Oedipus the King Summary
1. King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes are told by an Oracle that their child will grow up
to marry its mother and kill its father. They pierce the infants’ feet and have a messenger
leave him in the mountains to die.
2. The King and Queen now believe that their child is dead and that the prophecy has been
stopped.
3. The shepherd gives baby Oedipus to the king and queen of another town and never tell
him of his origin.
4. Several years later, a plague attacks Thebes. King Laius sets out to find a way to stop it.
5. Oedipus is told by a different oracle that he will marry his mother and murder his father,
so he runs away from home. While traveling, he crosses paths with Laius and kills him, not
knowing who he is.
6. Oedipus eventually arrives in Thebes, cures it of its plague, is made king and given Jocasta
as his wife.
7. Eventually, another plague hits Thebes. Oedipus is told the reason for the plague is that
King Laius’ killer is now living in Thebes. Oedipus swears to find the murderer and exile
him from Thebes.
8. Eventually, Jocasta figures out that her son is still alive and that she has married him, so she
hangs herself.
9. Oedipus sees that Jocasta has hung herself and realizes what he has done. He then blinds
himself so that he doesn’t have to look at the children he had with his own mother or the
judgmental looks of others.
10. Creon, Jocasta’s brother and now king, exiles Oedipus as was promised would happen to
the killer.
SCRIPT
JOCASTA: Look at our beautiful baby boy!
LAIUS: Let’s take him to the Oracle so she can tell us his future!
ORACLE: Laius and Jocasta, your son will grow up and kill his father and marry his mother. Ew.
JOCASTA: That’s terrible! What do we do to stop this from happening!?
LAIUS: I know! We can take the baby up into the mountains and leave him there! We will break
his feet to make sure he can’t follow us home.
MESSENGER: Oh, look! A baby! Hey! King and Queen, will you adopt him?
QUEEN: We will love him as our own!
KING: But we will never tell him that he is adopted…
CHORUS: Meanwhile, back in THEBES
LAIUS: This sphinx is plaguing my city! I’m going to go out and try to find someone who can
help.
OEDIPUS: Oh Oracle, tell me, what is my future.
ORACLE: You will kill your father and marry your mother.
OEDIPUS: Oh gross! I can’t let that happen! I’m going to run away!
CHORUS: On the road, Oedipus and Lauis run into each other.
LAIUS: Hey! Kid! Watch where you’re going!
OEDIPUS: Get off old man, I’ll kill you!
CHORUS: Oedipus kills Laius without knowing he was really his father… Oedipus continues on
to Thebes.
SPHINX: What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three
in the evening?
OEDIPUS: The answer is Man.
JOCASTA: You saved us! As reward for saving our city, you get to marry me and become our
new king!
CHORUS: Years later, there is another plague in Thebes.
MESSENGER: King Oedipus, we are being punished with this plague because we never found
who murdered King Laius.
OEDIPUS: I will find the murderer and banish him from the city forever! I will save Thebes once
again!
MESSENGER: Uhh… wait a minute… I think I remember something about King Oedipus…
JOCASTA: Oh. My. Gods. Oedipus is the baby that I abandoned so long ago!
EEEEWWWWW I married my SON! This is terrible! I cannot go on living with this!
OEDIPUS: My wife, NOOOOO! Wait, my wife was my MOM! NOOOOOO! I am so
ashamed, I am going to poke out my eyes!
CREON: I am Jocasta’s brother. Now that she is dead, I am king. Oedipus, you are banished
from Thebes forever!!!!