Highland Park High School English Department
Text Rationale for
Title of Work Oedipus Rex
Author Sophocles
Copyright date 1991
Rationale (including age/ability appropriateness and how text fits into the course’s philosophy and
enduring understanding):
Text proposed for continued use in the English IV:
Oedipus the King, also known by its Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was
first performed about 429 BC. It was the second in order of Sophocles' composition of his three plays dealing
with Oedipus. Thematically, it was the first in the trilogy's historical chronology, followed by Oedipus at
Colonus and then Antigone. Oedipus the King tells the story of Oedipus, a man who becomes the king of
Thebes, whilst in the process unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would kill his father Laius and marry his
mother Jocasta. The play is a classic example of a Greek tragedy, notably containing an emphasis upon how
Oedipus's own faults contribute to his downfall. Over the centuries, Oedipus the King has come to be regarded
by many as the foremost Greek tragedy.
Summary:
When Thebes is struck by a plague, the people ask King Oedipus to deliver them from its horrors. Creon, the
brother of Jocasta, Oedipus’s queen, returns from the oracle of Apollo and discloses that the plague is
punishment for the murder of King Laius, Oedipus’s immediate predecessor, to whom Jocasta was married.
Creon further discloses that the citizens of Thebes need to discover and punish the murderer before the plague
can be lifted. The people mourn their dead, and Oedipus advises them, in their own interest, to search out and
apprehend the murderer of Laius.
Asked to help find the murderer, Teiresias, the ancient, blind seer of Thebes, tells Oedipus that it would be
better for all if he does not tell what he knows. He says that coming events will reveal themselves. Oedipus
rages at the seer’s reluctance to tell the secret until he goads the old man to reveal that Oedipus is the one
responsible for Thebes’s afflictions because he is the murderer, and that he is living in intimacy with his
nearest kin. Oedipus accuses the old man of being in league with Creon, whom he suspects of plotting against
his throne, but Teiresias answers that Oedipus will be ashamed and horrified when he learns the truth about his
true parentage. Oedipus defies the seer, saying he will welcome the truth as long as it frees his kingdom from
the plague. Oedipus threatens Creon with death, but Jocasta and the people advise him against doing violence
on the strength of rumor or momentary passion. Oedipus yields, but he banishes Creon.
Jocasta, grieved by the enmity between her brother and Oedipus, tells her husband that an oracle informed
King Laius that he would be killed by his own child, the offspring of Laius and Jocasta. Jocasta assures
Oedipus that this could not happen because the child was abandoned on a deserted mountainside soon after
birth. When Oedipus hears further that Laius was killed by robbers at the meeting place of three roads and that
the three roads met in Phocis, he is deeply disturbed and begins to suspect that he is, after all, the murderer. He
hesitates to reveal his suspicion, but he becomes more and more convinced of his own guilt.
Oedipus tells Jocasta that he believed himself to be the son of Polybus of Corinth and Merope until a drunken
man on one occasion announced that the young Oedipus was not really Polybus’s son. Disturbed, Oedipus
consulted the oracle of Apollo, who told him he would sire children by his own mother and that he would kill
his own father. After he left Corinth, at a meeting place of three roads, Oedipus was offended by a man in a
chariot. He killed the man and all of his servants but one. From there he went on to Thebes, where he became
the new king by answering the riddle of the Sphinx. The riddle asked what went on all fours before noon, on
two legs at noon, and on three legs after noon. Oedipus answered, correctly, that human beings walk on all
fours as an infant, on two legs in their prime, and with the aid of a stick in their old age. With the kingship, he
also won the hand of Jocasta, King Laius’s queen.
Oedipus summons the servant who reported King Laius’s death, but he awaits his arrival fearfully. Jocasta
assures her husband that the entire matter is of no great consequence, that surely the prophecies of the oracles
will not come true.
A messenger from Corinth announces that King Polybus is dead and that Oedipus is his successor. Polybus
died of natural causes, so Oedipus and Jocasta are relieved for the time being. Oedipus tells the messenger he
will not go to Corinth for fear of siring children by his mother, Merope.
The messenger goes on to reveal that Oedipus is not the son of Polybus and Merope but a foundling whom the
messenger, at that time a shepherd, took to Polybus. The messenger relates how he received the baby from
another shepherd, who was a servant of the house of King Laius. At that point Jocasta realizes the dreadful
truth. She does not wish to see the old servant who was summoned, but Oedipus desires clarity regardless of
the cost. He again calls for the servant. When the servant appears, the messenger recognizes him as the
herdsman from whom he received the child years earlier. The old servant confesses that King Laius ordered
him to destroy the boy but that out of pity he gave the infant to the Corinthian to raise as his foster son.
Oedipus, now all but mad from the realization of what he did, enters the palace and discovers that Jocasta
hanged herself by her hair. He removes her golden brooches and with them puts out his eyes so that he will not
be able to see the results of the horrible prophecy. Then, blind and bloody and miserable, he displays himself
to the Thebans and announces himself as the murderer of their king and the defiler of his own mother’s bed.
