Outline Of Oedipus The King

One day, Oedipus went to the Oracle of Delphi and found out that he was destined to kill his father and sleep with his mother. Oedipus tried to escape his fate by running away from Corinth, leaving who he thought were his real parents. However, he ended up running right into his real father. He saw a group of people riding a chariot at the crossroads and assumed that they were thieves. Laois happened to be one of them, and Oedipus killed him not knowing that he was his real dad. This is important since Oedipus fulfilled part of the prophecy. Oedipus remembered about his encounter with the chariot near the end of the play and said, “But he more than paid for it and soon was struck by the scepter from this very hand, lying on his back, at once thrown out of the car. I killed them all” (Sophocles, 39). Quite soon, he also won the throne of Thebes by answering the riddle of the Sphinx and unknowingly married Iocaste, his real mother.

This information makes Oedipus uneasy. He recalls having killed a man answering Laius' description at this very spot when he was fleeing from his home in Corinth to avoid fulfillment of a similar prophecy. An aged messenger arrives from Corinth, at this point, to announce the death of King Polybus, supposed father of Oedipus, and the election of Oedipus as king in his stead. On account of the old prophecy Oedipus refuses to return to Corinth until his mother, too, is dead. To calm his fears the messenger assures him that he is not the blood son of Polybus and Merope, but a foundling from the house of Laius deserted in the mountains. This statement is confirmed by the old shepherd whom Jocasta had charged with the task of exposing her babe. Thus the ancient prophecy has been fulfilled in each

The messenger reveals that Polybus and his wife are not Oedipus’s real parents. Oedipus was brought to palace to be raised after being found by a Sheppard. Oedipus asks that this shepherd reveal the truth to him, but Jocasta begins to beg him not to stop to try and find out the truth. The Sheppard finally reveals that Oedipus is son of Laius. Oedipus screams when he realizes the truth about his parents. A messenger says Jocasta has hanged herself, and Oedipus has chosen to stab out his eyes. Oedipus now declares he must be punished and exiled. He asks Creon to look after his daughters, Antigone and Ismene. Creon accepts the ascendency to the throne.

Oedipus is the king of Thebes and unknown to him he is married to his mother Jocasta queen of Thebes. He does not realize that many years ago he had killed his real father without knowing it. Oedipus is seen as god like to the people of Thebes because it was him who solved the sphinxes riddles. In the play he is accused by Teiresias of killing the king and Oedipus blames his brother in law and kreon of trying to over throw him. Then his wife Jocasta comes into the scene and tells a story of how the king was killed. It is then that Oedipus learns of his childhood and becomes more suspicious then ever. He then calls a shepherd and a messenger to help answer questions. The people tell him to stop asking about the death because he may not like the answer but Oedipus makes the ultimate sacrifice and continues to

As king of Thebes, Oedipus is a very short-tempered leader who thinks, and sometimes even rules, by the seat of his pants. When Oedipus learns of the plague over Thebes, he chooses to root out the source and eliminate the scourge over his city. This is all well and good until Oedipus starts hearing things he does not like. When Creon sends for the blind prophet Tiresias, the same prophet who told Laius and

Oedipus Rex is a play about the way we blind ourselves to painful truths that we can’t bear to see. Physical sight and blindness are used throughout the play, often ironically, as a metaphor for mental sight and blindness. The play ends with the hero Oedipus literally blinding himself to avoid seeing the result of his terrible fate. But as the play demonstrates, Oedipus, the man who killed his father and impregnated his mother, has been blind all along, and is partly responsible for his own blindness.

Now Oedipus is forced to see the facts, about who he thinks is his father and his mother. For a example, "To the children with whom he lives now he will be Brother and father the very same; to her who bore him, son and husband the very same. Who came to his fathers bed, wet with his father's blood". (240-243) The truth is as clear as a crystal ball. He is forced to realize, "Wisdom changes hands among the wise".

The two go back and forth for a while which ultimately ends in Oedipus sentencing Creon to death for essentially treason. At this point in the play, it is clear that Oedipus is making some rash decisions in order to clear his consciousness. It appears he still wants to do the right thing, but nothing goes his way. As the play progresses, a messenger is sent to tell Jocasta of Polybus’, Oedipus’ believed father, death. Oedipus is told of this and is relieved, as this is a sure sign that the prophesy will not be true. The messenger then tells Oedipus that his father really was not his father, and Oedipus questions the messenger on how he knows this. The messenger explains that Oedipus was “A gift he took you from these hands of mine” (Sophocles 1553). The messenger saved Oedipus by bringing him to Polybus instead of leaving him to die. Oedipus tells Jocasta of this new information and how he plans to find out more, and Jocasta pleads with him to leave it alone. Finally, the herdsman is brought in to answer Oedipus’ questions. The herdsman is hesitant at first, but eventually tells Oedipus the truth. He was the one who gave a baby to the messenger, the baby who was left to die by Laius and Jocasta. It is now clear to Oedipus that this horrid oracle is true, and it is his life. Oedipus sets off to kill Jocasta, but is shocked to find that she has committed suicide. All of this information plus his mother’s suicide has caused Oedipus so much mental distress

