Read our detailed notes below on the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Our notes cover Oedipus Rex summary, themes, characters and analysis.
Introduction
Oedipus Rex is a famous tragedy written by Sophocles. It is also known by its Greek name “Oedipus Tyrannus” or “Oedipus the king”. It was first performed in 429 BC. Sophocles is now placed among the great ancient Greek Tragedians. He wrote three famous tragedies that include Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone that describe the sufferings of a king and his children after him.
Aristotle in his “The Poetics” called this play an exemplary Greek tragedy. “Oedipus Rex” is also considered as the first detective story in the history of Western Literature.
Definition of a tragedy
A tragedy is a sub-genre of drama that is serious and in which the main character or the hero of the play meets a tragic end because of his tragic flaw or hamartia. In Oedipus Rex, it is observed that the hamartia of Oedipus is his excessive pride or hubris which later becomes the reason behind his tragic downfall.
In this play, when a child is born in king Laius’ house, he consults an oracle to ask him about his son’s fate. The oracle tells Laius that he will be killed by his own son. Terrified of the prophecy, Laius binds his son’s feet with a pin and asks his wife to kill him. Jocasta gives her son a servant to kill him because being a mother she can’t kill her own son.
The servant left the child on a mountain top to die but then he feels a soft corner for him and gives him to a shepherd to take him far away. The shepherd names the child as “Oedipus” which means “swollen foot” because his feet get swollen due to the pin that bound his feet together. The shepherd takes the child to Corinth and gives him to Polybus and Merope, the king and queen of Corinth where he grows up as their child.
Oedipus Rex Summary
Scene 1
The play starts outside the palace of King Oedipus. The city of Thebes is shown suffering a plague because of which people are terrified. The fields become barren and people start suffering from different diseases. The people of Thebes gather along with a priest and other elders to request Oedipus, the king of Thebes, to help them and save them from this plague. They come to the king to ask for help because he saved them once from the sphinx too. The sphinx was a monster with the woman’s head, lioness’ body, eagle’s wings and serpent’s tale.
The sphinx stood at the entrance to the city of Thebes and used to ask riddles from the people who came across her and killed those who failed to solve her riddles. Oedipus solved her riddle and she killed herself. People made Oedipus their king as he was brave and saved them from the monster. As their former king was murdered so Oedipus got married to Jocasta, the former queen, and became the king of Thebes.
Now the people believe that the plague is sent to them by God Apollo because he is angry and wants to punish them. The king tells them that he is more worried than all of them. He knows that they are sick and in pain but that is their individual pain while Oedipus suffers the pain of all and he cried for them too. He says that he has found one way to get rid of these problems so he already has sent Creon, his brother-in-law, to the house of Apollo at Delphi to ask the oracle about this matter and its solution.
Soon Creon returns after talking to the oracle. Initially, Creon feels reluctant to speak in front of the whole crowd but then Oedipus forces him to speak and he tells everyone that there is a solution to get rid of the plague. The oracle tells him that if the murderer of Laius, the former king of Thebes before Oedipus, is found and the justice is brought to him, only then the plague will leave this place. Oedipus promises everyone that he will find the man who killed their king and caused the plague and ensures that he will punish him for his deeds. The priest and the people become satisfied and leave.
Chorus 1
A chorus is a group of singers that includes the elders of Thebes. After the completion of the first scene, they sing a prayer to their gods for the recovery of their city from the plague. They pray to many gods including Apollo to save them from death and destruction as Apollo saved them once from Sphinx.
Scene 2
Oedipus appreciates the chorus for their prayers. Oedipus then addresses to all the people and forbids them to give shelter to the murderer of king Laius. He also announces that if the murderer is present in the crowd, he can come forward and admit his crime. However, he promises not to kill the person if he comes forward to surrender and he only suggests banishment for him. The chorus suggests Oedipus to call Teiresias, the blind prophet, to resolve this matter. Oedipus tells them that he has already sent someone to call him.
When Teiresias arrives, he claims that he knows the killer but he refuses to tell. Oedipus forces him to tell but he continuously refuses the king saying that the truth will only bring pain for him and nothing else. He also advises the king to abandon his search for the killer. Oedipus gets enraged and he accuses Teiresias of the murder saying that he is concealing the truth because he himself is the murderer. Oedipus threatens to kill him and hence he is forced to tell the truth. Teiresias tells that Oedipus is the killer of king Laius.
