Oedipus Rex

Violence and panic-stricken desperation are how Laius and Oedipus respectively try to avoid their fates in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, violence appears to be the signature reaction of Theban King Laius when backed into a corner. For example, he asks his wife, Queen Jocasta, to kill their three-day-old infant son Oedipus when the royal couple receives a prophecy that their son will grow up to kill his father. In like vein, he battles a younger version of himself when the presumed stranger stands firm about right-of-way at the fateful Delphi-Daulia crossroads in Phocis. Both hotheaded expressions of violence boomerang with Laius' death.

Oedipus is similarly hotheaded. But the very first reaction of a frightened Oedipus is to run away in a classic example of desperate, panic-stricken avoidance behavior. The very second reaction is violent action carried out against an older version of himself and followed years later by violent threats and violent self-mutilation.

Corinth in actuality but Thebes in Oedipus' mind is what Oedipus' adopted hometowns is in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus is born in Thebes. But he is fostered at a very, very early age into the royal house of Thebes. Years later, he leaves Corinth and settles down in Thebes. Even more years pass before Oedipus realizes that Thebes is his actual, not adopted, hometown.

To tell him what is going on and then to disperse are Oedipus' pleas to the priest in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the term plea describes a petition, request or supplication. The description fits Theban King Oedipus' opening and closing interactions with the priest of Zeus. Oedipus makes the request that the priest tell him why altars are set up and suppliants are gathered in front of the main entrance to the royal palace. At the end of the interaction, Oedipus requests that the space be cleared so that the Theban people may assemble.

That he must identify and punish a killer who turns out to be himself is Oedipus' tragic downfall in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Apolline oracles says that the devastating pestilence will end in Thebes only with the identification and punishment of the guilty in King Laius' murder. As current Theban King, Oedipus must lead the murder investigation. But in the process, he discovers that the elderly stranger whom he kills at the Phocis crossroads and Laius are one and the same.

Once is the number of times that Theban King Oedipus gets exiled. The decision of exile is made by his brother-in-law and uncle, Theban King Creon. Albeit unknowingly, Oedipus is guilty of the murder of his royal predecessor and father, Theban King Laius. The punishment that he pronounces, and that is pronounced by the Oracle at Apollo's Shrine, is death or exile.

Before the action of the play, it may be said that Oedipus is in exile from what he thinks is his hometown of Corinth. But that isn't the result of any official decision. Oedipus leaves the town to consult the Delphic Oracle. The Oracle lets him know of his fate as the killer of his father and the husband of his mother. That's such a dreadful fate that Oedipus prefers not to go back home. So if the decision is one of exile, it's self-imposed.

The murder of Theban King Laius must be avenged to end the plague in Thebes. That's the word from the oracle at Apollo's shrine. Laius had died unexpectedly, and away from Thebes, in the course of an attack by person or persons unknown. The city had needed to go through cleansing procedures.

But Thebans had been busy defending themselves from the beastly, bullying ways of the Sphinx. Future King Oedipus showed up, and saved the entire city from the Sphinx. The Theban people were so grateful for their deliverance that they forgot all about the purification ceremonies that the gods required for the death of a king. This lack of following proper procedure finally caught up with the city and its people, in the form of the plague.

Plot tension temporarily is relieved in 'Oedipus Rex' when a messenger announces the death of Corinthian King Polybus. The tension is relieved somewhat, because Polybus widely is believed to be the father of Theban King Oedipus. A long ago oracle describes Oedipus as the murderer of his own father and the husband of his own mother. And yet Polybus' death passes without Oedipus' presence or fatal treachery.

But the relieved tension is only temporary. Soon it comes out that Oedipus isn't the biological son of Polybus. Instead, he's the son of Theban King Laius, whom he kills in self-defense in a street brawl over a right-of-way. He also soon discovers that he's the husband of his own mother, Theban Queen Jocasta, with whom he has children who therefore are his half-siblings too.

That Laius' death scene and the place of Oedipus' crimesare the same is the epiphany in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, epiphany refers to a realization of something that holds true. The description fits Theban King Oedipus' first moment of truth. He assimilates the fact that the place where King Laius dies and where he kills an arrogant older version of himself are one and the same.

Find out what the Delphic oracle has to say is the action that Oedipus takes to find an answer to the city's problems in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus knows that a pestilence afflicts Thebes. He also knows that environmental problems tend to arise when the gods are upset over human commissions or omissions. As a royal, he knows that the best information source on problematic causes and solutions are the insights of the highly respected Delphic oracle.

It is with great joy and relief and then with increasing dread that Jocasta reacts to the new information from the messenger in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles(495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Corinthian messenger tells Theban Queen Jocasta that Corinthian King Polybus is dead and that the crown and throne of Corinth are available to her husband, King Oedipus. He also reveals that Polybus dies of old age and sickness. Jocasta reacts with joy and relief to this news because of a prophecy that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother. But under questioning, it comes out that Oedipus is Polybus' adopted son and heir and that his true parentage is known by a Theban shepherd from Laius' own royal household.

Yes, Theban King Oedipus and Zeus, the king of the ancient Greek gods, are related.

Specifically, the sea god Poseidon and Zeus are brothers. Poseidon is the father of Prince Agenor of Tyre, the father of Theban King Cadmus. Cadmus is Oedipus' great-great grandfather. So that makes Zeus Cadmus' great great great great great uncle, and Oedipus Zeus' great great great great great nephew.

It is by making unfounded charges and in refusing to back down that Oedipus displays hubris in his conversations with Creon and Teiresias in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet reluctantly accuses Theban King Oedipus of being King Laius' killer. Oedipus cannot remember ever meeting his royal predecessor. He concludes that a lie is being told to his disadvantage and to others' advantage. He decides that his royal colleage Creon and his royal advisor Teiresias must be conspiring to overthrow him. He proudly refuses to admit the error of his ways despite spirited but reasoned defenses to the contrary by both Creon and Teiresias. Pride signals hubris, which is an arrogant way of behaving by someone who has an exaggerated sense of self-importance.