Oedipus Rex

That he is reckless and stubborn are what his confrontations with Creon and Teiresias tell us about Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus does not like the interpretation of events that he gets from his royal advisor, Teiresias the blind prophet. Teiresias' treasonous charges can lead to Oedipus' overthrow and exile or execution. But Oedipus acts groundlessly, recklessly and stubbornly. He accuses Teiresias of conspiring with Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law and royal colleague, and refuses to back down despite spirited but reasonable defenses from two people whom he has known his entire time in Thebes.

That pain and unhappiness are side effects of living is what the final speech by the chorus leader means in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the chorus leader presents Theban King Oedipus as the most intelligent, powerful and wealthy of mortals. But Oedipus' qualities and possessions are no protection against a fate in which every human choice ends up carrying out divine will. Oedipus' happiness therefore will be fleeting and hemmed in by constant challenges.

Give him the more peaceful death that Claudius gives the senior Hamlet may be what Oedipus wishes to have given his father in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Claudius kills his brother, the senior King Hamlet, by poison. The death looks natural and peaceful. This stands in stark contrast to the bloody mess in which Theban King Laius is left after being beaten by Oedipus' staff.

That it must be carried out and that in carrying it out it reveals Oedipus' true identity is the role of justice in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Thebans do not follow proper procedure in finding and punishing the guilty in King Laius' murder. King Oedipus likewise does not own up to the five murders that he commits on the way to Thebes. Oedipus' settling down and ruling Thebes leads to a doubly polluted environment through his neglect and that of Thebans to carry out mandatory cleansing rituals in the aftermath of murder. The resulting pestilence needs the solving of Laius' murder in order to end. The process of bringing the guilty to justice results in Oedipus' true identity as the very criminal being sought and as the cause and solution of the pestilence.

That they will not rule harmoniously and that they will kill each other is the curse that Oedipus places on his sons in "Oedipus at Colonus" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, disgraced Theban King Oedipus has hurt feelings regarding his shunning by his twin sons Eteocles and Polyneices. The twin brothers inherit the throne on the basis of a joint power sharing arrangement whereby they alternate years of rule. Oedipus insists that the two must get along so poorly that they end up killing each other in battle.

For defeating the Sphinx at her own game is what Theban King Oedipus is famous for. That event happens well before the action of the play. But everyone still remembers and talks about it.

What happens is that the Sphinx terrorizes Thebes into paying heavy taxes to her. Additionally, she terrorizes all who try to enter and leave Thebes. She asks a riddle whose correct answer must be given. An incorrect answer means the loss of life of the answerer.

Oedipus alone knows that it's a human life form that gets around on threes in the morning of life, on twos in the afternoon, and on fours in the evening.

Laius is a king who is killed at a place where three roads meet in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Laius is coming from Thebes. He heads to Delphi, to consult with the oracle the Pythia. He has to go through the land of Phocis. He goes through the Delphi-Daulia intersection where three roads meet and where he dies as the result of a disgraceful street brawl.

An archetype is an original type of some kind among people and things. Theban King Oedipus well may be an archetype of a high ranking individual who commits the particular incest that he does. Egyptian pharaohs are known to have married their half sisters. But perhaps no ruler before Oedipus may have been known for having married his own mother. And perhaps no other ruler may have been known for the unknowing murder of his own father and king.

Additionally, Oedipus may be the archetype of exile instead of death for a ruler. Indeed, he well may have been the first king known to have been exiled. His fate may have set in motion an alternative other than death to tyrannical rule. His successor, Theban King Creon, suffers the same fate.

In fact, the play's author, Sophocles [496 B.C.E.* - 406 B.C.E.], may have been born in the year in which Lucius Tarquinius Superbus died. Superbus became infamous throughout the ancient world for his tyrannical rule. As a consequence, he also became infamous for his subjects' revolt and his own overthrow. He spent the last 13 years of his life in exile.

*Before the Christian Era

That happiness is fleeting and that divinely ordained, woeful fate catches and trips him up is how the chorus summarizes the meaning of Oedipus' life in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the chorus characterizes disgraced Theban King Oedipus as the best, most favored and wisest of mortals. But the gods never let an irritant or a slight go by in anyone's family background. Their associates, the Furies of fate, trip Oedipus up when he least expects it and makes him forfeit all personal happiness and professional success. A charmed life will not end before it unravels under the weight of divine anger and relentless fate.

It is to Creon that Oedipus asks whether or not he urged him to send for a prophetic mumbler in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus does not like the information given to him by Teiresias the blind prophet. He decides that such information can cost him his throne. He can only think that Creon, his brother-in-law and royal colleague, must be Teiresias' conspirator in an attempting to grab all royal powers for themselves. Oedipus believes that he can arrive at the worst conclusions from the fact that the only reason that he consults Teiresias is because of Creon's urging.

That he is made to feel unwelcome is the sort of reception that Oedipus expects and indeed receives when he first arrives outside Athens in "Oedipus at Colonus" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, people consider disgraced Theban King Oedipus an abomination to be avoided and shunned. He is preceded by his reputation as his father's killer and his mother's husband. The villagers outside Athens treat him badly until Athenian King Theseus steps in as Oedipus' protector.

That he can atone for offenses of which he previously is unaware is what makes of Oedipus from his experience a better though less fortunate man at the end of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus has no idea that he is not the role model husband, parent and ruler that he and everyone else in Thebes considers him to be. Instead, he is his father's killer, his mother's husband and his children's half brother. These are all offenses against gods and mortals. His true identity and the reality of his existence render Oedipus blind, homeless, jobless and shunned. But his offenses and his suffering in this life lead to a happy death and an acceptable place for all time in the afterlife.

Execution is the penalty for burying Polyneices in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon announces an edict of non-burial of the disloyal Theban dead. He insists that the penalty must be death. The penalty is outlined in the law as death under a shower of heavy, sharp rocks thrown by fellow Thebans.

That he serves a god not a king is the reason why Teiresias is not afraid of Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet carries the total knowledge of Thebes' past, present and future within his person. He is gifted at interpreting divine will through ritual sacrifice and in interpreting events. He serves Apollo the god of prophecy, not Oedipus the king of Thebes.

To get away from each other, go back to their respective quarters and turn their attentions to less trifling matters is Jocasta's advice to her quarreling husband and brother in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta comes upon an argumentative interaction between her second husband King Oedipus and her brother Creon. She expresses her disappointment in them for taking up valuable time fighting with each other when all Thebes needs to be united in ending the pestilence. She tells them to break it up and go back to their respective homes.