Character development tackles the many different unfolding attitudes and opinions toward certain subjects during the play. For example, Tiresias states, “Wisdom is a dreadful thing that brings no profit to the possessor,” (Sophocles 19). Tiresias’s vexing message alludes to the fact that he can see the truth, but the truth may not be favorable for Oedipus. This excerpt from the chat between Oedipus and Tiresias fortifies the overarching theme subject of sight. Additionally, Oedipus states, “Say what you like. It will all be meaningless,” (Sophocles 22) in response to Creon’s accusation of Oedipus being the murderer of Laius. This conveys Oedipus’s blindness towards the real truth of the situation, with his pride clouding the possibility that it could be him. This doubt caused Oedipus to eventually accuse Tiresias of being the real murderer, with no evidence to make his claim on. This existed as Oedipus’s inferring that Tiresias attempted to defile Oedipus’s position of king, an act of folly on Oedipus’s part.

King Oedipus, mindful that a dreadful spell has fallen in Thebes, directs his brother-in-law, Creon, to pursue the advice of Apollo, the sun god. Creon tells Oedipus that the spell will vanish if the murderer of Laius, the previous king, is found and prosecuted. Laius was murdered several years ago at a crossroads.

All throughout Oedipus the King, Sophocles has Oedipus on an unknown journey from ignorance to knowledge. Oedipus believes that he has nothing to do with the murder of King Laius even though the truth is laid out in front of him multiple times. As the story goes on, Oedipus begins to become more open-minded to new information that has an unknown cost. Therefore, through the journey to recognition, the once great and powerful Oedipus, can cause his own demise. Sophocles demonstrates that ignorance will blind one from the truth and knowledge will open one's eyes.

In response, he makes a false assumption, and accuses Creon of plotting against him through inventing this "story", in order to "'drive [him] out'" (24) of his throne, and to eventually become king. Oedipus self- assurance leads him to believe that he is wiser than Tiresias. Oedipus is not willing to contemplate what the seer has just revealed, ultimately refusing to believe him. His arrogance results in a clouded judgement, preventing him from seeing the surface of the whole truth. This shows how Oedipus' hubris gets the better of him, as it causes him to overreact out of anger, and make false conclusions.

However, the driving force of Oedipus' fact-finding mission is an attempt to end the plague which racks his city. He does not realize the personal consequences his hunt will have for him, and his "loyalty to the truth" (23) is based on his ignorance of it. In fact, if we examine the events leading up to Oedipus' revelation, the incidental nature of his "quest for identity" becomes apparent. First, he summons Tiresias to name the killer, whom Oedipus does not at the time believe to be himself. Then a messenger arrives from Corinth, unbidden by the king, revealing that Oedipus is not truly Polybus' son. Finally, the shepherd reveals all of Oedipus' past, after having been called for the purpose of providing more information about Laius' death. The coincidental nature of these events is somewhat at odds with Dodds' vision of Oedipus as a sort of Greek private detective who relentlessly ferrets out clues in a self-destructive search for his parents. Oedipus is eager to find the truth, but the most pivotal witnesses for the true story of his birth either come to him of their own volition, or are convened by Oedipus in the hopes that they will tell him something entirely different. In the end, he resigns himself to the truth which would have been clear much earlier (as it was to Jocasta), had he

Oedipus questions Jocasta about Laius "how did he look? Describe him" (817) until Jocasta can not answer any more questions. The messenger then arrives to tell Oedipus that his father, Polybus, has died. Ironically, while relieving Oedipus's fear of killing his own father, the messenger causes even greater fears by telling Oedipus that Polybus is not his biological father. Oedipus then discovers that he was brought to Polybus when he was an infant and the shepherd found Oedipus on Mount Cithaeron. The shepherd unwillingly admits that he knew that Oedipus is the son of Jocasta and Laius. Finally, Oedipus discovers all the facts about his true identity and that he killed his own father and married his mother.

Nearly every Greek play has a clear central theme that is emphasized by both its characters and its structure. The everlasting Theban plays are no exception to this. Of the three Theban plays, Oedipus the King is the finest example of how a drama’s structure and characters heavily contribute to the development of the theme. In the prologue of Oedipus the King by Sophocles, the audience learns that the city-state of Thebes, ruled by a beloved man by the name of Oedipus, is in shambles. However, almost immediately after the audience discovers this, the supposed solution is revealed. In order to cure the city of Thebes, Oedipus must delve deeper into the mysterious death of the previous king, Laius, and punish whoever is responsible for his