Name: ________________________
Oedipus the King by Sophocles
pp 165-179
1. At the beginning of the play, what problem is facing the city of Thebes?
2. What does Oedipus’s first speech (6-9) suggest about him as a protagonist or hero?
3. What event took place in the past that made Oedipus a hero to the people of Thebes?
4. The Priest states that “Thebes is dying” (31). What events have happened that causes
this “death” (31-37)?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
5. Why do the people think Oedipus can solve the current crisis (44-49)?
6. What action has Oedipus already taken to help solve this crisis?
7. What has Apollo commanded them to do?
8. What event has taken place that has caused the gods’ anger?
9. What happened to this individual?
10. What was the testimony of the one witness (the lone survivor) to this event?
11. Why does Oedipus want to “rid us of this corruption” (157)?
12. What are the details of Oedipus’s proclamation (254-288)?
a.
b.
c.
13. What is ironic about the following lines: “…to force the gods to act against their will/ no man has the power” (319-320)?
14. Who is Tiresias? Who advised Oedipus to seek his advice (322-325)?
15. What does Oedipus reveal to Tiresias as the only way to get “relief from the plague”
(349-351)?
16. What does Tiresias mean when he states, “How terrible – to see the truth/ when the
truth is only pain to him who sees!” (359-360)?
17. Why does Oedipus quickly grow angry on page 175?
18. What is Oedipus’s reaction when Tiresias refuses to give him any information and
states, “So why this…useless interrogation?/ You’ll get nothing from me” (379-380)?
19. What accusation does Oedipus make to Tiresias (393-396)?
20. What is Oedipus’s reaction to the following lines uttered by Tiresias: “You are the
curse, the corruption of the land!” (401)/ “I say you are the murderer you hunt”
(413)?
21. Tiresias states:
You with your precious eyes,
You’re blind to the corruption of your life,
To the house you live in, those you live with –
Who are your parents? Do you know? All knowing
You are the scourge of your own flesh and blood… (470-474)
He concludes this section with the line, “This day will bring your birth and your
destruction” (499). What is Sophocles implying with this section?
Quotes Conclusion Chart
Draw some conclusions about the following quotes. What insights do they give into
characters’ feelings about themselves or other characters? What insights do they
give about fate, freewill, or any other duality? Do these lines depict figurative
language? If so explain. Foreshadowing? How so?
Lines
Conclusions
Oedipus: 7-10
…Here I am myself –
you all know me, the world knows my fame:
I am Oedipus.
Priest: 27-31
…Our city –
look around you, see with your own eyes –
our ship pitches wildly, cannot lift her head
from the depths, the red waves of death…
Thebes is dying.
Oedipus: 70-73
…My children,
I pity you, I see – how could I fail to see
what longings bring you here? Well I know
you are sick to death, all of you,
but sick as you are, no one as sick as I.
Oedipus: 245
You pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers.
Tiresias: 359-360
…How terrible – to see the truth
when the truth is only pain to him who sees!
Tiresias: 469-473
So, you mock my blindness? Let me tell you this.
You with your precious eyes,
you’re blind to the corruption of your life,
to the house you live in, those you live with –
who are your parents? Do you know?
Tiresias: 517
Blind who now has eyes, beggar who now is rich…
pp 181-196
22. What is Creon’s response to Oedipus’s charge that Creon was “scheming to steal my
crown and power!” (26)?
23. Oedipus confronts Creon with further evidence that Tiresias and him are acting in a
conspiracy. What is his argument that is mentioned on page 182 (60-70)?
24. According to pp 183-184, what are Creon’s major points for his defense against
acting in a conspiracy (79-117)?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
25. Oedipus explains to Jocasta the events that led to his quarrel with Creon. What is
Jocasta’s reaction (207-228) when he states that “he sent his prophet in to do his dirty
work” (204-205)?
26. How does Jocasta calm Oedipus’s fears (207-228)?
27. Who is Jocasta describing with the following lines: “He was swarthy,/ and the gray
had just begun to streak his temples,/ and his build… wasn’t far from yours” (246248)?
28. After hearing this description, why does Oedipus state that “I have a terrible fear the
blind seer can see” (251)?
