Name _____________________________
Date __________________ MBCC Lit. 12
Oedipus the King / Oedipus Rex: Comprehension / Recall Questions
DIRECTIONS: The following questions are in chronological order. Answer them in complete
sentences in your notebook or on a separate sheet of paper. Use specific details from the
text to support your answers.
1. In the beginning of the play, why have the priests come to the alter at Thebes?
2. Explain how Oedipus once liberated Thebes.
3. According to Creon, what will cure the plague on Thebes?
4. Who are the members of the chorus supposed to represent?
5. Write a summary for pages 4-6.
6. Why has Oedipus sent for Tiresias?
7. What accusation does Tiresias make?
8. What predictions does Tiresias make? Be specific.
9. Write a summary for pages 11-17.
10. What does Oedipus suspect Creon of?
11. According to Creon, why is Oedipus wrong? Be specific.
12. What is Jocasta’s “proof” that humans cannot predict the future?
13. What information does Jocasta relay to Oedipus that disturbs him?
14. What happened to the slave who witnessed the murder of Laius?
15. Who were Polybus and Merope?
16. What did the drunken man tell Oedipus?
17. Why did Oedipus run away from home?
18. Why did Oedipus kill the travelers?
19. What news does the messenger from Corinth bring?
20. How did the messenger know that Polybus was not Oedipus’ father?
21. How did Oedipus get his name?
22. What convinces Jocasta that the prophecy turned out to be true?
23. What advice does Jocasta give about trying to solve the mystery of his birth?
24. How does Oedipus get the shepherd to tell him what he wants to know?
25. Why didn’t the shepherd kill the baby?
26. What happens to Jocasta? Be specific.
27. What happens to Oedipus? Be specific.
Oedipus the King / Oedipus Rex
Understanding the play - Comprehension Questions
ANSWER KEY
1. In the beginning of the play, why have the priests come to the alter at Thebes?
a. To ask for relief from the plague; to ask Oedipus to save Thebes.
2. Explain how Oedipus once liberated Thebes.
a. He answered the riddle of the Sphinx, releasing Thebes from her spell.
3. According to Creon, what will cure the plague on Thebes?
a. The atonement of Laius’ murder; for the killer to be punished.
4. Who are the members of the chorus supposed to represent?
a. The people of Thebes.
5. Why has Oedipus sent for Tiresias?
a. Oedipus seeks Laius’ killer; Tiresias is a prophet and knows the truth.
6. What accusation does Tiresias make?
a. That Oedipus is the killer and that he is “living is shameful intimacy.”
7. What predictions does Tiresias make? Be specific.
a. “This present day will give you birth and death.” The killer will become blind, a
beggar, will make his way to foreign soil, be the brother and father of his children,
the son and husband of his mother and the murderer and son of his father.
8. What does Oedipus suspect Creon of?
a. Conspiracy with Tiresias in order to gain control of the throne.
9. According to Creon, why is Oedipus wrong? Be specific.
a. Creon has equal power with Oedipus, but has not as much pressure as a leader. He
does not wish to be king as he has what he wants as brother-in-law to the king.
10. What is Jocasta’s “proof” that humans cannot predict the future?
a. She tells Oedipus the story of her son with Laius. How there was a prophecy that
the son would kill him (Laius) and how Laius cast the baby out to die. Therefore,
Laius could not have been killed by his own son, and prophecies are false.
11. What information does Jocasta relay to Oedipus that disturbs him?
a. That Laius was killed at the intersection of three highways and the location of this
intersection.
12. What happened to the slave who witnessed the murder of Laius?
a. Upon seeing Oedipus in power, he begged to be sent away to work in the country.
“Understanding the play - Comprehension Questions”, continued
13. Who were Polybus and Merope?
a. Oedipus’ parents.
14. What did the drunken man tell Oedipus?
a. He was not the true son of his father.
15. Why did Oedipus run away from home?
a. He visited the Oracle at Delphi and was told he would kill his father and marry his
mother.
16. Why did Oedipus kill the travelers?
a. The driver of the horse-drawn wagon tried to run him off of the road – he had road
rage.
17. What news does the messenger from Corinth bring?
a. Polybus, Oedipus’ father, has died.
18. How did the messenger know that Polybus was not Oedipus’ father?
a. The messenger gave Oedipus the baby to Polybus after finding him on the country
side.
19. How did Oedipus get his name?
a. His name means “swollen foot” and his feet had been bound together as a baby.
20. What convinces Jocasta that the prophecy turned out to be true?
a. She hears the messenger tell of finding Oedipus with his ankles bound.
21. What advice does Jocasta give Oedipus about trying to solve the mystery of his birth?
a. Not to seek the truth – she begs him to drop the subject.
22. How does Oedipus get the shepherd to tell him what he wants to know?
a. He threatens to physically torture him.
23. Why didn’t the shepherd kill the baby?
a. He thought he would be safe by taking it away to “a foreign country.”
24. What happens to Jocasta? Be specific.
a. She commits suicide by hanging herself.
25. What happens to Oedipus? Be specific.
a. He stabs himself blind with the golden pins of Jocasta’s dress. He also requests to
be thrown out of Thebes.