Oedipus Rex

No, Teiresias isn't an oracle. The word 'oracle' refers to both the medium by which the future is learned and to the specific place where the medium is to be consulted. For example, the oracle that's mentioned in 'Oedipus Rex' is the Delphic oracle. In other words, the oracle is found at Delphos.

Teiresias is blessed with the gift of and skill at seeing the future. But he isn't a medium and doesn't live apart from Thebans. Instead, he lives in Thebes as a prophet.

Rising action is the stage of Freytag's pyramid that is represented by the revelation of King Polybus' death in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the phrase rising action decribes a complication that arises in regard to the main conflict. The complication may involve an event or an individual. It poses an obstacle that must be overcome in order for Theban King Oedipus to find the guilty in King Laius' murder and thereby end the pestilence.

Fateful ancient Greek and modern African American are the cultural identities respectively implied by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) in "Oedipus Rex" and Lorraine Hansberry (May 19, 1930 -- January 12, 1965) in "A Raisin in the Sun."

Specifically, the Oedipus story comes from the literature of ancient Greece. Hard work counts for nothing against the customized fate that the gods hand out to each mortal. In contrast, family ties and hard work may count for something when the Younger family receives a huge insurance check.

Await the decision of the gods and Reverse his previous actions is what Creon respectively needs to do in "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon has to decide what to do with disgraced King Oedipus. Oedipus is pushing for a decision that is not Creon's to make as to the form of punishment. Creon must await divine expression of whether to execute or exile Oedipus for criminal acts and immoral behavior.

Subsequently, Creon needs to decide what to do with his niece Princess Antigone's breaking his law of non-burial and burying her brother Polyneices. Creon reacts in the wisest fashion if he honors the gods and Theban traditions by annulling his edict, burying Polyneices and pardoning Antigone.

That they must cooperate or face punishment is the command that Oedipus issues to help the people unearth clues and criminals in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus has to find the guilty in King Laius' murder in order to end the pestilence in Thebes. He hopes to encourage cooperation with negative and positive reinforcements. Those who cooperate will receive royal rewards and thanks while those who do not will face the same punishment as Laius' killer.

That mortals must respect the gods and obey divinely expressed will seems to be Teiresias' philosophical attitude in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias as the long-lived advisor to all of Thebes' kings since that city's founding makes not attempt to change his circumstances or those of others. He draws on a vast storehouse of past, present and future knowledge through his own intelligence and astute interpretation of divine will through ritual sacrifices. But he sits on what he knows unless and until he is sent for by the currently reigning Theban king. For example, he knows of Oedipus' true identity and does not share until his presence is requested and specific questions are posed. Also, he knows that Polyneices is denied his god-given rights to a below-ground burial and funerary rites, but makes not attempt to stop Creon from issuing his non-burial law or to help Antigone in burying her brother.

It is during the interaction between Oedipus and Teiresias that the latter says "I say thou art the murderer of the man" in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus asks Teiresias the blind prophet for help in identifying and punishing the guilty in the unsolved murder of King Laius. But Teiresias uncharacteristically hesitates in sharing his insights. He finally reveals that Oedipus is the very murderer that all Thebes and all the gods seek.

No, Oedipus does not live during the Renaissance time in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the play is written by an ancient Greek dramatist of the 5th century B.C.E. His characters most likely live much earlier, in the 12th century B.C.E. This guesstimate may be made because Theban King Oedipus is the grandfather of King Thersander, a contemporary if not a participant in the Trojan War (1194 B.C.E. - 1184 B.C.E.).

That Oedipus is one of the most tragic examples of cruel fate is a reason why the chorus says that no man can be happy until Oedipus dies in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the chorus comments that the gods do not guarantee happy lives to any mortal. The gods never leave the slightest commission or omission of mortals unpunished. For example, disgraced Theban King Oedipus operates under a slew of curses just for being born into the divinely cursed Theban royal household. He will not escape a horrible fate or any divine change for additional suffering until the curse ends with his death.

His wife's golden brooches are what Oedipus uses to poke out his eyes in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus follows his wife, Queen Jocasta, into the royal suite. Jocasta locks herself in their bedroom and hangs herself. Oedipus deposits Jocasta's body on the floor. He decides to blind himself from not having seen that his wife is his own mother and therefore chooses Jocasta's brooches as the weapon of his own self-mutilation.

An attempt to learn the truth regarding an upsetting rumor about his parentage is the reason why Oedipus goes to the oracle as a young man in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, a dinner guest who remains nameless says that Oedipus is not Corinthian King Polybus' son. Oedipus is shocked and distressed, because he feels very loved by his father and his mother, Queen Merope. When his parents fudge on answering his questions, Oedipus does what any royal would do in a similar situation in ancient Greece: he consults the nearest oracle.

It is the priest of Zeus that tells Oedipus that a pestilence threatens to destroy the city at the beginning of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the priest gathers with suppliants outside the main entrance to the Theban royal palace. The suppliants have set up altars in the clearing. They plan to have the priest bring up the pestilential problem in a public meeting with their beloved and respected King Oedipus.

That the crisis over the Sphinx is solved by Oedipus, not Teiresias, is the reason why Oedipus brings up the Sphinx and calls Teiresias a pious fraud in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus comes as a young man to Thebes. He defeats the Sphinx, who is asking an impossible question and killing and eating all Thebans who do not have the correct answer. Teiresias the blind prophet already is in Thebes, but does nothing to end the Sphinx's reign of terror. Oedipus refers to this to question Teiresias' motives for action and inaction.

Recklessness is a character trait revealed by Oedipus' accusation against Creon in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, recklessness shows an unconcern or disregard for human life. The description fits Theban King Oedipus when he chooses to disregard Creon's track record. Creon does what Oedipus tells him to do and behaves as though he has no interest in grabbing all the royal powers for himself. But Oedipus claims just that when he hears upsetting, treacherous charges from Teiresias the blind prophet. He can only think that he is being framed for murder so that Teiresias and Creon, who stand to gain with Oedipus' overthrow, can take over.

"What living being gets around on fours in the morning, twos in the afternoon and threes in the evening?" and "This day shall be thy birthday, and thy grave" are the two (2) riddles to be found in the play "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, the first riddle is the one that Oedipus must solve in order to become King of Thebes. He realizes that it is a human that crawls on fours in the morning of youth, walks on both feet in the afternoon of maturity, and on both feet through the help of a cane in the evening of life. But it is not so easy for him to understand and solve the second riddle.

The second riddle is presented by the blind prophet Teiresias, who refers to Oedipus having an incorrect self-image. The day that Teiresias make his enigmatic statement Oedipus is born into the knowledge that those whom he considered his parents were not biologically so, that he whom he so casually murdered was his father and his sovereign, and that she whom he considers his wife was first and foremost his mother. On that same die, Oedipus becomes a dead man to decent society and to divine favor because of his serious offenses as murderer and sex offender.