Oedipus Rex

It is unknown how old Ismene is in "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, no information is given as to dates or ages in either play. But it may be assumed that Theban Princess Ismene is younger than her sister Antigone, who is betrothed to Prince Haemon by the time of "Antigone." No one makes any reference to Ismene as being engaged, which tends to be sorted out by the time a girl is 14 or 15 in ancient Greece.

Athens is where Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) wrote "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, the ancient Greek dramatist was born in Colonus, Theban King Oedipus' death place. But Sophocles spent his adult life in nearby Athens, which was a cultural, economic and political center in ancient Greece. It was in his adopted city of Athens that Sophocles wrote his three plays on the life and times of Oedipus and of Oedipus' children.

Ailing livestock, dying children and failing crops blight the city in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, a pestilence afflicts Thebes. It causes declining birth rates in livestock and people. It also causes failing harvests and therefore famine. Its cause needs to be found and dealt with before the pestilence ends all life in Thebes.

Jocasta and the two shepherds change ignorance into knowledge in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta changes her husband King Oedipus' ignorance of King Laius' crime scene into knowledge of its taking place at the Delphi-Daulia crossroads. The Corinthian shepherd, who becomes a royal messenger, changes Oedipus' ignorance of his true parentage into knowledge of his adoption by Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope. The Theban shepherd changes Oedipus' ignorance of his mistaken self-identity into knowledge of his Theban royal birth as well as of his criminal acts and immoral behavior.

Definition: Dramatic irony is when the words and actions of the characters of a work of literature have a different meaning for the reader than they do for the characters. This is the result of the reader having a greater knowledge than the characters themselves.
Examples:

In Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," when Hester is in the governor's garden to see to it that Pearl is not taken away from her, she asks the Reverend Dimmesdale to support her position. This is an example of dramatic irony as the reader knows that Dimmesdale and Hester are partners in sin, but the characters do not

Yes, attempted murder, blasphemy, immorality and obstruction of justice are what Jocasta is guilty of in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta arranges for her three-day-old son Oedipus to be killed. She blasphemes the gods by attempting to sabotage divinely prophesied fate. She is immoral in marrying and having children with her own son. She obstructs a divinely ordained murder investigation into the death of King Laius, her first husband and her second husband's royal predecessor.

That he crawls as a baby, moves independently in adolescence and maturity, and requires assistance in old age is the reason why man is the answer to the riddle solved by Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Sphinx describes the life form as moving on all fours in the morning of life. Then she mentions that the movement changes to twos in the afternoon. Finally, she says that the movements becomes by threes in the evening.

But Oedipus is not alone in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus is married with children. His wife is Queen Jocasta. King Laius is Jocasta's first husband.

Brother-in-law and uncle is Creon's relationship to Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Creon is Theban Queen Jocasta's brother. Jocasta is the wife and the mother of King Oedipus. Oedipus therefore is both brother-in-law and nephew to Creon.

That Laius strikes the first blow, that it is donein an insulting manner and that it really hurts is why Oedipus strikes back in self-defense in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus is traveling from Delphi to Thebes. Laius is traveling from Thebes to Delphi. The two meet at a crossroads in Phocis, and Oedipus has the right-of-way, which Laius refuses to respect. Laius hits Oedipus really hard on top of the head, and Oedipus' retaliation is powerful enough to kill Laius.

That he is father to his own killer is what Oedipus considers unlucky about Laius' fatherhood in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Kings Laius and Oedipus are father and son. They each fall in love with and marry the same woman, Queen Jocasta. They each have children with her. But Laius' son turns out to be his father's killer.

It is by defeating the Sphinx that Oedipus saves Thebes before he becomes king "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Sphinx asks a troublesome riddle of all incoming and outgoing Thebans. No answer or one that is incorrect means that the Sphinx gets to indulge her appetite for freshly killed Thebans. But Oedipus puts an end to the Sphinx by correctly answering her question. The Sphinx takes her own life, and Thebes flourishes.

