Oedipus Rex

The fact that the main character meets with an unfortunate end makes "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) a tragedy.

Specifically, a tragedy is a recounting of an unfortunate series of events that bring down the main character. The description fits the play's telling of the life and times of Theban King Oedipus. For example, Oedipus begins as a role model of personal happiness and professional success, but ends up sightless, jobless, homeless and friendless.

That all prophecies come true is what Oedipus realizes at the climax of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the climax happens when Oedipus processes two eyewitness accounts. The Corinthian messenger identifies Oedipus as the adopted or foster son of Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope. The Theban shepherd indicates that Oedipus is the biological son of Theban monarchs Laius and Jocasta, the killer of the former and the spouse of the latter. Oedipus witnesses the realization of his prophesied fate as his father's killer and his mother's husband.

Descent from Gaia by way of Poseidon the sea god and of Nilus the Nile River god is Oedipus' family tree in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus' complete genealogy is not given in the play. But a combination of the information in the play and that from other sources identifies Oedipus as the great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Gaia, the mother goddess of all gods and mortals. He descends from Gaia on his father King Laius' side of the family by way of Poseidon the sea god and on his mother Queen Jocasta's side by way of Nilus the Nile River god. He can be said to have something very much in common with his original ancestor: just as she mates with her own son Uranus, Oedipus mates with his mother Jocasta unknowingly but nevertheless blasphemously and immorally.

Where and when the murder takes place, Laius' appearance, and how many in attacking and royal groups are the questions that Oedipus asks Jocasta when he begins to suspect that he is Laius' killer in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta announces that the death place of her first husband, King Laius, is at the intersection of three roads. That gets the attention of her second husband, King Oedipus. He insists upon Jocasta telling him the exact location of the intersection, the occurrence of the murder, the number of attackers and royal escort party members, and the physical appearance of Laius.

Failure to identify and punish the guilty as well as to carry out cleansing rituals is the cause of the plague that strikes Thebes during Oedipus' kingship in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the cause of the plague is unknown to Thebans and the Theban monarchs. But the cause is determined by consulting the oracle at Apollo's shrine. Theban King Creon is told that lack of appropriate action in the aftermath of the unsolved murder of Theban King Laius is the cause.

The location of Apollo's shrine, the Delphic oracle's residence, Laius' destination and Oedipus' fateful prophecy are what Delphi is in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Delphi's visitors pass back and forth through the Delphi-Daulia crossroads in the land of Phocis. It is visited because of its shrine to the sun god Apollo and the residence of the Pythia, Apollo's most famous and respected oracle of divine prophecy and will. It is the location where subsequent Theban King Oedipus receives a life-changing prophecy. It is the final destination towards which Theban King Laius heads before his murder.

Creon, Jocasta and Teiresias are people whom Oedipus asks about Laius' death in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus asks for information about the crime scene, the killer and surviving eyewitnesses from Creon, his royal colleague and Laius' brother-in-law. He questions Queen Jocasta, his wife and Laius' widow, about the crime scene and surviving eyewitnesses. He seeks information from Teiresias the blind prophet about the killer's identity.

His own choices on top of his mistakenself-identity are the causes of Oedipus' tragedy in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus receives a horrible prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Despite questions about his parentage, Oedipus panics and runs away from his presumed home in Corinth for an assumed fresh start in Thebes. But on the way, he kills an older version of himself and once there marries a newly widowed queen old enough to be his mother. In both cases, he does not carry out mandatory cleansing rituals. So it can be said that Oedipus' tragedy is caused in part by the mistaken self-identity that leads him to believe that Thebes means safety and that Corinth means trouble. But it also can be said that Oedipus' tragedy is caused by his own rash choices, such as in running away and neglecting mandatory purification procedures.

The play and the blinding are the quotes that refer to Oedipus in the 1997 Disney film "Hercules."

Specifically, Hercules mentions his rough day. But then he puts it in the context of those who have it far rougher. He refers to "that play...that Oedipus thing." He then states "Man, I thought I had problems," which may be playing on the same sounds in "I" and "eye."

That he does not know who he is or what he will find outis the reason why Oedipus continues his investigation against his wife's wishes in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus has to find and punish the guilty in King Laius' murder. In the course of his investigation, he is accused by Teiresias the blind prophet of being Laius' murder. Oedipus pursues every bit of information because he does not know who his biological parents are and who Laius' killer is. He seeks information about the former because of his prophesied fate as his father's killer and his mother's husband. He seeks the latter information in order to clear his name and end the pestilence in Thebes.

Laius is Jocasta's first husband in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta is married two times. Her first husband is her cousin, King Laius. Not too long after Laius is killed, Jocasta marries her second husband, Oedipus, who unbeknownst to the two also is her cousin and her son.

That he has children by the same woman, or figuratively plows the same furrows, as his father Laius is the significance of Oedipus as plowman in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus marries Queen Jocasta, his wife and his father's widow. The relationship proves to be even more fertile than that in Jocasta's first marriage. The royal couple's intimate relations are likened to plowing a field, sowing seed and producing food. It serves as a somewhat subtly comic and ribald note in an otherwise heavily tragic play.

It is when he hears where Laius dies that Oedipus suspects that he may be Laius' killer in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta identifies the place of her first husband King Laius' death as the intersection of three roads. King Oedipus, her second husband, knows the place since it is where he kills five of a six member party before settling down in Thebes. Jocasta's description of Laius, the number of people in his escort and the time frame only serve to deepen Oedipus' suspicions.

No, Oedipus is not moral in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus knowingly kills four servants and an older version of himself, who turns out to be his father. He then lets himself be rewarded for defeating the monstrous Sphinx by marrying a beautiful, older widowed queen, who turns out to be his mother. He twice neglects to carry out mandatory cleansing rituals regarding violent death. He slips up because he is careless about what he knows and is not applying and about what he sees and is not processing.

His sight is what Oedipus sacrifices in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus comes to the realization that he is not who he thinks he is. He knows that this prophesied fate as his father's killer and his mother's husband holds true. He realizes that the facts of his life are right in his face and decides to sacrifice his faulty vision for a hopefully more insightful sightless existence.

It is Creon that Oedipus believes to be Teiresias' conspirator in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet accuses Theban King Oedipus of killing King Laius. In return, Oedipus accuses Teiresias of organizing if not participating in Laius' murder. He also accuses Teiresias of conspiring with Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law and royal colleague, to grab all royal powers for themselves.

An unfounded charge of treason and a spirited but respectful self-defense describes the quarrel between Oedipus and Creon in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus is upset because Teiresias the blind prophet calls him the killer of King Laius, the first husband of Oedipus' wife Queen Jocasta. Such a charge is treasonous, and if proven carries the death sentence or exile. Oedipus therefore hurtles charges Creon, his brother-in-law and royal colleague, with treasonous conspiracy to grab all royal powers to himself and refuses to listen to Creon's insistence that he likes things the way they are, of getting what he wants without having to work for it.

That he is Laius' murderer is the reason why Oedipus falls from power in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Delphic oracle identifies divine will as execution or exile for the guilty in Theban King Laius' murder. King Oedipus is found to be guilty of killing his father Laius and marrying his mother, Queen Jocasta. He is placed under house arrest pending a divinely expressed preference for execution or exile as the punishment. He is succeeded by Creon, his brother-in-law and royal colleague.