The Tragic Story of Oedipus Rex You’re going to cry your eyes out…

In a land far, far away… Young Laius was the guest of King Pelops of Elis. Laius was appointed to be the official “Chariot Racing” tutor of Chrysippus, youngest of the king’s sons.

VIOLATION Laius VIOLATES the sacred laws of hospitality— and violates his young protégé, Chrysippus. Laius abducts and rapes the boy, who (according to some versions) kills himself in shame. Now the gods have cast a DOOM over Laius and his descendants! (all of this happens well before our story begins!)

Love and Marriage, yada yada… Forward many years later to the Kingdom of Thebes, where our story takes place… King Laius is married to the Queen Jocasta. They have a baby.

Don’t forget the DOOM! It is payback time for the gods! The oracle gives Laius the bad news about his son. The prophesy… (Ewwwwww!)

Defying the gods! (or trying to…) Laius says “Not gonna happen!” and binds the baby’s hands and pins his feet, then orders Jocasta to kill the infant.

The secret plan… She can’t do it--so she orders a shepherd to commit the act for her. He can’t do it either! So he takes the baby up the mountain to die.

Saved…by the nice shepherd guy from Corinth! He finds the baby up on top of the mountain and takes it home to his childless King and Queen. He names him “Oedipus” for “swollen feet”.

King and Queen of Corinth King Polybus and his wife, Queen Merope, raise the boy in the court as if he were their own child. He grows up to be a terrific young man!

oh, try, try as you might…. You can’t escape the will of the gods One day the young prince hears a rumor about his birth…

Back up the mountain… Oedipus question his parents, who deny it. Then he asks the Oracle at Delphi. He gets a frightening response!

The Prophesy Unfolds “Oedipus, you are destined to mate with your own mother, and shed, with your own hands, the blood of your own father.”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Desperate to avoid his foretold fate, Oedipus flees far, far away from Corinth to save his beloved parents from himself!! Thebes> <Corinth He runs away to the other side of the mountain to the distant city of…yeah, you guessed it!

On the road to Thebes, he runs into a local yokel and his entourage. They quarrel over whose chariot has the right of way. Chariot SMACKDOWN!!!!!

Fight! Fight! Fight! King Liaus (the local yokel) moves to strike dead the insolent youth (Oedipus) with his scepter, but Oedipus throws him down from the chariot and kills him. (Oedipus kills everyone else too, save 1 guy)

Ding Ding Ding: The gods vs Oedipus— Round 1-- goes to the gods! Oedipus continues on his journey to Thebes, unaware that he has just fulfilled the first part of the prophesy! Onward!!! To Thebes!!!

Welcome (um, back) to Thebes! Oedipus continues on to his new city, Thebes. He finds that they are in a real predicament: The King has disappeared while on a trip AND an evil Sphinx is holding the city “hostage”, so to speak, until someone can solve her riddle!

Hide your kids, hide your wife…

The Riddle of the Sphinx The Sphinx’s riddle—can YOU solve it and save Thebes??? It has baffled many a diviner… “What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?”

Oedipus, the new guy in town, SOLVES the riddle (otherwise the Sphinx would have eaten him)! The Sphinx, distraught, throws herself off a cliff.

King Me! Oedipus’ reward for freeing the kingdom of Thebes from the curse is the kingship…and the hand of the lovely Queen Jocasta ! (Dude! She’s, like, old enough to be your mother!)

Mommy Dearest… Ewwww. They have four lovely children together. Everybody now…. YOU CAN’T DEFY THE GODS! Ding ding ding! ROUND 2: the gods win! The prophesy is now fulfilled—though no one knows it yet…

This is where our play begins! Act One! The priest and the chorus of Thebans arrive at the palace to call upon their King, Oedipus, to aid them with the plague that has befallen their fair city. Oedipus had sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to go ask for help from the oracle at Delphi. Creon returns with the news..the plague is the result of something— or someone--rotten in the city, and the unsolved murder of the former King.

The solution! Oedipus vows to find the murderer (whomever it may be!) and curses him for the plague that he has caused!!

Themes and Motifs Fate and free will State control (conflict between the individual and the “state” or ruler) Sight and blindness (both literal and metaphorical references to eyesight) – Clear vision=insight and knowledge – Being “blind” to the truth – The literally blind prophet Tiresias “So you mock my blindness? Let me tell you this. You {Oedipus} with your precious eyes, you’re blind to the corruption of your life…”