Timeline Activity: Oedipus Rex, Prologue-Scene 2
Directions: Cut out the following event descriptions and put them in order (1-20) on your desk with your table group.
**Make sure to put them in the order of how they happened (remember, the stories are told in flashbacks). First group
to complete the task will receive two summative extra credit points.
The lone survivor
from Laius’
entourage is sent to
work in the fields.
10
Laius pierces his
baby’s ankles and a
worker is ordered to
leave the child on the
mountain side.
Oedipus runs away
from Corinth.
7
Oedipus finally
recognizes that he
was adopted by
Polybos and Merope
and was raised in
Corinth.
3
Oedipus accuses
Teiresias and Creon of
conspiring against him
to overthrow his
kingdom.
17
19
Oedipus solves the
riddle of the Sphynx.
Oedipus kills Laius and
his men.
11
9
Oedipus participates
in a verbal argument
with Teiresias.
Oedipus becomes
King of Thebes.
12
Oedipus tells Jocasta
the story of his life
before he arrived in
Thebes.
16
18
Laius receives a
prophecy that states
will have a child that
kills him as
punishment for his
crime.
Baby Oedipus is given
to Polybos and
Merope (King and
Queen of Corinth) to
raise as their own.
The Oracle tells
Oedipus of his fate
that he will kill his
father and marry his
mother.
4
6
Oedipus marries
Jocasta.
13
Creon returns with the
message that the city
must find and kill the
murderer of the king
or have him exiled.
15
2
Oedipus realizes that
he has fulfilled his
fate.
Oedipus is insulted
and run off the road.
Oedipus sends Creon
to visit the Oracle at
Delphi.
8
20
14
An incident with a
drunken man’s
comments leads to
Oedipus questioning
his background.
Laius sexually assaults
a boy he mentors. The
boy then commits
suicide.
1
5