Oedipus doesn’t trust him and considers it just as nonsense. He threatens Teiresias by saying that he will always regret saying this nonsense against his king and he considers it is a plot of Creon against him and Oedipus believes that Creon has paid Teiresias to say these things. Oedipus orders him to leave. Teiresias then leaves saying his last riddle. He tells that the murderer is in front of them, he is the killer of his father and the husband of his mother, he is the brother of his own children and the son of his own wife, a man who came seeing but will leave this world in blindness.
Chorus 2
The chorus also believes in their king and they refuse to accept that Oedipus has committed any crime. They consider him a faithful king who saved their city once because of his wisdom. They also start questioning the wisdom and prophecies of Teiresias.
Scene 3
When Creon enters, he asks people whether it is true that the king accused Teiresias and asked him to leave. He claims that he never thinks of harming king Oedipus and now he has heard rumours that the king accuses him of treachery. The chorus tries to talk to Creon but Oedipus appears and accuses Creon of killing king Laius and stealing his crown. He orders to execute Creon because of conspiring against him. The chorus and Jocasta, the wife of Oedipus and the sister of Creon, request the king to spare his life and let him go.
Jocasta asks Oedipus why he is so upset. He tells her about Teiresias and his prophecy. She relieves Oedipus by saying that he should not take the prophets and their prophecies seriously because they are never true. She starts telling him about one of the oracles who came to her and king Laius, long time ago and told them that King Laius will be killed by his own son so they gave their child to a shepherd to kill him. Everyone knows that the prophecy was wrong as the king was killed by some robbers at the crossroads when he was on his way to Delphi.
Her story troubles Oedipus. As she tells him that the king was killed at a place where three roads meet, Oedipus reminds of a similar incident that happened in his life. He also killed a stranger at a place where three roads met. He becomes worried and starts thinking about what Teiresias said. He asks Jocasta to tell him further about this incident and also investigates the appearance of king Laius. The description of Laius by Jocasta is exactly the same as the stranger killed by Oedipus.
Jocasta tells him that there was an eyewitness to the king’s death. He was a herdsman and he swore that there were five robbers who killed Laius. Oedipus calls the herdsman. While they await the witness, Jocasta asks Oedipus why he seems worried. Oedipus starts telling her about his past. He tells her that once when he was young, someone told him that he was not the real son of his father. He asked his parents about it but they refused to say that it was not true.
Then he went to an oracle to ask him about reality. The oracle told him that according to his fate, he will kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus tells her that he left his home and Corinth because he was frightened of this prophecy. Later on his journey, he messed up with a stranger who was a proud man and insulted him badly. He ended up killing him and it was the place where three roads met. He tells her that he is worried because he fears that the stranger he killed might have been Laius.
Oedipus tells Jocasta that he will not be worried anymore if the herdsman swears that he witnessed the king Laius was killed by robbers and not by me. He prays and hopes that the witness will save him from guilt and the punishment that he announced himself. Oedipus and Jocasta go to the palace and start waiting for him.
Chorus 3
The elders pray to god Zeus and Apollo to pay attention to this serious matter and to help them solve the mystery.
Scene 4
Jocasta leaves the palace to go to the temple to pray for Oedipus and his safety. She also advises him not to worry as it makes her and all other people tense to see their king in this condition. After some time, a messenger came from Corinth to deliver the news of the death of Oedipus’ father Polybus, the king of Corinth.The messenger tells Oedipus that the people of Corinth now want to make him the ruler that’s why he came to him.
Jocasta and Oedipus feel relief on this news. Jocasta becomes happy and tells Oedipus that this is another proof that proves the prophecies wrong. Oedipus believes her but he tells her that he is still worried about the other prophecy that he will marry his mother. The messenger tells Oedipus that now he doesn’t need to stay away from his home, Corinth. He tells him that he can come back any time without any fear because his mother, Merope, is not his real mother and Polybus was not his real father either.
