Oedipus Rex
| Oedipus the King | |
|---|---|
 Antigone Leads Oedipus out of Thebes by Charles Francois Jalabeat | |
| Written by | Sophocles |
| Chorus | Theban Elders |
| Characters | Oedipus Priest of Apollo Creon Tiresias Jocasta Messenger Herd of Laius |
| Setting | Before the Palace of Oedipus in Thebes |
Oedipus the King (Greek Oἰδίπoυς τύραννoς, "Oedipus Tyrannos"), also known as Oedipus Rex, is a Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles and first performed in 428 BC. The play was the second of Sophocles' three Theban plays to be produced, but comes first in the internal chronology of the plays, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. Many critics, including Aristotle, consider it the greatest tragedy ever written.
Plot
Much of the myth of Oedipus takes place before the opening scene of the play. The main character of the tragedy is Oedipus, son of King Laius of Thebes and Queen Jocasta. After Laius learned from an oracle that "he was doomed/To perish by the hand of his own son," [1], Jocasta ordered a messenger to leave him for dead "In Cithaeron's wooded glens" [2]; Instead, the baby was given to a shepherd and raised in the court of King Polybus of Corinth. When Oedipus grew up he learned from the oracle, Loxias, that he was destined to "Mate with [his] own mother, and shed/ With [his] own hands the blood of [his] own sire," [3] and left Corinth under the belief that Polybus and Merope, Polybus' wife, were his true parents. On the road to Thebes, he met Laius and they argued over which wagon had the right-of-way. Oedipus' pride led him to kill Laius, ignorant of the fact that he was his biological father, fulfilling part of the oracle's prophecy. Oedipus then went on to solve the Sphinx's riddle: "What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?" To this Oedipus answered "Man," causing the Sphinx's death. His reward for freeing the kingdom of Thebes from the Sphinx's curse was kingship and the hand of the queen, Jocasta, who was also his biological mother. Thus, the prophesy was fulfilled. This myth was well-known to the Greeks, which added to the tragedy of the play.
The play begins years after Oedipus is given the throne of Thebes. The chorus of Thebans cries out to Oedipus for salvation from the plague sent by the gods in response to Laius' murder. Throughout the play, Oedipus searches for Laius' murderer and promises to exile the man responsible for it, ignorant of the fact that he is the murderer. The blind prophet, Tiresias, is called to aid Oedipus in his search; however, after warning Oedipus not to follow through with the investigation, Oedipus accuses him of being the murderer, even though Tiresias is blind and aged. Oedipus also accuses Tiresias of conspiring with Creon, Jocasta's brother, to overthrow him.
Oedipus then calls for one of Laius' former servants, the only surviving witness of the murder, who fled the city when Oedipus became king to avoid being the one to reveal the truth. Soon a messenger from Corinth also arrives to inform Oedipus of the death of Polybus, whom Oedipus still believes is his real father. At this point the messenger informs him that he was in fact adopted and his real parentage is unknown. In the subsequent discussions between Oedipus, Jocasta, the servant, and the messenger, Jocasta guesses the truth and runs away. Oedipus is stubborn; however, he eventually learns the truth and attempts to murder Jocasta. A second messenger fills in the details: Jocasta hangs herself before Oedipus reaches her bedroom, and Oedipus, upon discovering her body, blinds himself with the golden brooches on her dress. The play ends with Oedipus entrusting his children to Creon and leaving in exile, as he promised would be the fate of Laius' murderer.
The changing propehcy in 'Oedipus the King'
Because the prophecy that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother is so well known, it is often overlooked that in the Sophocles version of the story the prophecy changes. When Oedipus explains why he left Corinth he says:
Aye, 'tis no secret. Loxias once foretold
That I should mate with mine own mother, and shed
With my own hands the blood of my own sire.
Hence Corinth was for many a year to me
A home distant; and I trove abroad,
But missed the sweetest sight, my parents' face.[4]
However, later in the play, Jocasta relates a prophecy that is significantly different that was told to Laius before the birth of Oedipus :
An oracle
Once came to Laius (I will not say
'Twas from the Delphic god himself, but from
His ministers) declaring he was doomed
To perish by the hand of his own son,
A child that should be born to him by me.[5]
The original prophecy does not say anything about the son marrying the mother. At that point in the tragedy Jocasta claims it was Laius who ordered the child, "its ankles pierced and pinned/Together," to be "cast away/By others on the trackless mountain side" in an effort to avoid the prophecy [6]. However, after the Messenger relates that Oedipus was not the natural son of Polybus and Jocasta realizes the truth and leaves, the Huntsman arrives and tells Oedipus that it was Jocasta and not Laius who gave over the infant to die on the mountain. Because of her attempt to thwart the original prophecy from coming true, the additional element of the son marrying the mother is added. Therefore, the sin of incest is Jocasta's punishment for challenging Fate.
See also
Translations
- Thomas Francklin, 1759 - verse
- Edward H. Plumptre, 1865 - verse: full text
- Richard C. Jebb, 1904 - prose: full text
- Francis Storr, 1912 - verse: full text
- David Grene, 1942 (revised ed. 1991) - verse
- E.F. Watling, 1947
- Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald, 1949 - verse
- Theodore Howard Banks, 1956 - verse
- Albert Cook, 1957 - verse
- Paul Roche, 1958 - verse
- Bernard Knox, 1959 - prose
- H. D. F. Kitto, 1962 - verse
- Stephen Berg and Diskin Clay - verse
- Robert Bagg, 1982 (revised ed. 2004) - verse
- Robert Fagles, 1984 - verse
- Nick Bartel, 1999 - verse: abridged text
- George Theodoridis, 2005 - prose: full text
- Luci Berkowitz and Theodore F. Brunner 1970
Additional references
- Brunner, M. "King Oedipus Retried" Rosenberger & Krausz, London, 2000