Oedipus Tyrannus (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Sophocles
- First Published: 429
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Tragedy
- Time of Work: Remote antiquity
- Setting: Thebes
- Genres: Drama, Tragedy
- Subjects: Murder or homicide, Blindness or blind persons, Mistaken or secret identity, Guilt, Incest, Punishment, Death or dying, Kings, queens, or royalty, Fratricide, parricide, or filicide, Fate or fatalism, Prophecy or prophets, Greek or Roman times, Horror, Greece or Greek people, Plague, Oracles
- Locales: Greece, ancient, Thebes, ancient
Characters Discussed
Oedipus (EHD-ih-puhs), the king of Thebes. A foundling, he had been reared by Polybus and Merope, king and queen of Corinth. In that city, he had enjoyed a place of honor until a drunken Corinthian at a banquet accused him of being a bastard. To settle the matter, he went to the oracle at Pytho, who revealed that he was destined to lie with his mother and murder his father. To avoid this curse, he fled Corinth. During his travels, he was thrust out of the road by an old man in a carriage. Angered, Oedipus returned the old man’s blow and killed him. Later,...
[The entire page is 1066 words long]
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