Name_______________________________________
Class_______________________________________
Date____________________________
OEDIPUS REX READING GUIDE QUESTIONS
ACT I
1. How does Oedipus characterize himself?
2. What is his attitude toward the suppliants?
3. What conditions in Thebes does the Priest describe?
4. How do the suppliants view Oedipus?
5. What request does the Priest make of Oedipus?
6. What step has Oedipus already taken to deal with the problem?
7. According to Creon, what did Apollo say must be done in order to cure Thebes of its pollution?
8. According to Creon what were the circumstances of Laius's death?
9. What motive does Oedipus assign to the killer of Laius?
10. What is Oedipus resolved to do?
11. What is the reaction of the Chorus to the advice of Apollo to Thebes?
12. What conditions in Thebes does the Chorus describe?
13. What is Tiresias’ reaction to Oedipus's request for help?
14. How does Oedipus view Tiresias’ behavior?
15. What does Tiresias reveal to Oedipus as a result of the king's angry accusation?
16. Note the emphasis on sight and blindness in the dialogue between Oedipus and Tiresias. What irony is implicit in this emphasis?
17. What suspicion does Oedipus begin to harbor about Creon?
18. What superiority does Oedipus claim over Tiresias?
19. Note the frequent equation of physical sight with knowledge throughout this scene and the rest of the play. What is the irony of this
equation?
20. What does Tiresias predict will happen to Oedipus?
21. What is the Chorus's view of Tiresias’ accusations against Oedipus?
22. Create a “say, mean, matter” chart. Choose a significant quote from this Act, and copy it in the “say” column. Tell what the quote
means in the “mean” column.” Then write why the quote matters (in 4-5 sentences) to bigger ideas in the play in the “matter” column.
ACT II
1. What motivates Creon's entrance at the beginning of this episode?
2. Why does Oedipus accuse Creon of conspiracy?
3. How does Creon defend himself against Oedipus's accusation?
4. What does Oedipus threaten to do?
5. What does Jocasta attempt to do? Is she successful?
6. How does Jocasta try to assure Oedipus that he not guilty of Laius' death?
7. What is Jocasta's view of prophecy?
8. Why is Oedipus frightened by the information given by Jocasta?
9. What happened to the one surviving witness to the killing of Laius?
10. Why did Oedipus go to the Oracle at Delphi and what was he told there?
11. Where did Oedipus arrive as a result of this information?
12. What happened at this place?
13. What does Oedipus fear?
14. What detail in Jocasta's story of Laius's death does Oedipus take comfort in?
15. How does Jocasta try to reassure Oedipus?
16. What request does Oedipus make?
17. What wish does the Chorus express in the first stanza?
18. In the beginning of the second stanza the Chorus says that hubris’ 'arrogant disregard for the rights of others' produces the tyrant,
without a doubt referring to Oedipus. In your opinion is Oedipus a tyrannical ruler? Is he guilty of hubris? Why?
19. Create a “say, mean, matter” chart. Choose a significant quote from this Act, and copy it in the “say” column. Tell what the quote
means in the “mean” column.” Then write why the quote matters (in 4-5 sentences) to bigger ideas in the play in the “matter” column.
ACT III
1. Jocasta appears at the beginning of this scene alone on stage. What prayer does she make and to whom?
2. After her prayer a Messenger arrives. What news does he deliver to Oedipus?
3. What is Oedipus's reaction to this news?
4. What is Jocasta's reaction?
5. What further information does the Messenger give to Oedipus?
6. Whom does the Chorus identify as the herdsman mentioned by the Messenger?
7. Why does Jocasta ask Oedipus not to seek out the herdsman and then leave?
8. How does Oedipus interpret Jocasta's emotional behavior?
9. What is Oedipus's view of the role of Chance (sometimes translated as 'Fortune') in his life?
10. Why do you agree/disagree with Oedipus?
11. Explain the irony of the arrival of the Messenger occurring just after Jocasta's prayer. Is the Messenger's news really the good
news he thinks it is?
12. In the first stanza the Chorus addresses the mountain Cithaeron on which Oedipus was exposed as a baby. In the second stanza
the Chorus addresses Oedipus and speculates about the identity of his parents. Whom do they suggest as possible parents?
13. By whom had the Herdsman been employed?
14. Why is the Herdsman reluctant to answer the questions of Oedipus and the Messenger?
15. What revelation does the Herdsman make?
16. What general comment on human life does the Chorus make based on the example of Oedipus?
17. Summarize briefly the account of Oedipus's life given by the Chorus in the next two stanzas.
18. What horrible fact with regard to Oedipus's marriage does the Chorus point out?
19. What news does the Second Messenger announce?
20. What is the symbolic significance of Oedipus's self-blinding?
21. What does Oedipus intend to do? Why?
22. Oedipus joins in song with the Chorus, lamenting his fate. Whom does Oedipus blame for his sorrows?
23. What reasons does Oedipus give for his self-blinding?
24. How does Oedipus feel about Creon at this point?
25. What requests does Oedipus make of Creon?
26. What future does Oedipus foresee for his two daughters?
27. What important truth about his life does Creon point out to Oedipus?
28. What general lesson does the Chorus draw from the example of Oedipus's life?
29. Create a “say, mean, matter” chart. Choose a significant quote from this Act, and copy it in the “say” column. Tell what the quote
means in the “mean” column.” Then write why the quote matters (in 4-5 sentences) to bigger ideas in the play in the “matter” column.
Oedipus Rex – Additional Questions to Consider
1. Analyze the dramatic irony in Oedipus’s claim that “the cause of Laius therefore is my own.”
2. The chorus advises Oedipus to seek out the blind prophet Tiresias, who is “our source of light.” Analyze Sophocles’ use of
symbolism here.
3. Oedipus compels Tiresias to “save your- self, the city, and save me” by sharing his prophesies. Can the truth “save” Oedipus? Or
will it serve to seal his fate? Discuss.
4. Tiresias accuses Oedipus of being “your own worst enemy.” Is this an accurate statement? What would you consider to be
Oedipus’s tragic flaw? Provide evidence from the play.
5. Oedipus freely chose to leave Corinth and pursue a journey that led to the three crossroads. Was the murder he committed there an
act of free will or fate?
6. Mistakenly believing they have escaped fate, Jocasta vows to “never change my look from left to right to suit a prophecy.” How has
her attitude towards the gods shifted?
7. Why does Jocasta leave after Oedipus refuses to end his line of questioning? Is she justified in her abandonment?
8. What is symbolic about the way Oedipus chooses to mutilate himself?
9. How is Mount Cithaeron an appropriate location for Oedipus’s desired exile?
10. Oedipus entreats his daughters to “abide in modesty.” What does this advice reveal about the king at the play’s end?