That mistaken self-identities and recklessness trip up personal happiness and professional success is the meaning of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus has no idea that all that he thinks he knows about himself and his parentage is false. He falls back on panic-stricken choices whenever he feels cornered. His mistaken self-image and his reckless decision making ultimately cause him to lose everything and everyone that give his life meaning other than his two daughters, the Princesses Antigone and Ismene.
To show that you cannot escape your fate is the purpose of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban monarchs Jocasta, Laius and Oedipus hear prophecies of horrifying fates. Laius and Jocasta make an effort to sabotage their prophecy by arranging to have their three-day-old infant son Oedipus killed. But Oedipus manages to survive. As an adult, he receives a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He runs away and tries to start a new life. But it turns out that an older version whom he kills on the way to Thebes and an older woman whom he marries indeed are his biological parents despite all his efforts to the contrary.

Divine ill will towards Labadacus'descendants is Oedipus' curse in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Labdacus is King Oedipus' paternal grandfather. He gets cursed by, and meets with an early violent death because of, Dionysos the wine god. Angry gods do not give up until they ruin things for Labdacus' son King Laius and his grandson King Oedipus.

Yes, Oedipus is a pawn in a predetermined game played by the gods in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus' parents receive the dreadful prophecy that their son will grow up to kill his father. They react by arranging to have him killed. Oedipus manages to survive. But in early adulthood, he gets an even worse prophecy that he will not only kill his father but also marry his mother. The gods do not let anything pass. They in fact allow no disobedience of their will to go unpunished.

Yes, "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) can be considered a play of destiny.

Specifically, destiny implies the seat of control over the events in human lives as being beyond human reach. What happens in human lives is predetermined. This is a way of looking at Theban King Oedipus' life. Everything that Oedipus chooses to do to thwart an unenviable prophecy regarding his fate just brings him closer to that destiny's realization.

Joy and relief are Jocasta's reactions to hearing the news of Polybus' death in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta hears from her second husband, King Oedipus, that he is terrified of his prophesied fate as his father's killer and his mother's husband. Jocasta then learns from the Corinthian messenger of the death of Oedipus' presumed father, Corinthian King Polybus. She manifests both joy and relief since she considers the announcement proof that her husband's prophecy is not true.

"Which living being gets around on all fours in the morning, on twos in the afternoon, and on threes in the evening?" is the riddle that Oedipus must answer in order to become King of Thebes in the play "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, Oedipus correctly guesses that morning refers to infancy, afternoon to adulthood, and evening to old age. So he gives the correct answer: Man. As a result, the Sphinx jumps over the cliff to death, Oedipus is saved, and the people of Thebes are released from fear and taxes.

That it is a play that reveals the unfortunate turn that a hero's life takes is a reason why "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) is a tragic drama.

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus is the hero, as the main character who does great deeds and holds great power. He lives a life of personal happiness and professional success. But he manages to lose just about everyone and everything that gives his life meaning when fate and his past catch and trip him up.

Jocasta is Oedipus' mother in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Jocasta is queen of Thebes and widow of Theban King Laius when Oedipus meets her. She and her first husband both descend from Cadmus, Thebes' founder and first king, but by different grandchildren of Cadmus. They therefore are also cousins, but the relationship is nowhere near as close as that between her and her second husband and son, Oedipus.

Joy and worry are Oedipus' feelings about his daughters in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus feels joyful in his daughters' presence but worried about their future. They will suffer more than their twin brothers, who already are grown. They therefore will need a protector such as their uncle, King Creon, to avoid a fate of shunning, poverty and childlessness.

Death, disease, famine and pestilence are what the priest of Zeus tells Oedipus about the plague in Thebes in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the priest points to the declining birth rate due to the delivery of stillborn children and infants who die shortly after birth. The livestock are diseased and dying. The crops are diseased, and the harvests are failing.

In that Oedipus' misdeeds are committed in ignorance andself-defense that his punishment exceeds the crime in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus commits the criminal act of murder and engages in the immoral behavior of incest. But he does not know the parent-child relationship that ties him to his murder victim or to his wife. He kills in self-defense. Yet he receives the same punishment as the perpetrator who has intent and motive.

Conciliatory but dismissive and escapist is Jocasta's image in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta demonstrates conciliation when she tries to find common ground in the fight between her second husband King Oedipus and her brother Creon. She exhibits dismissiveness when she speaks of oracles, predictions and prophets. She expresses escapism when she veers away from anything that may be necessary but unpleasant to know.