He curses the herdsman who saved him from death years before.
Creon, returning, orders the attendants to lead Oedipus back into the palace. Oedipus asks Creon to have him
conducted out of Thebes where no man will ever see him again. He also asks Creon to give Jocasta a proper
burial and to see that the sons and daughters of the unnatural marriage should be cared for and not be allowed
to live poor and unmarried because of the shame attached to their parentage. Creon leads the wretched Oedipus
away to his exile of blindness and torment.
Oedipus Rex is the archetype of a Greek tragedy. Although the word tragedy is often used loosely to describe
any sort of disaster or misfortune, it more precisely refers to a work of art that probes with high seriousness
questions concerning the role of man in the universe. Tragedy stresses the vulnerability of human beings
whose suffering is brought on by a combination of human and divine actions, but is generally undeserved with
regard to its harshness. This genre, however, is not totally pessimistic in its outlook. Although many tragedies
end in misery for the characters, there are also tragedies in which a satisfactory solution of the tragic situation
is attained.
Benefit to Students:
Students will explore the following issues:
Tragedy is inevitable and is part of the human condition.
Students will grapple with the guiding questions:
1.
At what point does steadfastness and perseverence become mere obstinancy?
2. What role does hubris play in a leader’s downfall?
3.
4.
5.
Is man’s future dependent upon fate or free will?
To what extent does the search for the truth become destructive?
How does a good leader avoid the possibility of tyrannical rule?
Themes Addressed:
Fate is evident in Oedipus in the forms of oracles, prophets, and Greek gods.
An oracle is one that gives messages that are obscure and ambiguous.
Prophets are revered peoples that predict and gives clues about the future.
Greek Gods are mythological beings that Greeks would look up to and offer supplements to. They would
dictate daily events as people’s lives revolved around their being.
Both a symbol and a theme, vision is used to represent knowledge and insight.
Oedipus is originally known for his clear sightedness for solving the Sphinx’s riddle.
He is truly blind to the truth that his life is a lie.
Blinds himself in hopes to not accept the shame and truth on the people of Thebes faces.
Apollo’s connection in this theme is that Apollo is the god of light.
Oedipus’s ankles were pinned together as he was abandoned in a mountain top.
The prophecy coming true of Oedipus slaying his father and sleeping with his mother.
Oedipus gouges out his eyes.
Oedipus and his daughters being exiled from the city of Thebes.
Crossroads symbolize a crucial decision where each path results in different outcomes.
At the actual crossroads in the story, Oedipus is faced with a decision of whether to kill or obey Laius.
Crossroads symbolize fate and the power of prophecy rather than freedom/choice.
Brief description of proposed classroom activities generated by text:
Literature Circle discussions
Analytical writing assessment
Read aloud
Dramatic interpretation
Guided annotation
List of the TEKS/STAAR/HPISD curricular objectives the proposed text supports
TEKS: 2) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make inferences and
draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and
provide evidence from text to support understanding. Students are expected to: A) compare and contrast works
of literature that express a universal theme;
(5) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw
conclusions about structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support understanding.
Students are expected to: (A) analyze how complex plot structures (e.g., subplots) and devices (e.g.,
foreshadowing, flashbacks, suspense) function and advance the action in a work of fiction; (B) analyze moral
dilemmas and quandaries presented in works of fiction as revealed by underlying motivations and behaviors of
characters;
(7) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. Students understand, make inferences and
draw conclusions about how an author's sensory language creates imagery in literary text and provide evidence
from text to support understanding. Students are expected to analyze how the author's patterns of imagery,
literary allusions, and conceits reveal theme, set
(2) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make inferences and draw
conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide
evidence from text to support understanding. Students are expected to: (A) compare and contrast works of
literature that express a universal theme;
(5) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw
conclusions about structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support understanding.
Students are expected to: (A) analyze how complex plot structures (e.g., subplots) and devices (e.g.,
foreshadowing, flashbacks, suspense) function and advance action in a work of fiction; (B) analyze the moral
dilemmas and quandaries presented in works of fiction as revealed by underlying motivations and behaviors of
characters;
(7) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. Students understand, make inferences and
draw conclusions about how an author's sensory language creates imagery in literary text and provide evidence
from text to support understanding. Students are expected to analyze how the author's patterns of imagery,
perspectives while anticipating and refuting counter-arguments; (D) uses a style manual (e.g., Modern
Language Association, Chicago Manual of Style) to document sources and format written materials; and (E) is
of sufficient length and complexity to address the topic.
(25) Listening and Speaking/Speaking. Students speak clearly and to the point, using conventions of language.
Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to formulate
sound arguments by using elements of classical speeches (e.g., introduction, first and second transitions, body,
and conclusion), the art of persuasion, rhetorical devices, eye contact, speaking rate (e.g., pauses for effect),
volume, enunciation, purposeful gestures, and conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively tone,
and create meaning in metaphors, passages, and literary works
(8) Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Culture and History. Students analyze, make inferences and
draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide
evidence from text to support (understanding. Students are expected to analyze consistency and clarity of
expression of the controlling idea and ways in which organizational and rhetorical patterns of text support or
confound the author's meaning or purpose.
