Yes, Theban King Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother. He does both deeds unknowingly. While running away from home, he responds in kind to the violence of a stranger over the right of way at a crossroads. That stranger is old enough to be Oedipus' father, and they resemble each other. Oedipus then goes on to Thebes, where Theban Queen Jocasta is a recent widow. She's old enough to be his mother, and they may or may not resemble each other in some feature or quirk of personality or character.

As it turns out, the stranger is Oedipus' father, Theban King Laius. Jocasta is Laius' widow and mother of his only child. So she's Oedipus' mother.

Freedom from torment but disrespect to the gods are what happens to Thebes once the riddle of the Sphinx is solved in the play "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, Thebans are free to come and go as they please without fear of bodily harm once subsequent Theban King Oedipus solves the riddle and the Sphinx kills herself. But Oedipus pollutes the Theban environment since he comes to Thebes straight from having killed an arrogant, elderly stranger and not having carried out any of the required cleansing rituals. He allows himself to be persuaded by Thebans to marry the widow of the previous king who never returns from a sacred journey to Delphi.

Oedipus is wrong not to have revealed his crime and made amends. He and all Thebans are wrong not to have identified and punished Theban King Laius' murderer(s). Everyone therefore becomes free of one danger only to end up facing another through their own disrespect to and disobedience of the rigid rules of gods and of kings.

The choice between actions that nevertheless lead to the same outcome or that produce the same result is what free will is in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) and "The Iliad" by Homer (fl. 8th B.C.E.).

Specifically, each individual has a customized destiny in ancient Greece. The particular paths by which individualized fates are fulfilled may be variable. But the range of choices and deeds results in all mortals ending exactly where the Furies of fate prophecy that they will be.

During the course of the play 'Oedipus Rex', Theban King Oedipus makes three bad decisions. The first is his decision to behave churlishly towards Teiresias the blind prophet. He bullies and insults the seer into revealing that he himself is the murderer of previous Theban King Laius and therefore the cause of the plague that affects the Theban people, livestock and crops. He goes so far as to call Teiresias a liar. As a result, Oedipus and all of Thebes learn of his own true identity as the killer of father and king and as the wedder and bedder of mother and queen.

The second is his decision to behave equally churlishlytowards his brother-in-law and uncle, fellow Theban King Creon. He accuses Creon of plotting against him and snatching royal powers for his own use and to his own advancement. He goes so far as to threaten Creon with a choice of death or exile as punishment and fate. As a result, he alienates the originally sympathetic Creon and ends up with the same choice for his own punishment and fate.

The third is his decision to blind himself after discovering that Theban Queen Jocasta has killed herself. He thereby makes it impossible for him to rule effectively. Additionally, he encourages Thebans to think of the fulfillment of his predicted fate as a blind exile.

The three bad decisions also make it impossible for him to sort out the three bad decisions that he makes before the play begins. His first bad decision, before the play's action, is fleeing from Corinth. The Delphic Oracle tells him that he's fated to kill his own father and marry his own mother. He goes to the Oracle expressly for a second opinion as to whether he is or is not the rumored adoptive or foster son of his parents. Instead, he should have found out whether or not Corinthian King Polybus and Corinthian Queen Merope were his biological or his adoptive/foster parents.

The second bad decision, before the play's action, is killing a man who's old enough to be his father. Oedipus should have had critical thinking skills developed to the maximum what with his high standing. So he needed to be respectful of prophecies as possible indicators of obstacles in his path and problems in his personality. Instead, his response is emotional in an emotion charged situation.

The third bad decision, before the play's action, is marrying a woman who's old enough to be his mother. Once again, Oedipus should have been able to think things through critically. Once again, he needed to see what prophecies were telling him about where he was weak and vulnerable.

A 'hero' does great deeds and/or has great powers. A 'tragic hero' has the same greatness, but there's an unhappy outcome in store. 'Tragic' refers to that unfortunate, unhappy consequence that tends to be loss of one's own life or of whomever or whatever gives meaning to that life.

For example, Antigone does the great deed of seeing that her brother Polyneices' god-given rights to proper funeral procedures are respected. But in so doing, she loses her life.

