Preview

Oedipus rex Notes

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1293 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Oedipus rex Notes
AP Notes: Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex, circa 429 BC.
Author Biography
Sophocles was a Greek intellectual who lived from approximately 497 BC to 406 BC. Only seven of his tragedies survive to present day, the most famous of which concern the characters of Oedipus and Antigone.
Historical Information
Sophocles wrote Oedipus Rex during an era of philosophical advancement which took place largely in ancient Greece, and was led by such intellectuals as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The pervasive questioning of principles and thoughts that had been held as fact were no doubt influential in the conception of this text.
Structure of Work
The play is divided into four episodes narrated by a chorus.
Major Settings
The play takes place in the city of Thebes, where Oedipus is ruler, the surrounding area of Kithairon, and Oedipus’s supposed city of origin, Corinth. And of course the crossroads that were the scene of Laius’s end.
Plot Synopsis
King Oedipus of Thebes is concerned about the curse has befallen Thebes, and sends his brother-in-law, Kreon, to seek the advice of Apollo. Kreon informs Oedipus that the curse will be lifted if the murderer of Laius (former king of Thebes murdered years ago at a crossroads), is found and prosecuted. Oedipus questions a series of unwilling citizens to questioning, including the blind prophet, Teiresias, who informs Oedipus that Oedipus himself killed Laius. This news is troubling to Oedipus, but his wife, Iokasta, tells him not to believe in prophets, citing as example of uncertain fate the prophecy that how she and King Laius would have a son who would kill Laius and sleep with her, but they had the child killed so that it would not pose a threat. Oedipus is still troubled however, as a man once told him that he was adopted and Oedipus himself had once killed a man at a crossroads. Despite the urging of Iokasta (his wife) and others to desist his search into the past, he remains tenaciously stubborn to uncover the truth.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    MWD Oedipus Rex

    • 1695 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Biographical information about the author: Born at Colonus, son of Sophilus. Sophocles was a playwright and served as a priest. He had a son with Nicartrata, who was also a playwright. And he also had a son with Theoris. Wrote 123plays but only 7 survived: Ajar, Antigone, Trachinian women, Oedipus Tyrannoss, Electras, Philocetes, and Oedipus at Colonus. Also increased the number of chorus from 12 to 15. Powerful imaged occur in Ajar’s sword, Philocetes bow, and Electras urn. Actions in his play unfold in a more natural way and avoid the expository prologues of his contemporary. The modern concept of tragic drama begins with Sophocles. Oedipus is arguably the most influential play written. Also distinguished as a figure coincided with the rise and fall of Athens. At 16 he was an accomplished dancer and lyre player. Served as an imperial treasurer and diplomat. Sophocles is regarded as the tragic Homer. All tragedies posses a moral or religious problem and an unalterable idea of fate and divine will of the gods. Died in 406 B.C., 2 years before the fall of Sparta. Considered one of the three greatest playwrights of classical Greek.…

    • 1695 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Rex Analisys

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The play starts with the presentation of the main character: Oedipus, the king of Thebes. Sophocles presents Oedipus to the reader as a majestic figure who addresses his attention to the people of Thebes from his palace. The city had been hit by a devastating plague due to Laïos (the previous Theban king) murder and Oedipus was believed to be able to help them overcome that hardship. As the play develops, the reader is provided with the fact that Laïos, Oedipus' biological father, and Iocastê, his biological mother, learned through an oracle that Oedipus was fated to kill his father. Laïos decided to kill his son and Iocastê ties their child's feet together. Oedipus was given to a shepherd to be sent to death, however, the shepherd, pitied the baby and changed his mind, handling the infant to a servant of Polybos, the King of Corinth. Oedipus was raised as Polybos son and never knew, despite his suspicions, that he, in fact, was not Polybos' biological child. During this sincere search for his true identity, he asked to the Delphi Oracle about his real parents. The Oracle did not provide him with the answer Oedipus was searching for, but told him he was doomed to kill his father and mate his own mother instead. Later, Oedipus met Laïos and, ignoring that he was his biological father, ended up killing him over an argument on the road to Thebes. Because he solved the Sphinx's riddle, Oedipus was rewarded with Thebes' kingship and the hand of the Theban queen, Iocastê, his biological mother. At this point, he demanded that the shepherd was brought to him and his search for the truth has ended: he found out he was Laïos' and Iocastê's son. When she figured out she was Oedipus' biological mother, Iocastê committed suicide and Oedipus struck his eyes with…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Classics 45C

    • 2658 Words
    • 9 Pages

    -While questioning citizens, Teiresias, the blind prophet, tells Oedipus that Oedipus himself killed Laius- but his wife, Jocasta tells him not to believe in the prophets, because she and king Laius had a prophesy saying that they were going to have a child who was going to kill Laius and sleep with Jocasta, but they had the child killed.…