Oedipus becomes really worried and he gets shocked on hearing this. He asks the messenger how he knows about all this. The messenger tells him that years ago someone gave him a baby and he gave it to the king and the queen of Corinth as they had no child. The baby was pierced through the ankles and Oedipus also has some marks on his ankles that prove it true. Oedipus asks him about the person who gave him the baby. He tells Oedipus that a servant of king Laius gave him the baby. Oedipus orders his men to find out that servant.
The messenger also suggests Oedipus to take help from Jocasta as she gave her baby to that servant so she can identify him easily. Jocasta becomes nervous and horrified by the bitter truth. She begs Oedipus to stop his quest for truth. Oedipus tells her that he has promised people to solve this mystery and save them from trouble so now he will investigate and find out the truth. Jocasta gets more worried and leaves. Oedipus again swears to assure his people that he will not stop his investigation.
Chorus 4
The chorus sings happily because of the new information delivered by the messenger. They also perform the holy dance and they are excited to know about their king’s real parents because they think that Oedipus is the son of some god.
Scene 5
Finally, Oedipus’ men come with a shepherd. Seeing the terrible condition of Jocasta, the chorus also starts thinking that something bad is going to happen so they also start begging Oedipus to leave the mystery unsolved but Oedipus doesn’t listen to them either. The shepherd looks terrified and doesn’t want to answer the king’s question. Oedipus forces him to tell the truth. He tells Oedipus it is true that he gave a baby boy to another shepherd. He admits that the baby was king Laius’ son whom Jocasta and Laius left to die on a hillside because they were terrified of an oracle’s prophecy.
The truth is finally revealed. Oedipus feels devastated thinking how he killed his father and got married to his mother and has four kids. He starts hating his identity and leaves the place. He starts searching a sword in the palace to kill himself. When he enters his bedroom, he finds that Jocasta is already dead. She came running to her room after the truth got revealed and she committed suicide by hanging herself.
Seeing her body, Oedipus becomes more depressed. He takes out the gold brooches from the queen’s dress and plunges them in his eyes. He feels severe pain as the stream of blood starts flowing through her eyes. He becomes blind forever. He cries out that he shouldn’t be able to see again in his life as he committed a terrible sin and brought destruction for all the people. He also requests the chorus to kill him.
Creon also enters the palace after hearing the whole story. He consoles Oedipus and asks him to come inside so that no one can see him. Oedipus also begs Creon to let him leave the city but he suggests meeting Apollo first. Oedipus refuses to meet anyone. Oedipus says that the only punishment for the sinner is banishment. He requests Creon to bring his daughters to him as he wants to meet them before leaving. He also asks Creon to take care of them.
Oedipus leaves the city as he himself announced that the punishment for Laius’ killer will only be banishment so he acts upon his words. Creon and Oedipus’ daughters go back to the palace and the chorus laments on the terrible fate of their king, Oedipus.
Chorus 5
The chorus becomes surprised because the truth was concealed from them for so long. Moreover, they feel pity for the king’s fate and cry over his misfortune. They discuss how the king was a worthy man who achieved much in his life like solving the riddle of Sphinx and becoming the king of Thebes but everything gets ruined because of his cruel fate. The play ends when the Chorus says, “Count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last”.
Themes in Oedipus Rex
Fate
It is the main theme of this play and fate plays an important role in the whole play. When king Laius and queen Jocasta hear the prophecy that their son will kill his father and marry his mother, they leave their son to die but the child doesn’t die and is taken to Corinth. When Oedipus grows up, he also comes to know about this prophecy so he leaves that place but he doesn’t know that his fate is taking him towards his real parents. No matter how hard he tries to escape his fate, he does the same as was written. The role of fate remains prominent in the play and in the end, Oedipus finds that he is only a puppet in the hands of gods and prophets.
Individual will/action
Though it was Oedipus’ fate to kill his father and marry his mother yet there were certain actions that could have saved him from this destruction. Oedipus had many opportunities that could prove oracle’s prophecy wrong but his own actions became the reason behind his downfall. On his way to Thebes, he messed up with a stranger and got angry. So he killed him because of his rage. At that time, If he somehow managed to control himself and his anger then he could never have killed his own father.
Moreover, when Teiresias, chorus, and Jocasta were begging him to stop his search for truth, he didn’t stop and as a result, he came to know the bitter truth that destroyed his life. If he stopped at that time and didn’t try to explore his past then he would never have led himself to destruction.
Pity and Fear
As Oedipus Rex is a tragedy, the elements of pity and fear are also found in it. The readers feel fear as the play proceeds towards the solution of the mystery. The characters of the play also get terrified as the things start to get clear. Oedipus finds that he is the real culprit and he blinds himself by hurting his eyes with brooches and streams of blood start flowing down his face. The readers also feel pity for Oedipus because he didn’t do anything intentionally and his fate is the real cause of his tragic end.
Plague and Health
At the start of the play, the city of Thebes is shown suffering from a terrible plague that makes everyone tensed and terrified. The people of the city became sick and many died. Their fields and women become barren. The people of Thebes believe that the plague is a result of religious pollution because of which God Apollo is angry and has cursed them so they come to the king to request him to save their lives.
Self-Discovery and memories of the past
Oedipus keeps on exploring his past. Although everyone warns him yet he doesn’t stop. Forgetting the past is a good thing sometimes but Oedipus ruins his own life because of his quest for who he really is and what was his past. The road that he adopts towards self-discovery, in reality, leads him towards his downfall.
Hubris
It is a Greek term that means “Excessive pride”. It is one of the main themes of this play and it also proves to be the Hamartia or tragic flaw of Oedipus Rex. He shows pride at different points. At the beginning of the play, he addresses the people saying that he is Oedipus and he has solved the famous riddle. In his pride, he disrespects Teiresias and calls him blind. His excessive pride becomes the reason behind his tragic downfall.
Power
Power corrupts men and the character of Oedipus is the true example of it. He becomes mad in his power. He uses it over Teiresias and disrespects him by accusing him of the king’s murder. He also gives the order to execute Creon because he thinks he is a traitor. He forces both of the shepherds to tell him the truth though they don’t want to speak.
Search for truth
Oedipus promises people to find out the truth and punish the culprit so he starts his search. Many people request him to stop his search but he doesn’t listen to them. Teiresias begs him not to ask him about the truth because it will only bring pain to everyone. He forces him to speak. Later when things start to become clear, Jocasta also requests Oedipus to stop finding the truth but he doesn’t listen to her either. Then he finds out the bitter truth and ends up punishing himself.
Guilt and Shame
As the truth comes in front of everyone that Oedipus is the person who killed his father and married his own mother, Oedipus and Jocasta fill with shame. Jocasta hangs herself because of her guilt to marry her own son and Oedipus hurts his eyes and becomes blind to punish himself for committing the shameless sin.
Ignorance
It is true that ignorance is a blessing. When Oedipus was unaware of reality, everything was perfect and he was living happily but when he started his quest for truth, he got destroyed. Many people try to stop his search for truth because they know it will only bring destruction but he doesn’t listen to them and the truth destroys his life. The search for truth is a good thing but sometimes staying ignorant towards some matters is the real sensibleness.
Justice
It is also an important theme. As the play starts, the people of Thebes request Oedipus to save them from the plague. Creon finds out that the only way to get rid of the plague is to bring justice to king Laius by punishing his murderer. Oedipus promises to find and punish him. Later when the truth reveals, Oedipus acts upon his words and he punishes himself. Though he can escape the punishment because he is the king yet he decides to bring justice and he says that the banishment is the only punishment for the criminal so he leaves the city of Thebes.
Blind faith
The theme of blind faith is also found throughout this play as the people strongly believe in the prophets and their prophecies. King Laius and Jocasta left their son to die on a hillside because of a prophecy that their son will kill his father and marry his mother. If they didn’t believe that prophecy and kept their son in front of them then maybe things would have been different. Moreover, listening to the same prophecy, Oedipus also left Corinth. If he didn’t trust the prophecy and kept living in Corinth then maybe he could never be able to kill his real father and marry his mother.
Furthermore, Oedipus sends Creon to Delphi to talk to an oracle about the plague. Later they call Teiresias, the blind prophet, to solve the mystery. At the end, after the truth gets revealed, Oedipus requests Creon to let him leave the city but Creon suggests that they should meet the oracle first. It clearly shows the trust and the faith of the people on oracles and prophets.
Oedipus Rex Characters Analysis
Oedipus Rex
Oedipus is the hero of this tragedy. He was born in the house of king Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. An oracle tells king Laius about his child’s fate and threatens him that the child will kill him in the future. The king binds the feet of the child together and asks Jocasta to kill him. Jocasta gives her child to a servant to leave him on a hillside to die. A shepherd takes the child from there to Corinth. He names the child as “Oedipus” which means “swollen feet” because his feet got swollen as they were bound together by a pin. The shepherd gives the child to king Polybus and queen Merope of Corinth and there Oedipus grows up as their child.
Oedipus is a short-tempered and a rash decision-maker from the beginning. In Corinth, someone tells him that he is not the real son of king Polybus. He asks his parents about it but they refuse to accept it. Then he goes to an oracle and gets to know about his fate. The oracle tells him that it is his fate that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He doesn’t consult his parents about it and makes a decision to leave Corinth to escape his fate which never proves helpful.
On his way to Thebes, he meets a stranger and gets messed up with him. After some arguments between them, Oedipus becomes really angry and in anger he kills that stranger who actually is his real father. When he becomes the king of Thebes, he again proves himself a rash decision-maker. When Teiresias tells him about the prophecy, he disrespects him by calling blind and without thinking anything, he jumps on a decision that Creon is a traitor and he has sent Teiresias to speak against him. So he orders to execute Creon.
Moreover, Oedipus’ pride or hubris also becomes the cause of his tragic downfall. No doubt he solved the riddle of Sphinx and saved many lives but after this, he brags about his achievement every time, saying that he is the king who solved the famous riddle and he will also solve the problem of plague. His pride is also shown when he uses his power to force Teiresias and shepherd to tell the truth and also when he gives the order to execute Creon.
Apart from all his tragic flaws, he proves himself as a great king and the real hero of this play. Firstly he saves Thebes from the sphinx due to his intelligence. When the plague strikes the city, he tells people that he is more worried than all of them and he assures them that he will end this plague. As Creon tells him that the plague is caused because of a person who murdered King Laius and polluted this city, he announces that he will find the criminal and punish him.
When he comes to know about the truth, he could have avoided it because of his power but he fulfils his promise and decides to punish himself as he announced. Jocasta hangs herself and seeing her hanged, Oedipus couldn’t bear it and he hurts himself by hitting his eyes with brooches. He considers himself a sinful person who brought plague in the city and polluted it so he never thought that death could bring justice to what he did so he blinds himself for the rest of his life and leaves.
Oedipus was a powerful person once. He ruled Thebes as a king but at the end of the play, he totally becomes a changed person. He leaves the city of Thebes as a blind and helpless beggar who has lost everything in his life. He finds himself a puppet in the hands of gods and prophets and he has lost everything because of his fate. However, by taking the right decision and bringing justice to king Laius’ murderer, he wins the sympathy of all the people. Though he loses everything in his life, yet he remains the real hero from beginning till the end.
Jocasta
Jocasta is the Queen of Thebes. She got married to King Laius. Terrified by a prophecy, she let her son die on a hillside, proving herself as a heartless mother. She enjoys a good fortune and remains the queen throughout the play. After king Lauis’ death, she gets married to Oedipus and becomes the queen again but in reality, she is the mother of Oedipus and has four kids with him.
She is a caring sister and wife. When Oedipus orders to execute Creon, she begs him to let his brother go. Moreover, when she observes that Oedipus is worried, she investigates what troubles him. She also comforts him by suggesting him not to trust prophets and their prophecies. She also tells Oedipus that he is not the murderer of king Laius because he was killed by some robbers and a shepherd is a witness of it.
She prays for the safety of her husband and also tells him not to worry because it makes her and other people tense to see their king in panic. When she receives the news of king Polybus’ death, she becomes really happy and tells Oedipus that it is another proof that the prophecy of the oracle is not true. Later when things start becoming clear, she fears and begs Oedipus to stop his quest for truth. She doesn’t want to face a terrible truth and tries to stop him but he didn’t agree. She commits suicide at the end because she can’t live with a terrible truth of her life that she married her own son.
Creon
He is the brother of queen Jocasta. He remains in the play till the end. He is the true follower of God Apollo. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus sends him to an oracle at Delphi to ask him the solution of the plague. As he returns, he seems reluctant to tell what the oracle said in front of all the people but the king forces him to speak. He tells everyone that he has come with a solution to end the plague. He tells that the city of Thebes is polluted by a person who is the murderer of their former king, Laius. He tells them that to end the plague, it is necessary to find the murderer and bring justice to king Laius.
Creon remains a loyal friend to Oedipus. He even forgives him when he accuses him of treason and gives the order to execute him. He claims that he never thought of turning against Oedipus. In every decision about the city of Thebes, he shares an equal part as Oedipus and Jocasta. At the end of the play, when Oedipus requests him to let him leave the city, he tells him that they should go to the oracle first but Oedipus doesn’t agree. Creon brings the daughters of Oedipus to meet their father for the last time according to his will and he also promises Oedipus to take care of them after him. Creon becomes the ruler of Thebes after king Oedipus.
Teiresias
He is the blind prophet in the city of Thebes. When the plague strikes the city, king Oedipus calls him to help them in finding the murderer of king Laius. As he arrives, he fears to speak anything and keeps on telling Oedipus not to force him to speak the truth because the truth will only bring pain and nothing else. Oedipus accuses him of killing king Laius because he tries to conceal the truth. Oedipus threatens him and forces him to speak.
Teiresias tells Oedipus that he is the killer of king Laius but Oedipus doesn’t trust him and considers it nonsense. Oedipus also disrespects him and calls him blind. He accuses him of being the partner of Creon, whom Oedipus considered as a traitor, who conspired against him and has paid Teiresias to speak the nonsense. He orders him to leave the palace.
Teiresias then leaves the palace saying his last riddle. He tells that the murderer is in front of them, he is the killer of his father and the husband of his mother, he is the brother of his own children and the son of his own wife, a man who came seeing but will leave this world in blindness. His prophecy proves to be true at the end of the novel when the truth gets revealed in front of everyone and Oedipus blinds himself.
The chorus
A chorus is a group of singers that includes the elder citizens of Thebes. As the play starts, they come to Oedipus along with a priest to request the king to save their city from the plague. They become satisfied as the king assures them that he will save them from the trouble. The chorus plays an important role in the play. They sing choral odes after every scene that helps to connect different scenes of the play. Moreover, their choral odes add to the beauty of the play and entertain the readers.
The chorus also prays to different gods to save their city from the plague. They forbid the king to take any strict decision against Creon and stop him from executing Creon. When the truth starts revealing, they also try to stop the king to stop his search for truth because they also start feeling that something wrong is going to happen. In the end, they lament on the king’s fate and the play ends when the Chorus says, “Count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last”.
Antigone and Ismene
They are the young daughters of Oedipus and Jocasta and hence also the sisters of Oedipus. They only appear at the end of the play when Oedipus wishes to see his daughters for one last time before his banishment. Creon brings them to say goodbye to their father for the last time.
The Messenger from Corinth
He comes from Corinth to deliver the news of King Polybus’ death and he also tells Oedipus that the people of Corinth now want him to be their king. Terrified of the prophecy, Oedipus decides not to go back to Corinth until her mother Merope is alive. The messenger tells him that he needs not to worry about this and he can come back at any time without any fear because Queen Merope is not her real mother and King Laius was not his real father.
Oedipus gets shocked on hearing this news and asks him who told him about this. He tells Oedipus that years ago someone from Thebes gave him a child as a gift and he presented it to the king and queen of Corinth as they had no children of their own. Oedipus further asks him about the person who gave him the child. He tells Oedipus that he was one of Laius’ servants. He also helped Oedipus in recognizing the servant.
The Herdsman
The herdsman is the person who gave the child of king Laius and queen Jocasta to the messenger of Corinth on their orders. He is also the witness of king Laius’ death. Initially, he lied to everyone that king Laius was murdered by some robbers but later when king Oedipus calls him in his palace and forces him to speak the truth, he tells that he witnessed the killer of King Laius and he is Oedipus.
The Priest
The priest comes to the king Oedipus, at the beginning of the play, along with the chorus to request Oedipus to save them from the plague. The priest and his followers also make many sacrifices to the gods to lift the plague from their city.
