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Oedipus Rex: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Oedipus Rex
Scholars debate the exact year Sophocles first staged Oedipus Rex, though some point to a devastating plague that struck Athens in 430 BC. The play opens with a city choking on disease, and this detail suggests a connection to real historical suffering. If the performance occurred shortly after 430 BC, the audience would have felt the weight of the story differently than modern viewers. Ancient Greeks called the work simply Oedipus, without the later addition of Tyrannus. Aristotle referenced it as Oedipus in his Poetics, noting its structural perfection. The title change likely happened to distinguish it from a later play by the same author. In antiquity, the word tyrant did not carry the negative connotation we use today. It described any ruler lacking legitimate claim to power. The trilogy containing this play took second prize at the City Dionysia competition. Aeschylus's nephew Philocles won first place that year.
Laius And The Oracle
Before the play begins, Laius violated sacred laws of hospitality while visiting Pelops. He kidnapped Chrysippus, the youngest son of the king of Elis, and raped him. Apollo cursed Laius for this crime, setting the stage for future tragedy. When Laius eventually had a son, he consulted an oracle about the child's fate. The prophecy stated that Laius would perish by the hand of his own son. Laius bound the infant's feet together with a pin and ordered Jocasta to kill the baby. She could not bring herself to do it and instead instructed a servant to expose the child on a mountaintop. The servant felt pity and gave the infant to a shepherd who unbound the ankles. The shepherd named the boy Oedipus, meaning swollen foot. This child grew up in Corinth as the adopted son of King Polybus and Queen Merope. As a young man, Oedipus heard rumors questioning his parentage. He traveled to Delphi to ask the oracle who his real parents were. The oracle ignored his question and told him he was destined to mate with his own mother and shed blood with his own hands. Desperate to avoid this fate, Oedipus left Corinth forever.
Scholars debate the exact year, though some point to a devastating plague that struck Athens in 430 BC. The play opens with a city choking on disease, suggesting a connection to real historical suffering.
What is the original title of Oedipus Rex used by ancient Greeks?
Ancient Greeks called the work simply Oedipus without the later addition of Tyrannus. Aristotle referenced it as Oedipus in his Poetics noting its structural perfection.
How did Oedipus kill Laius at the fork in the road?
Oedipus encountered an old man driving a chariot who struck him with a scepter so he threw him down from the carriage and killed him. This man turned out to be Laius the true father of Oedipus fulfilling the prophecy about patricide.
Why did Jocasta hang herself after learning the truth about Oedipus?
Jocasta realized the truth when the shepherd admitted that the child he gave away was Laius's own son. She ran into the palace and hanged herself in her bedchamber upon hearing the confession.
What prize did the trilogy containing Oedipus Rex win at the City Dionysia competition?
The trilogy containing this play took second prize at the City Dionysia competition. Aeschylus's nephew Philocles won first place that year.
On the road to Thebes, Oedipus encountered an old man driving a chariot with servants. They argued over whose vehicle had the right of way at a fork in the road. The old man struck the youth with his scepter, so Oedipus threw him down from the carriage and killed him. This man turned out to be Laius, the true father of Oedipus. The prophecy about patricide was fulfilled without Oedipus knowing the identity of his victim. Arriving at Thebes, Oedipus found the city under siege by the Sphinx. This beast had the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lioness, and wings of an eagle. It devoured travelers one by one if they could not solve its riddle. The riddle asked what creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening. Oedipus answered correctly that the answer is man. He explained how humans crawl as infants, walk upright as adults, and use sticks in old age. The Sphinx threw herself from a cliff upon being bested. Oedipus received kingship over Thebes and married Jocasta, the dowager queen. Neither character realized that Jocasta was Oedipus's biological mother.
Investigation And Revelation
A plague ravaged Thebes when the play opens, prompting King Oedipus to send Creon to Delphi for advice. Creon returned with news that religious pollution caused the sickness because the murderer of Laius remained unpunished. Oedipus vowed to find the killer and cursed him for causing the suffering. He summoned the blind prophet Tiresias for help. Tiresias admitted knowing the answers but refused to speak, telling Oedipus to abandon his search. Angered, Oedipus accused the seer of complicity in Laius's murder. Tiresias then revealed that Oedipus himself was the criminal he sought. The king could not believe this and suspected Creon had paid the prophet. Jocasta entered and tried to comfort Oedipus by recounting an oracle given to Laius that never came true. She claimed Laius died at a fork in the road called triplais amaxitois, killed by bandits rather than his own son. Hearing the location made Oedipus pause and ask for details. Jocasta specified the branch leading to Daulis on the way to Delphi. Oedipus sent for the only surviving witness of the attack, a shepherd from the palace fields.
Shepherd And Tragedy
A messenger arrived from Corinth announcing that Polybus, who raised Oedipus as his son, had died. Oedipus felt relief because he could no longer kill his father, disproving half the prophecy. However, he still feared committing incest with his mother. The messenger explained that Merope was not his real mother. Years earlier, while tending flocks on Mount Cithaeron, a shepherd from Laius's household gave him an infant to dispose of. The messenger had passed the child to Polybus, who raised him. Oedipus asked if anyone knew the identity of the other shepherd. They confirmed it was the same man who witnessed Laius's murder. Jocasta realized the truth and begged Oedipus to stop asking questions. When he refused, she ran into the palace. The shepherd finally admitted that the child he gave away was Laius's own son. In fear of a prophecy that the child would kill his father, Jocasta ordered her son exposed upon the mountainside. Everything was revealed when the shepherd confessed. Jocasta hanged herself in her bedchamber. Oedipus entered the palace in anguish and found the lifeless queen. He removed the long gold pins from her dress and gouged out his own eyes in despair.
Aristotle And Legacy
Aristotle referenced Oedipus Rex multiple times in his Poetics as the tragedy that best matched his prescriptions for drama. Richard Claverhouse Jebb claimed the play is the masterpiece of Attic tragedy with no equal in plot development. Cedric Whitman regarded it as the fullest expression of tragedy revealing the evil lot of man. Edith Hall called it definitive tragedy where Sophocles' characterization lends credibility to breathtaking coincidences. H.D.F. Kitto argued that the perfection of form implies a world order beyond human comprehension. The science revolution attributed to Thales gained political force during this era. The play offered a warning to new thinkers facing undeserved suffering through no fault of their own. Kitto interpreted the work as Sophocles' retort to sophists who denied moral laws despite incomprehensible events. Modern critics widely regard Oedipus Rex as one of the greatest plays ever written. Michael Billington included it in his list of 101 greatest plays. The trilogy took second prize at the City Dionysia, losing to Philocles but gaining enduring acclaim.
Freud And Complexes
Sigmund Freud wrote a notable passage about Oedipus's destiny in Interpretation of Dreams regarding the Oedipus complex. He analyzed why this ancient Greek play remains effective for modern audiences. His destiny moves us only because it might have been ours, according to Freud. The oracle laid the same curse upon us before our birth as upon him. It is perhaps the fate of all humans to direct first sexual impulses toward mothers and first hatred toward fathers. Freud indicated that primordial urges exist not primarily in Sophocles' play but in the myth itself. He called Oedipus Rex a further modification of the legend originating from misconceived secondary revision. Cynthia Chase explained the story as psychoanalysis related to riddles and uncovering truth. The play explores how individuals face suffering through no fault of their own yet remain bound by prophecy. Free will and predestination coexist within the narrative structure without contradiction. Readers often view Oedipus as a puppet controlled by greater forces rather than an agent making choices.