OEDIPUS REX
OR
OEDIPUS THE KING
THEMES
• Fate and Free Will
• Wisdom and Knowledge
• Determination
• Power
• Memory and the Past
CHARACTERS
• Oedipus=protagonist
• Creon=Jocasta’s brother, even-tempered, gentle
• Teiresias=the blind seer or prophet; won’t reveal the truth
to Oedipus
• Jocasta=Oedipus’ wife; realizes the truth before Oedipus
• The Chorus=the leaders who represent the community of
Thebes. Comments on the play’s actions and
foreshadows future events. 1st supportive of Oedipus,
then uncertain, then sorry.
HAMARTIA,
OR TRAGIC FLAW, ERROR IN
JUDGMENT
• What is Oedipus’ hamartia? It must bring about his
downfall.
• Determination?
He is determined to find the killer of Laius
Anger?
Because of his temper, he kills Laius and rages against
Teiresias.
Hubris (excessive pride)?
Kills the sphinx, TRIES TO DENY HIS FATE
SYMBOLISM AND IMAGERY
• Eyes, Vision, Blindness: symbolic of the pursuit of
knowledge; (blindness=what is unknowable)
• The Scars on Oedipus’ feet: Symbolically, Oedipus has
been marked for suffering since the beginning. Name
means “swollen foot.” Literally, his feet were pierced and
bound at birth and he was left to die on a mountain.
• The Crossroads: the confrontation between Laius and
Oedipus occurs at a three way crossroads. A crossroads
is symbolic of a choice that must be made. Oedipus
seals his fate here, a fate that was predetermined for
him by the will of the gods.
SETTING
• The play is set in Thebes, a place doomed by a
plague at the beginning of the play.
• The entrance to Thebes palace is where most of the
action takes place.
GENRE: TRAGEDY
• 1. The events of the play have universal
ramifications
• 2. The characters are of the proper stature=kings
and queens
• 3. Oedipus is a true hero with a tragic flaw
AGNORISIS OR
RECOGNITION
• The moment when the tragic hero realizes the
terrible truth.
• It happens when the combined testimonies of the
Corinthian Messenger and the Theban Shepherd
make Oedipus realize that he's unwittingly fulfilled
the prophecy he's struggled to avoid.
PERIPETEIA
• a reversal of intention or a turning point.
• In Oedipus this happens when the Messenger shows
up from Corinth. The man tries to ease the King's
mind by telling him that he's not really Polybos's son.
Though the Messenger intends only good things
with this information, it ends up being the thing that
drives Oedipus toward his horrible fate. The irony of
this turning point makes it a pitchperfect peripeteia.
CATASTROPHE
• The terrible suffering
• Just as the peripeteia directly leads to
the anagnorisis, the anagnorisis directly leads to
the catastrophe, or the terrible suffering. When the
truth is revealed, Jocasta hangs herself, Oedipus
stabs himself in the eyes, and begs to be banished.
All these things add up to make Oedipus the
King the highest standard of tragedy.