    • 2658 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus The King was based on the ways of how Greeks used to live.. Ancient Greece was known for saying that everyone should be equal with no disadvantage and that everyone should have a say in what they do. They also thought that everyone should have the right to vote. Even though they acted in these ways, Ancient Greece was still a patriarchal society. The power was always directed to the male as they were thought as the more logical and strong enforcer. Men were always given the most noble duties as they were thought as the only one who was capable of those duties.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Coincidentally, Colonus is the setting for the story of Oedipus. His father sent him to Athens in hope that Sophocles would get a good education. During his life, Sophocles received numerous awards for his tragedy. In 468 BC. Sophocles won first place for his tragedy over the best tragedy writer, Aeschylus.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    People read literature because it teaches about humanity, both the positives and negatives. Sometimes, they learn more from reading about the mistakes and flaws of characters. Oedipus Rex is one of these characters, flawed even though he thinks he is divine. According to Bernard Knox, “these attributes of divinity – knowledge, certainty, justice – are all qualities Oedipus thought he possessed – and that is why he was the perfect example of the inadequacy of human knowledge, certainty, and justice.” In Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’s untimely fall is caused by his false certainty of knowledge, his rash actions done without that certainty, and his injustice toward those trying to warn him.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sophocles was one of the playwrights within 430BCE. Sophocles wrote approximately 120 plays in total however, only 7 survived, one in which is the Greek tragedy ‘Oedipus’. ‘Oedipus’ is considered to be Sophocles’ ‘masterpiece’. Sophocles writes upon personal and complex themes, in which represent things which happen in everyday life, we can see this within ‘Oedipus’, when it is mentioned ‘And to our suffering…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Oedipus Rex Part I

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Oedipus Rex, also called Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, lines 1 through 753 ("Thrill through my soul, my queen, at this thy tale")…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Oedipus the King, Sophocles presents us with a world in which certain actions and outcomes…

    • 556 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Oedipus Rex

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The premise of the play is how Oedipus’s decisions unknowingly lead to his fate. Oedipus was free to make his own decisions, and his decisions tied in with his fate. Oedipus did not know that all his decisions would lead to the killing of his father and the marrying of his mother. Oedipus was a very stubborn and curious person; he forced the servant of Laios and also Teiresias to tell him the truth about his past, even though neither one wanted him to know the truth. The servant stated, “… if I speak the truth, I am worse than dead” (p.165). Both warned Oedipus that he did not want to…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Research Paper On Antigone

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “ I hate the murders who killed my father. O, can this be justice, ( pg 128 ).” Oedipus finds out that he has murdered Laius, who was his father, and that he married his mother. The plot goes on to describe how he came about doing such horrific things. At first, Oedipus seems to be the villain, but it can't be so, because he did not know that he was adopted, and that the person he killed was his father. of course, he didn't know that he is marrying his mother either. A prophet named Teiresias enters next and Oedipus asks him for help discover who has killed Laius. However, the prophet is extremely reluctant to speak and begs Oedipus to let him go without saying what he knows. He then gives him some disturbing news, that Oedipus is the person whom he seeks and who killed Laius. Oedipus does not want to listen and calls the prophet a liar and a traitor, even saying that Creon, who sent him, was the designer in a plot against him to gain the throne. The prophet warns Oedipus that even if he doesn't want to hear the truth, it does not make it any less truth that he speaks. Several characters are willing to sacrifice themselves to save Thebes from destruction or for what they believe is right and just. Creon, for example, is ready to die in order to save the city. Teiresias offers to have himself killed when Oedipus suspects him of betraying the trust of…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If you were in Oedipus’ position, would you go through drastic measures to find out who your real parents are knowing that you have relationships with one of your parents or would you banish yourself from the kingdom after listening to Teiresias; believing him? The author Sophocles wrote an Athenian playwright called “Oedipus Rex” that was a tragedy of a king whose life was going fine for him at first and then, hit a bump which made everything get thrown off track. In the end, I believe Oedipus deserved what came to him and he learned his lesson about fate.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus runs from Corinth because he fears that he will fulfill the prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother. While he was fleeing, he ran into a man and five of the man’s servants at a place where three highways met. Oedipus killed the man and four of the man’s five servants. Later, on his way to Thebes, Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx so the people of Thebes wanted to make him their king and have him marry the Queen, Jocasta. So Oedipus married the queen and became king of Thebes. Little did anyone one know, but that decision to marry Queen Jocastsa fulfilled the prophecy that Oedipus had been trying to avoid by fleeing Corinth and coming to Thebes.…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Pride In Oedipus The King

    • 1245 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the story of Oedipus Rex, Laius and Jocaste are king and queen of Thebes, and the parents of Oedipus. Laius was warned by an oracle that he would be killed by his own son. Determined to prevent his fate, Laius pierced and bound together the feet of his newborn child and left him to die on a lonely mountain. The infant was rescued by a shepherd and given to Polybus, king of Corinth, who named the child Oedipus and raised him as his own son. Oedipus did not know that he was adopted, and when an oracle proclaimed that he would kill his father, he left Corinth. On his way from leaving, he met and killed Laius, believing that the king and his followers were a band of robbers, there fulfilling his prophecy. Oedipus arrived at Thebes, where he defeats the Sphinx and marries his mother.…

    • 1245 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus The King

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Oedipus curses the unknown murderer and swears he will find and punish him. He orders the people of Thebes, under punishment of exile, to give any information they have about the death of Laius. Then, Oedipus sends for Tiresias, the blind prophet, to help with the investigation. When Tiresias refuses to tell Oedipus what he has seen in his prophetic visions Oedipus accuses Tiresias of playing a part in Laius’s death. Tiresias grows angry and says that Oedipus is the cause of the plague—he is the murderer of Laius. As the argument escalates, Oedipus accuses Tiresias of plotting with Creon to overthrow him, while Tiresias hints at other terrible things that Oedipus has done. Convinced that Creon is plotting to overthrow him, Oedipus declares his intention to banish or execute his brother-in-law. Jocasta and the chorus believe Creon is innocent and beg Oedipus to let Creon go. He relents, reluctantly, still convinced of Creon’s guilt. Jocasta tells Oedipus not to put any stock in what prophets and seers…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays