Oedipus Rex

It is as a man that Teiresias meets Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet has a complete gender experience. He knows what it is like to be a woman before and after his life as a man. He presents himself in permanent male form when he advises Theban King Oedipus.

Recognition of Theban King Oedipus as the killer of King Laius is what makes the lone surviving slave of the royal party plead his departure from Thebes. The sole survivor sees Oedipus taking over his royal predecessor's job and wife. This survivor is the most trusted servant of Theban Queen Jocasta. So he knows she'll grant his request for a hasty departure before he possibly may be recognized by Oedipus.

The surviving slave ultimately can draw on knowledge that will ruin the life of the Queen whom he respects. He's a former shepherd whom Jocasta entrusts with the killing of her three day old son. The killing of a child is deemed far less heinous than the killing of one's father and sovereign in ancient Greece. And that's exactly what the child's fated to grow up to do, and more.

So when all the pieces of informaton from the surviving slave are put together, Oedipus also stands to lose all that he cherishes in life: his wife, his sense of self, his reputation, his possessions, his job, his home, and his family. The reason lies in the person that, albeit unknowingly, he really is: a murderer of father and king, and a sex offender with his own mother.

That Oedipus makes good on a promise that ruins him is the way in which "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) is about the curse of honesty.

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus heads an investigation into King Laius' murder. The trail quickly grows cold. Oedipus discusses the murder with his royal advisor, Teiresias the blind prophet. Teiresias charges Oedipus with the crime. Oedipus calls upon information from Queen Jocasta, his wife and Laius' widow. It becomes apparent that Oedipus is a suspect since Laius' murder takes place at the same place and time as a murder committed by Oedipus on his way to Thebes. Oedipus alters the investigation's direction and interviews two people upon whose eyewitness testimony he is convicted as the killer of Laius, his father and his sovereign.

The Sphinx is terrorizing Thebes when Oedipus arrives in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus arrives in Thebes to find a monstrous Sphinx camped outside the city's entrance. She asks a riddle whose answer she demands upon pain of death. No one knows what the correct response can be. Thebans therefore fear having to go back and forth about their daily business around Thebes.

Entertainment through choral odes and information through dialogue are the elements of theater that are in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the term theater describes a form of entertainment that is meant to be performed. Its performance nature is evidenced in the chorus' rhythmic odes. It also is found in the informational comments by the chorus, main characters and subsidiaries such as messengers and servants.

Solving problems is the skill that Oedipus is proud to possess in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus defeats the Sphinx. The Sphinx demands an answer to a challenging riddle. Not one of the incoming and outgoing Thebans figures out the answer. But Oedipus has the answer. He prides himself on his problem-solving abilities.

"Oedipus Rex" and "Oedipus at Colonus" are the two plays historically associated with "Antigone."

Specifically, all three plays are the creations of Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.). They form a trilogy in the sense that they present the life and times of disgraced Theban King Oedipus and his four children, one of whom is Princess Antigone. In terms of the chronology of the characters' lives, "Oedipus Rex" is first, "Oedipus at Colonus" second and "Antigone" third although that is not the order of writing by the ancient Greek dramatist.

He wasn't. He was actually happy that the man he knew as his father died, because he thought that it meant the prophecy wasn't true.

He was, however, very concerned with Laius' death, even though he didn't know that Laius was his father. Thebes was cursed by the gods, who demanded that Laius' murderer be brought to justice. Because of this demand by the gods and Oedipus' duty to Thebes and its former kings (as well as Jocasta, who was Laius' widow), he fervently sought to pursue the role he was supposed to fill as the "hero" and bring the murderer to justice.

He was determined to figure out Laius' murderer because, in short, it was his job.

That he be exiled to the mountains outside Thebes and then that his daughters accompany him in exile are what Oedipus asks for at the end of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, disgraced former Theban King Oedipus is used to making decisions, getting results and forcing his way. But with public knowledge of his criminal acts and immoral behavior, he no longer has the royal powers by which he can try to influence others and get his way. He still attempts to control his circumstances by asking to be exiled with his daughters, the Princesses Antigone and Ismene. These requests are actually ways by which Oedipus seeks to be punished in the way that he prefers, and as he well knows such decisions can be made only by the gods.

It is her first husband's story that Jocasta tells to convince Oedipus that prophecies may not come true in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta believes that prophecies do not necessarily come true. She differentiates between the prophetic skills of gods and mortals. She says her first husband King Laius was fated to be killed by his own son when in actuality he died at the hands of robbers at the Delphi-Daulia intersection in Phocis.

That violence cannot be portrayed onstage in ancient Greek theater is the reason why the audience cannot witness Oedipus' blinding or Antigone's death in "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the ancient Greeks had a love-hate relationship with the irrational, or uncontrolled passion. For example, death and violence opened up emotional floodgates. The ancient Greeks sought to direct the audience's reactions along certain channels to make sure that the point being made was made without distractions from that purpose. Including emotional response events was a way to get the audience's attention, but setting it offstage focused the attention on whatever universal truth was being emphasized by the dramatist.

Twelve (12) men are in the chorus of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the chorus is made up of Theban elders. The membership is drawn from the senior citizens of the greatest accomplishments, ages and contributions to the well-being of Thebes. One elder is chosen as the leader, for direct interactions with the other characters in the play.

The will of the gods is what determines Theban King Oedipus' fate. But it's his own flawed choices and actions that make sure that that fate's carried out. Oedipus is allowed to learn in advance of his unenviable fate by way of the Delphic Oracle. So he learns that he's fated to kill his father and marry his mother.

The two offenses are particularly heinous against the gods and against mortals. The murder of one's father, who also is one's royal sovereign, is seen almost as killing a representative of divine order on earth. The wedding and bedding of one's own mother is seen almost as presuming to behave as the gods.

Specifically, the way that life is started among gods, and among mortals, is through the incestuous relationship of Mother Gaia with her own son, Saturn. But what gods do and what mortals do are two separate issues. Relationships that are considered too close nowadays aren't considered necessarily so in previous times. Ancient and modern peoples nevertheless find common ground in their horrified opposition to the wedding and bedding of mother and son or of daughter and father.

His unfounded criticisms of Creon, Jocasta and Teiresiasare three examples of when Oedipus unfairly judges his family and friends in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus dislikes what Teiresias the blind prophet tells him. So he groundlessly charges Teiresias with conspiring with Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law and royal colleague, to grab all the royal powers unto themselves. He then attributes snobbishness to Jocasta's attempt to stop the shameful direction in which the investigation into the death of her first husband, King Laius, takes. He appears to have no idea what his easy-going, kindly, unassuming wife is really like.