Oedipus Rex

By Sophocles, 430 b.c.

Oedipus the King Plot Analysis
The initial situation:
Oedipus is aware that there is a curse on Thebes and has Creon gather insight
into how to lift it
Conflict:
No one wants to provide any information to Oedipus about Laiuss murder.
Oedipus struggles to get to Tiresias, the messenger, and the shepherd to talk. Hes
desperate to solve the mystery but he keeps being urged to drop it
Complication:
Oedipus begins to realize that he is somehow implicated in Laiuss murder.
The more Oedipus learns, the more he wants to know. Although he is inching
closer to the truth, he is damaging himself in the process.
Climax:
Oedipus realizes hes slept with his mother and killed his father. In a moment of
horror, Oedipus understands what hes done. This is the emotional and
psychological climax of the play.
Suspense
Oedipus enters his bedroom and sees that Jocasta has hanged herself.
Oedipus sees that Jocasta, too has realized what theyve done. The suspense is
inherent in the fact that we dont know if Oedipus, too will kill himself, Given
that his is a Greek tragedy.
Denouement:
Oedipus gouges his eyes out with a brooch from Jocastas dress
With complete knowledge of what hes done, Oedipus inflicts injury on himself
and begs to be exiled from Thebes.
Conclusion:
Oedipus is exiled from Thebes
In the last moments of the play, Oedipus is banished from his home
King Oedipus, aware that a terrible curse has befallen Thebes, sends his brotherin-law, Creon, to seek the advice of Apollo. Creon informs Oedipus that the curse
will be lifted if the murderer of Laius, the former king, is found and prosecuted.
Laius was murdered many years ago at a crossroads.
Oedipus dedicates himself to the discovery and prosecution of Laiuss murderer.
Oedipus subjects a series of unwilling citizens to questioning, including a blind
prophet. Teiresias, the blind prophet, informs Oedipus that Oedipus himself killed
Laius. This news really bothers Oedipus, but his wife Jocasta tells him not to
believe in prophetsthey've been wrong before. As an example, she tells
Oedipus about how she and King Laius had a son who was prophesied to kill
Laius and sleep with her. Well, she and Laius had the child killed, so obviously
that prophecy didn't come true, right?

Jocasta's story doesn't comfort Oedipus. As a child, an old man told Oedipus that
he was adopted, and that he would eventually kill his biological father and sleep
with his biological mother. Not to mention, Oedipus once killed a man at a
crossroads, which sounds a lot like the way Laius died.
Jocasta urges Oedipus not to look into the past any further, but he stubbornly
ignores her. Oedipus goes on to question a messenger and a shepherd, both of
whom have information about how Oedipus was abandoned as an infant and
adopted by a new family. In a moment of insight, Jocasta realizes that she is
Oedipuss mother and that Laius was his father. Horrified at what has happened,
she kills herself. Shortly thereafter, Oedipus, too, realizes that he was Laiuss
murder and that hes been married to (and having children with) his mother. In
horror and despair, he gouges his eyes out and is exiled from Thebes.
OEDIPUS
Where are they? Where in the wide world to find
The far, faint traces of a bygone crime?
CREON
In this land, said the god; "who seeks shall find;
Who sits with folded hands or sleeps is blind." (107-110)
Creon explains that if Oedipus seeks knowledge of the crime, he will find it.
Creon speaks with a certainty here that is fateful in its confidence.

TEIRESIAS
Well, it will come what will, though I be mute.
OEDIPUS
Since come it must, thy duty is to tell me.
TEIRESIAS
I have no more to say; storm as thou willst,
And give the rein to all thy pent-up rage. (341-347)
Teiresias insists that, regardless of what he says or does, fate will play itself out.
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Sophocles certainly wasn't shy about the motif of sight vs. blindness. If you've
got way too much time on your hands, go through the play and highlight words
like "see," "sight," "vision," "eyes," and "blind." Since this motif is symbolic of
the pursuit of "knowledge," you can go ahead add that word, along with terms

like "oracle," "truth," "prophecy," and "Apollo," since he's the god that represents
all these ideas. The Oracle of Shmoop predicts that your highlighter will run out
of ink, and your script will end up looking like a neon patchwork quilt.
Though this motif of seeing and not seeing is laced throughout the beginning of
the play, it first becomes crystal clear when the prophet Teiresias hobbles on
stage. If one of Sophocles's ancient audience members missed the irony in this
episode, he must've visited the wine stand a few to many times. Teiresias is
literally blind, but he can see clearly the horror that is Oedipus's past, present,
and future. Oedipus's eyes work just fine, but unfortunately he's completely blind
to the dreadful fate the gods have placed upon him. The doomed king's ignorance
on this key matter is made even more ironic by the fact that he was made famous
for his keen insight, by solving the riddle of the Sphinx.
When Oedipus finally sees the terrible truth of his life, Sophocles hammers home
his metaphor by having the king stab out his own eyes. Oedipus says he does this
because he can no longer look on the horrors that his unwitting actions have
created. With this most famous of gougings, Oedipus literally becomes the thing
he's always metaphorically been: blind. At the end of the play, Oedipus becomes
symbolic of all of humanity, stumbling forward through a dark and unknowable
universe.

All about truth, its what starts

Oedipus swollen feet
430 b.c.
Sophocles, wanted to justifies the gods power
Need to find the truth of the murderer of king layas
The truth draws the play to a terrible conclusion, Oedipus confronts a
reality which he did kill his father and sleep with his mother
Truth is at heart of Oedipuss emotional journey
He wont accept the truth, and he cant handle the truth
Even as the facts add up, Oedipus still cant accept what is irrefutably true
At the end, although he admits the truth. He is still partially in denial as he
violently rips of his eyes and makes himself symbolically blind to the
horrors of the truth

 To the audience, watching Oedipus was part of a religious celebration,

very familiar to the plot of this play
Series of revelations, prophecy that sets the plot in motion, Tiresias deadly
little secreat Jocasta, Oedipus has a horrible realization. Sheppard reveals
The prophecy is furfilled, the queen suicides
Relationship between characters are twisted
Oedipus, king of thebes, doesnt like when anyone questions his authority
Creon, oeds brother in law, bearer in good news
Tiresias the blind, who sees better that anyone
Jocasta Oeds wife, Oeds mother,
Desire TO AVOID TRUTH- THEME 1
Oedipus wants to avoid the truth about his history,
Tragic irony, Oedipus cant make the obvious connections
Heroe has fatal flaw THEME 2 the power of prophecy
Play driven by prophecy
Sophocles was trying to make a point, human beings are essentialy
powerless, but we have the power to see the truth and deny it
Eyes- motif: Oedipus is blind when he knows the truth he has to
physically blind himself because the truth is too much to blind
Tiresias is the least blind, ironically
Blindness- vision
Too often our eyes deceive us. FOLLOW YOUR INTUITIONS AND
HEART
SYMBOLS: Scene 3 of Oedipus. Scar of his ankles. Oedipus: swollen
foot. Scarred ankle and swollen leg. His injury has constrained himself. he
is controlled and SCARED by fate, he has trying to run from his own fate
YOU CANT RUN FROM YOUR FATE
FEER OF TRUTH
Truth is often umpleasent, it is often more umpleasent the longer weve
been avoiding it
The action of avoiding the truth is very common. DENIAL
His destiny isnt his fault
But nothing would be as terrible if HE WOULD HAVE JUST
ACCEPTED THE TRUTH FROM A BEGINNING, AND NOT RUN
AWAY FROM IT, things would have turned out very differently
MESSAGE: DENIAL DOESNT WORK, TRUTH SAVES US