29. What information does Jocasta give Oedipus about the lone survivor that was with
King Laius (260-268)?
30. According to Oedipus on page 189, what happened at the “triple crossroad”?
31. What news does the Messenger bring (453-462)?
a.
b.
32. Oedipus is elated at this news but still fears Merope, the wife of Polybus, because of
the prophecy. The Messenger tries to comfort Oedipus and tells him that he has
“really nothing to fear” (539). Why (541-548)?
33. What does the messenger reveal about how he saved Oedipus (550-564)?
34. Who does the messenger claim would know more about Oedipus’s early childhood
(566-572)?
35. How does Jocasta’s behavior change at this point in the play?
36. Why does Jocasta beg Oedipus to “Stop – in the name of god,/if you love your own
life, call off this search!” (591)?
Quotes Conclusion Chart
Draw some conclusions about the following quotes. What insights do they give into
characters’ feelings about themselves or other characters? What insights do they
give about fate, freewill, or any other duality? Do these lines depict figurative
language? If so explain. Foreshadowing? How so?
Lines
Conclusions
Oedipus: 25-31
I see it all, the marauding thief himself
scheming to steal my crown and power! Tell me,
in god’s name, what did you take me for,
coward or fool, when you spun out your plot?
Your treachery – you think I’d never detect it
creeping against me in the dark? Or sensing it,
not defend myself?
Oedipus: 72
…Learn your fill,
you will never convict me of the murder.
Jocasta: 207-210
…A prophet?
Well then, free yourself of every charge!
Listen to me and learn some peace of mind:
no skill in the world,
nothing human can penetrate the future.
Oedipus: 242
My god, my god – what have you planned to do to me?
Oedipus: 338-343
Wasn’t I born for torment? Look me in the eyes!
I am an abomination – heart and soul!
I must be exiled, and even in exile
never see my parents, never set foot
on native earth again. Else I’m doomed
to couple with my mother and cut my father down…
Jocasta: 497-506
…Fear?
What should a man fear? It’s all chance,
chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth
can see a day ahead, groping through the dark.
Better to live at random, best we can.
And as for this marriage with your mother –
have not fear. Many a man before you,
in his dreams, has shared his mother’s bed.
Take such things for shadows, nothing at all –
Live, Oedipus,
as if there’s no tomorrow!
Oedipus: 614-618
She perhaps, she with her woman’s pride
may well be mortified by my birth,
but I, I count myself the son of Chance,
the great goddess, giver of all good things –
I’ll never see myself disgraced. She is my mother!
pp 200-211
37. On pages 200-202, what information does Oedipus get from the Shepherd?
38. Given this information, why do you think the Shepherd tells the messenger “Damn
you, shut your mouth – quiet!” (46)?
39. How does Jocasta, in the previous Act, foreshadow Oedipus’s actions on page 202?
40. On pp 204-205, what news about Jocasta does the Messenger reveal to the Leader
(151-184)?
41. What information is given to the Leader about Oedipus (170-208)?
42. Why does Oedipus do this?
43. What is Oedipus’s response (259-260) to the Chorus stating, “how could you bear it,
gouging out your eyes?/ What superhuman power drove you on?” (253-254)?
44. Who is now “the sole defense of the country” (339)?
45. What does Oedipus ask of the new king (370-399)?
a.
b.
c.
Quotes Conclusion Chart
Draw some conclusions about the following quotes. What insights do they give into
characters’ feelings about themselves or other characters? What insights do they
give about fate, freewill, or any other duality? Do these lines depict figurative
language? If so explain. Foreshadowing? How so?
Lines
Conclusions
Oedipus: 93-97
…Oh god –
all come true, all burst to light!
O light – now let me look my last on you!
I stand revealed at last –
cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage,
cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands!
Messenger quoting Oedipus:192-196
… “You,
you’ll see no more the pain I suffered, all the pain I
caused!
Too long you looked on the ones you never should have
seen,
blind to the ones you longed to see, to know! Blind
from this hour on! Blind in the darkness – blind!”
Creon: 462-464
Still the king, the master of all things?
No more: here your power ends.
None of your power follows you through life.