Oedipus by Sophocles

1. Who wrote the play? Sophocles wrote the play Oedipus the King between 430 and 425 BCE.

2. Briefly define the Oedipal Complex. This is when a boy prefers his mother over his father. He feels he must compete with his father to gain his mother's attention. When the role is reversed and it's a girl and her father, it is referred to as an Electra Complex.

3. What is the setting of the story, specifically, the where? In the front of the royal palace in Thebes. Villagers are standing there awaiting the arrival of King Oedipus so that they might question him about what is going on throughout the kingdom.

4. As the play opens, what horrible thing is going on? There is a plague afflicting the city of Thebes and the townspeople are asking King Oedipus what they shall do about it. Oedipus is ensuring the townspeople that he has sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the Pythian halls of Phoebus to maybe learn an answer for his kingdom.

5. Whose death must be avenged in order for the horrible thing from number 4 to end? King Laius's death must be avenged to return order to the kingdom and stop the plague that is running throughout. His murderer must be either killed or exiled from Thebes.

6. Who is Oedipus’ wife? Jocasta, whom is also his mother, is Oedipus's wife.

7. Who is Oedipus’ mother? Jocasta, whom is also his wife, is his biological mother. Merope helped to raise Oedipus after his biological father had ordered him left to die.

8. Who is Oedipus’ father? King Laius is Oedipus's biological father. Polybus helped raise Oedipus after his biological father had ordered him to be left to die.

9. Who killed the King of Thebes (the answer for #5)? Oedipus murdered his own father, King Lauis, in self-defense not knowing whom he was, as his own father or the king of Thebes.

10. What is Oedipus’ tragic flaw? Oedipus is tortured over what he had done, even in not knowing from the beginning. He felt horrible guilt and knew that he had to do what he could to stop the plague from consuming the town and so he begged Creon to exile him from Thebes.

11. As you read through Oedipus, you'll note that sight/vision/seeing (including "second sight") is very important to the overall story--in the literal as well as the metaphorical/symbolical aspect. You don't have to do this in complete sentences if you don't want--- When they talk about blindness and darkness in this play, they are not only referring to actual blindness, they are referring to the mental state of the persons. The only actual person in the play who is blind is Tiresias, who is also the seer ironically. When they refer to the blind wrongs that Oedipus has done, they are referring to the acts that he has committed that he didn't know he had done yet, which were killing his father and marrying his mother.

12. Describe/discuss/explain/list how sight/vision/seeing/"second sight" is/are used in the play to advance the plot--to advance the story as a whole. Include an explanation of why it's important as well as how it helps you (the real audience) understand (get) what others on the stage and in the play don't understand. To see the guilt, pain, and anguish on one's face is not something that you can gully understand without seeing. Oedipus was truly disgusted with himself after learning the truth which you wouldn't be able to tell without visually seeing it. Oedipus blinded himself by using the pins from his dead mother/wife's dress to blind himself thinking that if he did this that himself and no one else might be able to see the evils that he had committed.

13. As a play, there's a lot that can and can not be done on the stage. Explain why you think some things within this play in particular are done on stage while others are done off stage. Some things are too visually disturbing to actually see. They are better left to the imagination than to the eyes.

14. Do you believe in fate? Explain fully your answer. This is a tough one. Sometimes I do believe in fate and others I don't. I guess I haven't really sat down and decided one way or another. It seems that sometimes that things are meant to happen... generally when they are good things. When something bad happens though, its like how can that have been meant to happen? Who is deciding our fates? Is it not supposed to be ourselves? This isn't merely a question for me to decide upon now. To me, it is like asking if a person believe in God. It's not a question that can be answered with a simple yes or no. There are many factors to consider and too many uncertainties to go along with those. I am undecided about this topic as I am about a lot of others.

15. Explain how fate plays a role in Oedipus. The prophecy foretold the events that would happen. King Lauis thought he was ending the prophecy by leaving his son to die on the mountain. Fate did not wish for this to happen and intervened by the servant showing pity on the baby and taking him elsewhere to live. When the oracle told him some of the prophecy, he thought it meant that he would kill whom he thought were his parents, Merope and Polybus, and so he left home, another measure of fate, and ended us going towards Thebes where his real parents actually were. One way or another, a prophecy is meant to be fulfilled.

16. Have you ever thought how ironic this play is? It's weird how the events come together and make everything happen the way it does. If things were to happen just a little bit different the story would be completely changed. It is rather ironic. It actually coincides with the story of Moses from The Bible. Babies abandoned at birth because a prophecy foretold that they would do something later in life if they were to live. If they had been murdered as there parents wished for them to be then the prophecies would not have been fulfilled.

Extra: Name either one of the other two plays in the Oedipus Trilogy—punctuation count. Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone are the other two plays written by Sophocles to go with the Oedipus trilogy.