Oedipus Rex Brief Summaries of Plot

Characters:

Oedipus: main character who is the king of Thebes Priest: character who speaks for community Creon: Oedipus’ brother-in-law Chorus: group of citizens from Thebes Leader: main speaker for the chorus Tiresias: blind prophet Jocasta: Oedipus’ wife; queen of Thebes Messengers: minor characters who report to Oedipus Antigone and Ismene: Oedipus’ daughters

Action before the play starts:

- Oedipus is told by an oracle that he will kill his father and marry his mother - Oedipus leaves his city because he does not want this to come true - Oedipus gets into an argument with an old man on the road and kills him - The Sphinx is making life horrible for Thebes, and will not stop until someone solves her riddle. - Oedipus solves it and becomes the king of Thebes. He marries Jocasta, who was a widow.

Pages 253-265:

- Many years have passed since Oedipus became king. - There is a plague in Thebes. - People make offerings to the gods to stop the plague. - Oedipus is willing to help end the plague however he can. He is a good and caring leader. - The people of Thebes trust that Oedipus will be able to help end the plague. They trust him because he solved the riddle of the Sphinx. - Oedipus has sent Creon to talk to an oracle about how to end the plague. - Creon returns from the oracle. The oracle has told Creon that in order to end the plague, the city of Thebes must take revenge on the person who murdered their previous king, Laius. - The people of Thebes tell Oedipus how Laius was murdered (Laius was attacked by thieves. The thieves killed everyone with Laius except one man. This man is the only person who can verify that they were attacked by thieves). - Oedipus vows to take revenge on this murderer. He curses the person who did it. - Oedipus calls in Tiresias to help him figure out who the murderer is. - Tiresias does not want to tell Oedipus what he knows about the murder. He says it is too awful to tell.

Pages 266-286:

- Oedipus gets mad at Tiresias because Tiresias will not tell Oedipus who killed King Laius. - Tiresias finally tells Oedipus who killed the king. Tiresias says Oedipus killed King Laius. - Oedipus cannot believe Tiresias. Oedipus thinks that Creon is making this up to frame him. Here is why…Oedipus thinks Creon wants to be king. Oedipus believes Creon asks Tiresias to lie about Oedipus killing King Laius. Oedipus thinks Creon wants to take over as king once Oedipus is banished from the land. - Oedipus kicks Tiresias out of the palace because Oedipus is so upset with Tiresias. - The chorus will not believe what Tiresias has said about Oedipus killing Laius until the chorus has proof. The chorus loves Oedipus. - Creon and Oedipus fight. Oedipus accuses Creon of framing him, and Creon swears he did not frame Oedipus. - Creon has a good argument about why HE IS NOT trying to frame Oedipus. Creon likes that he gets to enjoy the power that comes with being royalty. Creon does not want to be king because being king means he would have extra responsibility. Creon likes to be powerful without responsibility. - Jocasta comes into the room to settle the argument. - Creon leaves. - Oedipus and Jocasta begin talking about what Tiresias has said about Oedipus being King Laius’ murderer. - Jocasta tells Oedipus a story to prove that prophets are not always right. However, she actually proves the opposite. Here is her story: When Jocasta was married to Laius, Laius received a prophesy that he was going to be murdered by his own son. When Laius and Jocasta had their first son, they tied his ankles together and had someone throw the son off a mountain to die. Jocasta and Laius did not want their son to kill Laius. - Jocasta also tells Oedipus that Laius was murdered where three roads meet. Oedipus realizes that this was the exact place that he had murdered a man years ago. Oedipus realizes that he did kill King Laius, even though Oedipus did not know it was King Laius at the time. - Oedipus explains his own prophesy to Jocasta. When Oedipus was younger, a man accused Oedipus of being adopted. Oedipus could not believe this man, so Oedipus went to the oracle to find out if he was adopted. The oracle told Oedipus that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus did not want to do this, so Oedipus left Corinth (his hometown) to escape his fate. On the way to Thebes, he meets a man on the road, gets into an argument, and kills the man (who turns out to be Laius).