(12) Reading/Media Literacy. Students use comprehension skills to analyze how words, images, graphics, and
sounds work together in various forms to impact meaning. Students will continue to apply earlier standards
with greater depth in increasingly more complex texts. Students are expected to: (C) evaluate how one issue or
event is represented across various media to understand notions of bias, audience, and purpose;
(13) Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising,
editing, and publishing) to compose text. Students are expected to: (A) plan a first draft by selecting correct
genre for conveying intended meaning to multiple audiences, determining appropriate topics through a range
of strategies (e.g., discussion, background reading, personal interests, interviews), and developing a thesis or
controlling idea; (B) structure ideas in a sustained and persuasive way (e.g., using outlines, note taking,
graphic organizers, lists) and develop drafts in timed and open-ended situations that include transitions and the
rhetorical devices to convey meaning; (C) revise drafts to clarify meaning and achieve specific rhetorical
purposes, consistency of tone, and logical organization by rearranging words, sentences, and paragraphs to
employ tropes (e.g., metaphors, similes, analogies, hyperbole, understatement, rhetorical questions, irony),
schemes (e.g., parallelism, antithesis, inverted word order, repetition, reversed structures), and by adding
transitional words and phrases; literary allusions, and conceits reveal theme, set tone, and create meaning in
metaphors, passages, and literary works
(8) Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Culture and History. Students analyze, make inferences and
draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide
evidence from text to support understanding. Students are expected to analyze the consistency and clarity of
expression of the controlling idea and ways in which organizational and rhetorical patterns of text support or
confound the author's meaning or purpose.
(12) Reading/Media Literacy. Students use comprehension skills to analyze how words, images, graphics, and
sounds work together in various forms to impact meaning. Students will continue to apply earlier standards
with greater depth in increasingly more complex texts. Students are expected to: (C) evaluate how one issue or
event is represented across various media to understand notions of bias, audience, and purpose;
(13) Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising,
editing, and publishing) to compose text. Students are expected to: (A) plan a first draft by selecting correct
genre for conveying intended meaning to multiple audiences, determining appropriate topics through a range
of strategies (e.g., discussion, background reading, personal interests, interviews), and developing a thesis or
controlling idea; (B) structure ideas in a sustained and persuasive way (e.g., using outlines, note taking,
graphic organizers, lists) and develop drafts in timed and open-ended situations that include transitions and
rhetorical devices to convey meaning; (C) revise drafts to clarify meaning and achieve specific rhetorical
purposes, consistency of tone, and logical organization by rearranging words, sentences, and paragraphs to
employ tropes (e.g., metaphors, similes, analogies, hyperbole, understatement, rhetorical questions, irony),
schemes (e.g., parallelism, antithesis, inverted word order, repetition, reversed structures), and by adding
transitional words and phrases; (D) edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and spelling; and (E) revise final draft
in response to feedback from peers and teacher and publish written work for appropriate audiences.
(14) Writing/Literary Texts. Students write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real or
imagined people, events, and ideas. Students are responsible for at least two forms of literary writing. Students
are expected to: (A) write an engaging story with a welldeveloped conflict and resolution, a clear theme,
complex and non-stereotypical characters, a range of literary strategies (e.g., dialogue, suspense), devices to
enhance the plot, and sensory details that define the mood or tone; (B) write a poem that reflects an awareness
of (D) edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and spelling; and (E) revise final draft in response to feedback from
peers and teacher and publish written work for appropriate audiences poetic conventions and traditions within
different forms (e.g., sonnets, ballads, free verse); and (C) write a script with an explicit or implicit theme,
using a variety of literary techniques.
(15) Writing/Expository and Procedural Texts. Students write expository and procedural or work-related texts
to communicate ideas and information to specific audiences for specific purposes. Students are expected to:
(A) write an analytical essay of sufficient length that includes: (i) effective introductory and concluding
paragraphs and a variety of sentence structures; (ii) rhetorical devices, and transitions between paragraphs; (iii)
a clear thesis statement or controlling idea; (iv) a clear organizational schema for conveying ideas; (v) relevant
and substantial evidence and wellchosen details; (vi) information on all relevant perspectives and
consideration of validity, reliability, and relevance of primary and secondary sources; and (vii) an analysis of
views and information that contradict the thesis statement and the evidence presented for it; (C) write an
interpretation of an expository or a literary text that: (i) advances a clear thesis statement; (ii) addresses the
writing skills for an analytical essay including references to and commentary on quotations from the text; (iii)
analyzes the aesthetic effects of an author's use of stylistic or rhetorical devices;
Clarification of any potentially controversial segments* (issues related to language often deemed
“vulgar,” nudity, sexuality, violence) and why the text remains a suitable choice, despite being
potentially controversial *NOTE Any objectionable language or scenes should be highlighted in the
text for Committee consideration and indicated by page number below
Implication of incest, murder, and self-mutilation.
Similar Works:
Antigone by Sophocles
Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles
Annotated copy available upon request