The Second Messenger
At the end of the play, a servant of Oedipus comes to him. He delivers the news of Jocasta’s death. He tells Oedipus and the chorus that queen Jocasta has hanged herself.
Oedipus Rex Literary Analysis
“Oedipus Rex” is a classical work in which Sophocles has skillfully shown a straightforward interpretation of a Greek myth. Throughout the play, the use of dramatic irony makes this play a great success and masterpiece. The play discusses how fate plays its part in the life of the characters. The main character tries hard to escape his fate but in his effort to run away from it, he actually comes nearer to what gods have decided for him and ends up doing what already was prophecized.
The play also throws light on how the protagonist of the play remains the true hero at the end despite his sinful deeds. The play also allows the readers to think that apart from fate, sometimes it is also the will or any action of the person that becomes the cause of his downfall.
In short, it is a successful play to tell the readers that tragedies are not only part of common people’s life but they do exist in the life of kings and queens too.
Title of the play
The title of the play “Oedipus Rex” or “Oedipus the King” is self-explanatory. Oedipus is the protagonist of this play and as he is the king so the title is in the name of the hero. Moreover, the word “Oedipus” means “swollen feet”. As the feet of Oedipus was swollen because his father bound them together by a pin that is why the shepherd named him “Oedipus”.
Setting of the Play
The entire play “Oedipus Rex” is set in the ancient city of Thebes. More precisely speaking, it is set in front of the king’s palace. As the unity of place is one of the main features of Greek tragedies so, the setting doesn’t change in this play. In the beginning, the city is presented in the grip of severe crisis. Thebes is transformed into a barren land due to a deadly plague.
This play was written in the 5th century also known as “The Golden Age of Ancient Greece”. At that time Greece was at its intellectual and political heights so new literary trends and forms were created. The tragedy is one of the products of that time and “Oedipus Rex” is the best example of it.
Ending of the Play
The end of the play is justified. Oedipus proves himself as a man of action. He blinds himself because whatever he did even unintentionally, he considers it a shameful act and terrible sin so his guilt forces him to hurt himself. Killing his father and marrying his mother was not in his hands and it happened because of the will of gods but blinding himself is totally in his hands and he decides to punish himself like this.
He leaves the city as he himself announced banishment as a punishment for the criminal. Now he wins the hearts of people again and becomes the real hero at the end. Creon treats him gently forgetting about what he did to him and takes the charge of Thebes afterwards.
Writing style
Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy and is very old so it translated into English. Some translations are in the simplified language but some follow its original poetic form. Some of them are in the prose form while some are the combo of both poetic and prose form. Especially the choral odes are written in the metrical form and written to be sung.
Tone
As “Oedipus Rex” is a tragedy so its tone is also tragic. Apart from that, the tone is also sympathetic and everyone feels sympathy for Oedipus. At some points in the play, the ironic and foreboding tone is also used. The foreboding tone in the play gives the readers a sense of evil to come.
Plot Analysis
Initial situation
Oedipus knows that Thebes is in crisis so he sends Creon to get the solution to this problem. He assures people to save them from the deadly plague that struck their city.
Conflict
Oedipus gets worried when no one tells him the truth about Laius’ murder. He struggles to call Teiresias, the messenger and the shepherd to know about the reality. Everyone stops him from knowing the truth but he is desperate to know about his past and its link with the murder of king Laius.
Complication
Oedipus starts realizing that he has some link with the murder of Laius. The more he learns about the truth, the more he shows interest to solve this mystery. As he comes close to the truth, he hurts no one but himself in the entire process.
Climax
Oedipus realizes that he is the man who killed his father and married his mother. He becomes scared of the terrible sin that he committed unknowingly. This part of the play is the emotional and psychological climax of it.
Suspense
Oedipus enters his bedroom and finds Jocasta hanging. Jocasta also realizes the terrible sin that they committed and so she commits suicide. This situation puts all the readers in the suspense because no one knows whether Oedipus will also commit suicide and kill himself or not. As the situation through which Oedipus goes is tough and anyone can be expected to commit suicide in such condition.