P. 287-298:

See “What We’re Missing…” document

What We’re Missing…

Jocasta tells Oedipus that Laius was killed at a three-way crossroads, just before Oedipus arrived in Thebes. Oedipus, stunned, tells his wife that he may be the one who murdered Laius. He tells Jocasta that, long ago, when he was the prince of Corinth, he heard at a banquet that he was not really the son of the king and queen, and so went to the oracle of Delphi, which did not answer him but did tell him he would murder his father and sleep with his mother. Hearing this, Oedipus fled from home, never to return. It was then, on the journey that would take him to Thebes, that Oedipus was confronted and harassed by a group of travelers, whom he killed in self-defense, at the very crossroads where Laius was killed.

Hoping that he will not be identified as Laius’s murderer, Oedipus sends for the shepherd who was the only man to survive the attack. Oedipus and Jocasta leave the stage, and the Chorus enters, announcing that the world is ruled by destiny and denouncing prideful men who would defy the gods. At the same time, the Chorus worries that if all the prophecies and oracles are wrong—if a proud man can, in fact, triumph—then the gods may not rule the world after all. Jocasta enters from the palace to offer a branch wrapped in wool to Apollo.

A messenger enters, looking for Oedipus. He tells Jocasta that he has come from Corinth to tell Oedipus that his father, Polybus, is dead, and that Corinth wants Oedipus to come and rule there. Jocasta rejoices, convinced that since Polybus is dead from natural causes, the prophecy that Oedipus will murder his father is false. Oedipus arrives, hears the messenger’s news, and rejoices with Jocasta; king and queen concur that prophecies are worthless and the world is ruled by chance. However, Oedipus still fears the part of the prophecy that said he would sleep with his mother. The messenger says he can rid himself of that worry, because Polybus and his wife, Merope, are not really Oedipus’s natural parents.

The messenger explains that he used to be a shepherd years ago. One day, he found a baby on Mount Cithaeron, near Thebes. The baby had its ankles pinned together, and the former shepherd set them free. That baby was Oedipus, who still walks with a limp because of the injury to his ankles so long ago. When Oedipus inquires who left him in the woods on the mountain, the messenger replies that another shepherd, Laius’s servant, gave him baby Oedipus. At this, Jocasta turns sharply, seeming to sense some horrible revelation on the horizon.

Oedipus wants to find this shepherd, so he can find out who his natural parents are. Jocasta begs him to abandon his search immediately, but Oedipus is insistent. After screaming and pleading some more to no avail, Jocasta finally flees back into the palace.

P. 299-end:

- Oedipus does not worry about Jocasta’s concerns.

- Oedipus and the Chorus are excited that they may soon know who Oedipus’ parents are.

- The shepherd who saw Laius’ murder comes onto the stage.

- The messenger identifies the shepherd as the man who gave him young Oedipus.

- Oedipus questions the shepherd, asking who gave shepherd the baby, but the shepherd refuses to talk.

- After Oedipus threatens the shepherd with torture, the shepherd answers that the baby came from the house of Laius.

- The shepherd said that the baby was Laius’s child, and that Jocasta gave the baby to him to destroy because of a prophecy that the child would kill his parents.

- The shepherd decided to give the baby to the messenger instead, so that the baby might be raised as a prince in Corinth.

- Realizing who he is and who his parents are, Oedipus screams that he sees the truth, and flees back into the palace. The shepherd and the messenger slowly exit the stage.

- The messenger enters again to tell the Chorus what has happened in the palace.

o Jocasta is dead, by suicide. She hanged herself.

o Oedipus enters the bedroom where Jocasta hanged herself. Seeing her dead, Oedipus cries and hugs Jocasta.

o He then takes the gold pins that held her robes and, with the pins, stabs out his eyes. He cannot bear to see the world now that he has learned the truth.

- As the messenger finishes the story, Oedipus comes out of the palace. Oedipus is disgusted with himself. Oedipus asks that he be banished from Thebes.

- Creon enters.

- Creon forgives Oedipus for what he’s done. Creon agrees to exile Oedipus from the city.

- Oedipus asks that Creon take care of Oedipus’ girls. Oedipus wants to see his girls one more time.

- The girls, Antigone and Ismene, come out, crying. Oedipus says goodbye to the girls.

- Creon orders the guards to take Antigone and Ismene away from Oedipus, and Creon tells Oedipus that his power has ended.

- Everyone exits, and the Chorus comes onstage once more. Oedipus, greatest of men, has fallen, the chorus says, and so all life is miserable, and only death can bring peace.