresias outlives his friend and serves as royal advisor to every succeeding king of Thebes. But sometimes he sits on his wisdom since he can share only if requested to do so by the reigning ruler of Thebes.

That she has feelings of extreme self-hatred is the symbolic implication of Jocasta's decision to hang herself in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, hanging victims are not a pretty sight. The attraction of hanging is that it is usually an easy way to commit suicide because it does not require paraphernalia, such as a sword, that might call attention to the intention. Someone who is filled with self-hatred and who has decided to commit suicide wants to take immediate action, and hanging accomplishes that, as long as it is done correctly.

It is through giving him intelligent problem-solving skills that Athena helps Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Athena is the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom. The chorus mentions her in their choral odes. She plays no direct role so her help may be assumed in Oedipus' talents at problem-solving.

The threat of experiencing misery first-hand, in his own house and with his own family, explains why Theban King Creon finally agrees to free his niece and intended daughter-in-law, Antigone, and to bury his nephew, Polyneices.

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet tells Creon that the wrenching grief that everyone in Thebes but Creon is experiencing soon will strike him, his house and his family. Creon has only one of four children left. The other three died miserable deaths. Creon realizes that his fate may be as inglorious as his royal predecessor, Theban King Oedipus, who lost throne, home and family in one fell sweep.

Teiresias identifies the source of Thebes' current plague as wildlife eating the unburied bodies of Polyneices and his army of disgruntled Thebans and invading Argives. According to the prophet, the plague will end with the proper burial of the disloyal Theban dead. Creon is going against divine will by refusing dead Theban traitors their god-given rights. Such disrespect and arrogance is being paid for by the suffering of Creon's subjects. The price is going up, with Creon's job and the life of Haemon, his only surviving child and heir apparent, at stake.

The sobering news from Teiresias finally gets Creon's attention.

"Buried Child" by Sam Shepard (b. November 5, 1943) and "Desire under the Elms" by Eugene O'Neill (October 16, 1888 - November 27, 1953) are modern equivalents of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, all three plays deal with an incestuous relationship that produces children. In the case of "Buried Child" and "Oedipus Rex," the incestuous relationship develops between a mother and her son. In "Desire under the Elms," the incest happens between a stepmother and her son.

That she believes her son to be dead is the reason why Jocasta never has a reason for examining Oedipus' ankles to know if he is or is not her son in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta arranges for her three-day-old son Oedipus to be killed by her most trusted servant. She believes in the servant and therefore does no follow-up. Years later, she marries a younger man who has scarred, swollen ankles and a shuffling gait. She never relates the presumed dead infant of the injured ankles with the presumed Corinthian royal of the similarly wounded ankles.

That he is placed under house arrest and must await the decision of the gods as to his form of punishment is what happens to Oedipus by the end of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus realizes that he is the killer of his father, the husband of his mother, and the half-brother of his own children. He punishes himself by blinding himself with the golden brooches of Queen Jocasta, his wife and mother. He then meets with Creon, his brother-in-law and royal successor, to be put under house arrest until the gods indicate whether the punishment for Oedipus crime and immorality is execution or exile.

The skillful combination of the technique of dramatic irony and of the theme of fate versus free will into the production of the world's 'perfect' tragedy is the main effect that the telling of Oedipus' story had upon Greek drama and literature. Irony, the path of one's life, and the tragedy of human existence are the hallmarks of the author, Sophocles [c. 496 B.C.E. - 406 B.C.E.]. Many believe that the story of Oedipus never happened because it only is found in a few works from ancient Greek literature. But Sophocles became the world's most famous teller of the ancient tale, and he was from Colonus, the place of death for Oedipus.

Dramatic irony describes a situation that's seen by participants in a way that's totally different from the reality. An example is the perception by Thebans and the royal couple themselves of the role model in clean, happy family living that Theban King Oedipus and Theban Queen Jocasta appear to represent. The irony lies in the unclean actuality of their incestuous relationship as son and mother that's unknown to the couple and their subjects.