In the way of another example, Antigone's father, Theban King Oedipus, does the great deed of ending the cruel tyranny of the Sphinx over the city and citzens of Thebes. But in so doing, he ends up being rewarded with a royal wife and a royal job. Unbeknownst to him, the royal marriage leads him down a path to incest and anguish, because Theban Queen Jocasta turns out to be his own mother. The royal job leads him down a path to self-mutilation and disgrace, because he ends up having to punish a murderer who turns out to be himself.

In both cases, Antigone and Oedipus are heroes whose lives head in unfortunate, unhappy and therefore tragic directions.

By not returning to what he thinks is his hometown of Corinth subsequent Theban King Oedipus tries to defy fate. He learns from the Delphic Oracle that he's fated to kill his father and marry his mother. He thinks that Corinthian King Polybus and Queen Merope are his parents. So he decides not to get as far away as he can from his home and his fate.

But his defiance isn't successful. He heads from Delphi to Thebes. On the way, he kills a stranger who's old enough to be his father, and whom he resembles, in a street brawl over a crossroads right of way. Once in Thebes, he marries Theban Queen Jocasta, whose first husband never returns from a trip to Delphi, and who's old enough to be Oedipus' mother.

The irony lies in the fact that the stranger whom Oedipus kills is his real father. The grieving royal widow whom he marries is the wife of murdered Theban King Laius, and therefore Oedipus' mother. So it would have been far safer and happier for Oedipus to have gone back to Corinth and the foster parents that he never was fated to kill or to marry.

That the one is an adaptation of the other and that one is set in ancient Greece and the other in Nigeria is a way of comparing and contrasting "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) and "The Gods Are Not to Blame" by Ola Rotimi (b. April 23, 1938).

Specifically, "Oedipus Rex" is set in ancient Greece. "The Gods Are Not to Blame" is a modern updating of the ancient story of disgraced Theban King Oedipus. But it is set at an undetermined time in the Yoruba culture of Nigeria.

The unsolved murder of Theban King Laius is the cause of the plague in Thebes. It's actually a case of a pestilence that's wiping out the city's people, livestock and harvests. Nobody knows what the cause is until Theban King Creon comes back from a visit to the Oracle at Apollo's Shrine.

Murder is serious business. It requires proper cleansing procedures through the carrying out of purification ceremonies. It's even more serious when the victim is a king. The crime is seen as affecting all of Thebes. So all of Thebes needs to go through purification and the murderer or murderers need to be identified and punished.

That he is an acquaintance of Thebes' founder and that he is sent for are the reasons why Teiresias comes to Thebes in "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet is an acquaintance of Cadmus, Thebes' founder and first king. He promises to serve as royal advisor to all of Cadmus' descendants. He therefore serves as a living library of past, present and future knowledge of all Thebes and all Thebans. But he shares his wisdom only upon royal request. Without a royal invitation, he sits on his knowledge.

Tragedy is the genre of fiction into which "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) fits.

Specifically, tragedy refers to an unfortunate turn in, or end to, life. The description fits the above-mentioned played. The story follows the rise and rapid fall of Theban King Oedipus when his present life unfortunately clashes with disturbing revelations from his past.

mercury

It is to find out how to end the pestilence that Oedipus sends Creon to consult the Delphic oracle in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, an environmental disturbance such as pestilence can result from divine wrath over offensive commissions or omissions of mortals. Proper procedure in that case is to consult the Pythia, ancient Greece's most famous and respected oracle. That is precisely what Theban King Oedipus does.

That he is valiant under fire, straightforward in speech, results-oriented in actions, conscientious in his responsibilities and committed to his people are Oedipus' strengths in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus shows courage under fire against the monstrous Sphinx. He speaks in a way that is understandable to all. He likes to see actions linked with results. He is committed to carrying out his responsibilities, no matter how convoluted or uncomfortable, and to protecting Thebes and Thebans.

That he is cursed is how Oedipus characterizes himself in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus characterizes himself as cursed by birth, family and murder. He describes himself as repulsive to gods and mortals. He regrets that his humiliation passes on to the sister Princesses Antigone and Ismene, his daughters and half-sisters.