Denouement
Oedipus blinds himself by gouging his eyes out with the brooches that he took out from Jocasta’s dress. He accepts his crime and begs everyone to get him exiled from Thebes as he himself suggested that banishment is the only punishment for the murderer.
Conclusion
Oedipus leaves the city of Thebes to save it from the curse of plague as he promised and Creon takes charge of the city.
The three unities in Oedipus Rex
In Greek classical tragedies, three organizing traits were followed which were termed as the three unities. According to Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, these three unities are Unity of action, Unity of place and Unity of time. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles has followed the three unities that is why it is taken as one of the best examples of ancient Greek tragedies.
Unity of Action
The whole play focuses on the single action that is the investigation of king Laius’ murderer. The play has no sub-plots. Moreover, Sophocles didn’t introduce the multiple characters in the play. The drama unfolds the mystery of king Laius’ murderer and is characterized by the tragic downfall of the hero.
Unity of Place
“Oedipus Rex” also follows the unity of action as the whole play occurs at a single place. The play is restricted to a single location that is in front of the king’s palace in the city of Thebes.
Unity of Time
The unity of time is also present in this play as the fall of the hero occurs in the duration of a single day. The blind prophet, Teiresias, also warns Oedipus about it saying, “This day will bring your birth and your destruction”.
Three Act plot analysis
The whole play can be divided into three main acts:
Act I
Oedipus knows that the city is cursed so he sends Creon to an oracle to find out the solution. Creon tells that the only solution to lift the plague is to find the murderer of King Laius and punish him. Oedipus promises people to find the culprit and save them from trouble.
Act II
Oedipus investigates Jocasta, Teiresias, the messenger and the shepherd to know about King Laius’ murderer. Slowly he starts solving the mystery.
Act III
Jocasta and Oedipus realize that they have committed a terrible sin so they punish themselves. Jocasta kills herself by committing suicide while Oedipus blinds himself and is exiled from the city.
Analysis of the Literary Devices used in Oedipus Rex
Dramatic Irony
Several examples of the dramatic irony are present in “Oedipus Rex”. Most of the time, the situation is understood by the readers but not by the characters. The dramatic irony plays an important role to show the character of Oedipus as arrogant and blind towards the truth. The audience is expected to guess Oedipus’ history long before he himself gets to know about it.
One example of the dramatic irony is that throughout the play Oedipus struggles to find the murderer of King Laius but in reality, he himself murdered his father and then he searches for the murderer here and there. The irony here is that he searches for himself.
Moreover, when Oedipus forces Teiresias to tell the truth, he tells him that Oedipus himself is the murderer of king Laius. On hearing this, Oedipus becomes mad and he calls Teiresias blind. Though Teiresias is blind yet he can see the truth clearly. On the other hand, though Oedipus is having eyes yet he is blind towards the truth.
Symbolism
The following symbols are used in the play:
The scars on Oedipus’ feet
When Oedipus was three days old, an oracle told his father, King Laius, that the child will kill his father in the future and then he will marry his mother. King Laius bound his feet by a pin due to which they got swollen and later some scars were left on them. The scars on his feet are symbolic. They symbolize that Oedipus was marked for all the sufferings right from the time of his birth. These scars are also ironic. Although the name of Oedipus clearly points towards his feet, still he fails to discover his true identity.
The Crossroads
Oedipus killed a stranger at a place where three roads met. Unknowingly he killed his father. Sophocles made the point of murder unique. Oedipus’ fate followed him. The three roads actually symbolize the choices that a person has while making any decision. In the play, the three roads symbolize the choice or the path that Oedipus could have taken instead of killing a man just because of his short temperament. The three roads also symbolize the present, past and future. It is said that the Greek Goddess of the crossroads had 3 heads. One head could see the past, one the present and one the future.
Eyes, Vision and Blindness
The eyes and the vision symbolize the knowledge while the blindness symbolizes ignorance but in the play, Teiresias is blind but he can see everything clearly. He has the knowledge and he foresees the future. On the other hand, Oedipus has vision but he still is unable to see anything. He is blind towards the truth and he calls Teiresias blind. Teiresias then replies, “So, you mock my blindness? Let me tell you this, with your precious eyes, you’re blind to the corruption of your life….”