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Thebes In Oedipus The King

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Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King is the first play in the Theban trilogy written by the playwright, Sophocles. About 427 B.C.E. in Ancient Greece, the tragedy takes place in the cities of Thebes. King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes have trouble conceiving a child. Laius asks the Oracle of Delphi, the prophetic priestess located at the slopes of Mount Parnassus and soon learns that his future son will murder him and marry his wife. King Laius is the descendant of Cadmus, who is the founder of Thebes while Queen Jocasta is the descendant of Menoeceus who is the descendant of Cadmus. After the birth of their son, they give their child to one of Thebe’s herdsman with orders to tie his feet together and pierce his ankle, wounding the feet then …show more content…

He sends Creon to ask the Oracle of Delphi for help. As told by the Oracle of Delphi, the murderer of the King Laius must be founded, either killed or exiled (in other versions). He tells King Oedipus and suggests he should call Tiresias, a blind old priest of Apollo, famous for being a seer. At first, Tiresias does not want to expose the truth to King Oedipus. He threatens him then Tiresias finally tells him that he is the murderer of King Laius. King Oedipus does not want to believe Tiresias and thinks he and Creon were against him. Queen Jocasta confirms that robbers killed King Laius where the three roads meet. King Oedipus recalls a similar event that perfectly describes that situation. He sends the only survivor of the attack to find out the truth. Meanwhile, a messenger informs King Oedipus that King Polybus died, making the prophecy false. The herdsman who delivered him as a baby to Corinth appears to tell Oedipus that he is an adopted baby of King Polybus and Queen Merope. As Queen Jocasta remembered the prophecy that made her abandon her son, the whole scenario fits together. Finally, the survivor shows up to tell King Oedipus that he is the killer of his own father. In other versions, the survivor is the same person who brought him to the mountainside when he was an infant. With the truth piercing through him at once, he also finds out that Queen Jocasta committed suicide

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The city of Thebes had come down with a plaque of sorts and elders were convinced it was brought on by the curse of the previous king, who was murdered. Oedipus, the Hero-King, summons the blind prophet Tiresias for guidance on how to relieve Thebes from the plaque. As the profit attempts to elude the kings questions, for fear of being killed himself, he finally unveils the murderer was Oedipus himself.

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He and his family all remained happy in their ignorance of the truth until the plague struck Thebes. The people infer that the God Apollo is punishing the people for not finding the murderer of Laius. Oedipus, as the great ruler he may be, promises to discover the killer and dispel the plague. People try to tell him that it would be better if the past was left alone. But the king was not reluctant and continued.

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Therefore, he will have to punish himself as he promised the people of the town. When Oedipus learns that he is the one who killed Laius, he is angry and unaccepting. He turns to blame the person closest to him, Creon, but, Tiresias says, “Creon is not your enemy. You are your own” (Episode 1).

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This is illustrated through Oedipus’ blindness throughout the play. Oedipus is angered by the accusations that he killed King Laius. Instead of confronting the problem and rationally coming to the truth, he lashes out in

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We learn later on that Oedipus killed Laius, but he did not know it was the king. We also find out later that the prophesy was fulfilled because Oedipus killed his father, King Laius, and slept with

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"Speak to us all. I bear the pain of everyone, not merely my own" (Sophocles 93-94). From this point, Oedipus was able to summon certain people of importance that would lead to solving who killed Laius, and as well bring out the information in which ones were trying to hold back. Teiresias, a blind man who can see all, spoke great words that brought out the fact that Oedipus was the killer. "I repeat that you yourself are the murderer you seek" (Sophocles 361).

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In Oedipus The King by Sophocles the horrible events that transpired were influenced by the characters. However, the main cause was ultimately the gods. Sophocles wrote this play around 429 BC in Athens, Greece and was one of the most celebrated playwrights of the era. The play centers around a royal family and the hidden horrors of their relations to each other with Oedipus having unwittingly killed his own father and married his mother. Without the gods there would be no horror and the land would

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After receiving news that King Polybus, the alleged father of Oedipus, had passed from old age, Queen Jocasta was relieved for Oedipus was clear of any harm or guilt. 9. The Messenger tells Oedipus that Polybus is not his real father, he was adopted. He goes on to say that a man handed over baby Oedipus. Queen Jocasta gets upset because the story sounds oddly familiar.

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Oedipus has overlooked the divine sight that Tiresias withholds and denies that Tiresias is the hand of Apollo. The arrogance that Oedipus is presenting after Tiresias has accused him as the murder, furthermore the king is struck back in the belief, ‘“It is – excepting you; for you are blinding your ears and eyes and brains and everything”’

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Sophocles does not provide background information as it would have been common knowledge. Prior to the opening of Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus has left his home and adoptive parents in Corinth in an attempt to escape a prophecy which declares that Oedipus will murder his father and marry his mother. Not knowing that his true parents are Jocasta and Laius, King and Queen of Thebes, Oedipus makes his way towards their city. Along the way, he kills a man travelling with a group who are later revealed to be Laius and his subjects. Oedipus continues and arrives at the Sphinx who has terrorized Thebes until someone solves her riddle.

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Introduction The story of Oedipus the king is gloomy, yet captivating. Going from a child bond around the feet and abandon by the mountainside, to marrying his mother, his story is intriguing. In search of the truth about the prophecy and putting an end to a plague Oedipus, search for king Laius’s killer, did somethings inadvertently, making him a tragic hero. His search for truth in the death of Laius the king, as well as his birth led to the ultimate destruction and downfall of his life.

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Oedipus the King is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who kills his father and marries his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would murder him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, had a son, he exposed the baby by first pinning his ankles together. The infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife was then brought up as their very own.

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The Queen, Jacosta, Oedipus’ wife tells him not to believe in the prophet, because they’ve been wrong before, she then tells Oedipus about how she and King Laius had a son who was prophesied to kill Laius and sleep with her but since the child was supposedly dead the prophecy couldn’t be true. Oedipus becomes a bit weary because as a child an old man told him he was adopted and that one day he’d kill his real father and sleep with his mother, Oedipus did also kill a man at a crossroads which sounded like the way Laius died. Oedipus continued questioning the messenger and found out that he was the man everyone spoke of and Jacosta then comes to the realization that Oedipus is her son and kills herself.

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The quarrel of Oedipus and Creon brings Jocasta from the house. Jocasta tells story of the murder of Laius. When she mentions that he was killed “at a place where three roads meet,” Oedipus begins to suspect himself that has killed the king without knowing his identity. To settle the matter, they send for the Herdsman who is the only survivor of

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