Another example is the commitment of Oedipus to find the murderer or murderers of Theban King Laius, his royal predecessor and his wife's first husband. The irony lies in Oedipus being the very criminal that he seeks.

Fate versus free will presents the apparently opposing situations of mortals as having no control over how their existence goes or as being able to change or even avoid unpleasantness in their lives. An example is the prediction that Laius will be killed by any son to which he and Jocasta are the biological parents. The couple thinks that such a fate can be avoided by killing their only child, the three-day-old Oedipus. But neither one can bring themselves to do the dastardly deed. Laius puts the responsibility on Jocasta. She passes it on to her most trusted servant. The servant can't bring himself to child killing, which actually isn't considered heinous in ancient Greece.

So Laius and Jocasta think that a horrible fate is averted. Instead, Oedipus grows up to kill a stranger who looks like an older version of himself and indeed is his own father and sovereign. Such acts even when carried out in ignorance are considered polluting to the doer and to the environment in ancient Greece. Killing a parent and a ruler is considered blasphemous and therefore tantamount to an offense against the all-powerful gods.

Another example is the prediction that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother. He thinks that his foster parents, King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth, are his biological parents. So he believes that he can avoid such a miserable fate by running away from Corinth ... to Thebes. On the way, he kills a stranger who's old enough to be his father and his king. Once in Thebes, he marries a grieving royal widow who's old enough to be his mother and may have some quirk of personality, some inflection of voice or some feature in common with him.

Ultimately, tagically, and ironically, Oedipus finds out that the victim of his temper is his own father and sovereign, and that his beautiful but older wife is his own mother.

In both examples, the people whose lives will be destroyed by such horrific fates don't stand back and let destiny ruin them. Or so they think. But the reality turns out to be otherwise. In fact, their every effort to avoid their fates only serves to make sure that the predicted offenses against mortals and gods are carried out to the very last detail.

That's where the beautifully frightening perfection of the tragedy steps in. Something is tragic when it leads to an unhappy outcome. Oedipus seals his own fate, and guarantees his own unhappy outcome, when he says that the killer or killers will face execution or exile even should they be found in his own household. The mercy that he intends not to show towards others turns on him. He makes no allowance for self-defense or for a lack of intent when he identifies the punishment in store for Laius' killer or killers. He therefore ends up denying himself his very real rights to self-defense in a fatal street brawl that he didn't start.

Because he shuffles or because his feet are swollen are reasons why Oedipus has his particular name in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the name Oedipus may refer to someone who shuffles or who has swollen feet. Both descriptions fit Theban King Oedipus. Shortly after birth, rods are run through his ankles and leave him with permanently swollen feet and a shuffling gait.

Money is the motive that Oedipus assigns to Laius' killer in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus becomes suspicious upon hearing that King Laius, his royal predecessor, is killed far outside Thebes. He believes that the killing is carried out by hired assassins. He concludes that the killers do the deed for pay and on behalf of Laius' enemies within Thebes.

That it summarizes but also foreshadows his life is the way in which the Sphinx's riddle relates to a wiser Oedipus at the end of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus is the life form that may be said to crawl as a baby from his native Thebes to Corinth by way of the sheltering arms of the Theban and Corinthian shepherds. He stands tall on two feet as an adult role model of personal happiness and professional success in Thebes. He stumbles along with assistance as a senior citizen blinded by his own self-mutilating actions.

Divine assistance, Oedipus' possible criminal past, divine punishment and Oedipus' fate are summaries of the odes in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the ode at the end of the prologue asks for help from the gods in ending the pestilence. The ode at the end of Theban King Oedipus' interaction with Teiresias the blind prophet asks how charges of murder are possible against Oedipus, the savior of Thebes. The ode at the end of Oedipus' first interaction with his wife Queen Jocasta discusses the flaws for which mortals are punished by the gods. The ode after Jocasta's suicide and Oedipus' self-blinding expresses the wish that a man as unlucky as Oedipus never had been born.