Joshua Kuzara

Jennifer Williams
English 101/Intro Literature

Oedipus The King

Dear Reader,

To continue any further, requires little to no effort, for I will dissect and analyze the
diverse and gruesome story of, Oedipus The King at your very convenience.
This is a tragic story of a selfish King in Thebes, Greece, whom marries his mother after
slaying his father in cold blood. Feeling a little discomfort yet? Yeah, you should. So
buckle up, relax a litte and get ready for the tale about to be told. Its one for the ages.

Sincerely,
Joshua Kuzara

Often considered one of the first Athenian tragedy plays.

Written by the Greek playwriter, Sophocles, Oedipus The King was the second in order of
Sophocles's actual composition of his plays dealing with Oedipus. The story itself is quite
violent, and very extreme in its way of presentation. However, it works extremely well with the
power of delivery and getting a vivid image seared into your brain. Throughout the story there is
a constant emphasis on how Oedipus own faults contribute to the tragic hero's downfall, as
opposed to having fate be the sole cause of his conflicts. As the centuries progressed, and
more plays followed, Oedipus The King eventually became regarded as the golden standard for
Greek tragedy.

The story begins in Thebes, Greece. A beautiful, prestigious and highly regarded city throughout
the mediterranean. Unfortunately, all is not as it seems as a destructive plague oppressed the
good citizens of Thebes; plummeting the city into chaos. Being the highly regarded king of
Thebes, Oedipus takes action as requested. As the priest says to Oedipus, O mighty king, we
turn to you. He then seeks for his brother-in-law Creon to travel to an Oracle at Delphi to
provide information on ending the plague. Creon returns with news that only will the plague end
when the murderer of the past King of Thebes, Laius, is caught and banished. Oedipus takes up
the challenge and vows to bring the killer to justice. Oedipus sends for Tiresias, the blind
prophet, and asks him what he knows about the murder of Laius. Tiresias refuses to provide

any information but after many insults and accusations, he ultimately reveals who murdered
Laius. The results are shocking, as Tiresias reveals that Oedipus himself
is the man who killed the previous King of Thebes. Naturally he refuses to
believe such a statement and accuses the prophet and Creon of
conspiring together against him. Oedipus begins to become skeptical of
the prophets abilities, questioning him about a previous plague that had
broken out years before due to a Sphinxs curse. Tiresias states that his
parents found him untrustworthy, which explains why he had such little
knowledge of the prophets ability. At the mere mention of his parents,
Oedipus demands how the prophet knew of his family but he avoids the
question. At the end of the scene, Tiresias puts forth one last riddle,
saying that the murderer of Laius will turn out to be both the father and
brother to his own children, and the son of his own wife. Which is remotely strange and
confusing at first.

Following Tiresias departure, Oedipus threatens Creon with exile or ever death for suspicion of
conspiring with the prophet. Jocasta, (Oedipus wife) enters the room and asks why the two must
argue so much and knock heads. Oedipus repeats the prophecy spoken in which his wife
mockingly states that all prophecies are false or conspiracies; none of it is factual. As proof, she
notes that the Delphic oracle once told Laius he would be murdered by his son, when in fact his
son was cast out of Thebes as a baby, and Laius was murdered by a band of thieves. The
whole description of Laius death was too oddly familiar to Oedipus and he begins to spark
further questions of the death of Laius. Jocasta tells him that Laius was killed at a three-way
crossroads, just before Oedipus arrived in Thebes. Oedipus, completely stunned by the
overwhelming information, tells his wife that he may be the one who murdered Laius. He
proceeds to tell Jocasta that, many years ago, when he was the prince of Corinth, he overheard
someone mention at a banquet that he was not really the son of the king and queen. As a result,
he traveled to the oracle of Delphi, who avoided the question directly but did say he would
murder his father and sleep with his mother. It was then that Oedipus had a dramatic flashback
of his journey that would be his return to Thebes. This was where Oedipus was confronted and
harassed by a group of travelers, whom he killed in self-defense. Amongst the confrontation at
the crossroads Laius was killed by Oedipus.

Oedipus then sends for the man who survived the attack in the hopes that he will not be
identified as the murderer of Laius. Outside the palace in the city, a messenger approaches
Jocasta and tells her that he has come from Corinth to inform Oedipus that his father, Polybus,

is dead, and that Corinth has asked Oedipus to come and rule Thebes in his place. Jocasta,
was rejoiced that the prophecy wasnt fulfilled by Oedipus and that Polybius's death was caused
from natural causes. The momentary happiness is soon eclipsed by the fact that Oedipus may
have still fulfilled half of the
prophecy; sleeping with his
mother. Upon receiving
news of a possible lead
through a shepherd,
Oedipus asks that this
shepherd be brought forth
to testify, but Jocasta,
beginning to suspect the
truth, begs her husband not
to dig any deeper. She runs
back into the palace out of
fear and the shepherd then
enters the room. Oedipus
interrogates him politely at first, asking who gave him the baby. The shepherd refuses to
disclose any information, and Oedipus threatens him with torture. Alas, he answers that the
child came from the house of Laius. Further questioning lead to the conclusion that the baby
was in fact the child of Laius himself, and that it was Jocasta who gave him the infant, ordering
him to kill it, as it had been prophesied that the child would kill his parents. Fortunately out of
pity, the shepherd assumed the prophecy could be avoided had it been raised in a foreign city,
far from his true parents and destiny. The shepherd then passed the boy along to another
shepherd in Corinth.

Realizing who he is and who his parents are, Oedipus screams in pure shock of his true
identity, causing him to flee back into the palace. Following that final, dramatic scene, Jocasta
proceeds to hang herself. Oedipus finds the body dangling there and pulls the pins from her
robe, using them to gouge out his own eyes. Oedipus now emerges from the palace, bleeding
and begging to be exiled from Thebes, ashamed of what he has become. He asks Creon to
send him away from Thebes and to look after his daughters, Antigone and Ismene. The story is
a perfect example of a dramatic irony with a true tragic hero in Oedipus and his downfall. One
example of dramatic irony comes when the old prophet visits the King. Oedipus ridicules the
man because he's blind, and Tiresias in a fit of anger tells the king that though he can see he is
"blind" to the truth. When Oedipus becomes blind, he finally realizes the truth of the man's
words. Irony is also to be found in the fact that it is the blind man who truly sees despite having
no vision.