Questions and Answers for Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus Rex, why does Oedipus blind himself?
Oedipus's act of blinding himself symbolically represents his ignorant decision to dismiss Teiresias's intimate knowledge of his past, by purposefully overlooking his message and the signs which...
Oedipus Rex
What is the moral of Oedipus Rex?
The moral of Oedipus Rex is that it is useless to try to escape the power of fate. Oedipus's attempt to bypass the prophecy which states he will kill his father and sleep with his mother ironically...
Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus Rex, how does Oedipus's tragic flaw lead to his downfall?
The tragic downfall of Oedipus in Sophocles's Oedipus Rex is Oedipus's belief, based on his overwhelming pride (what the ancient Greeks called hubris),that by exercising his own free will, he can...
Oedipus Rex
What caused the downfall of Oedipus in Oedipus the King, pride or anger?
Pride, also called hubris, is the cause of Oedipus's downfall. On a human level, it is pride that causes Oedipus to unknowingly kill his father, Laius, on the road to Thebes. His sense of pride—his...
Oedipus Rex
What happens to Oedipus's children at the end of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles?
At the end of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus blinds himself, and he asks for his daughters, Antigone and Ismene, to be brought to him. It's interesting that he doesn't ask for his sons, Eteocles and...
Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus the King, what good qualities does Oedipus have?
Like many great kings, Oedipus has many good qualities. First, he learns of the prophecy that he is to grow up and kill his father and marry his mother. Not knowing that he is adopted, Oedipus...
Oedipus Rex
What is the significance of the closing scene in Oedipus Rex?
There is also significance in the final scene of Oedipus the King that extends beyond the boundaries of this one play. It was part of a trilogy, and like any good serial, needed to set up the...
Oedipus Rex
How are the three types of irony used in Oedipus Rex?
Most texts, if they utilize irony, will use one or two types. Oedipus Rex, therefore, is unique because it implements all three types of irony in fundamental ways. The primary irony in the play...
Oedipus Rex
Is Oedipus a victim of fate or a victim of his own actions in Oedipus Rex?
One could argue that King Oedipus is a victim of fate in Sophocle's classic play and that there was no way he could avoid his destiny. As a child, King Laius and Jocasta consulted an oracle, who...
Oedipus Rex
Discuss the theme of sight and blindness in Oedipus Rex, how it is important, and how it affects the idea of truth.
In Oedipus Rex, there are different kinds of sight and blindness present throughout the cast. Tiresias is literally blind, yet he is the only character who "sees" the truth. He knows who Oedipus is...
Oedipus Rex
What is the main idea of Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and what is the play about?
If there’s one overriding idea in Oedipus Rex it’s that on no account do you ever mess with the gods. As with countless other Greek tragedies, Oedipus Rex shows us that the will of the gods cannot...
Oedipus Rex
What is the reason for the plague in Thebes in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex?
Oedipus the King opens with a priest describing the terrible plague that has come upon Thebes and begging Oedipus for help. Oedipus replies that he is more eager than anyone to find out the cause...
Oedipus Rex
What are the exposition, complication, climax, and denouement in Sophocles's Oedipus the King?
The plot structure of Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles and first performed around 429 BCE, is fundamentally linked to the essential elements of tragedy and the tragic hero's journey through the...
Oedipus Rex
Should we blame the misfortunes that occur in Oedipus Rex on Laius, Jocasta, Oedipus, the shepherd who saved Oedipus...
If anyone gets the blame here, I think it should be the gods who determined Oedipus fate to begin with. Though Oedipus may deserve some blame for rashly killing the man who blocked his way on the...
Oedipus Rex
What are some examples of sight and blindness and light and darkness in Sophocles's Oedipus Rex?
One type of sight that Oedipus steadfastly refuses to employ throughout Sophocles's Oedipus Rex is introspection. Oedipus refuses to look inside himself for answers to the questions affecting...
Oedipus Rex
What are the two major themes of the play Oedipus Rex?
In determining the themes of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, it's important to understand the distinction between a theme and a motif. A theme is a dominant central idea, message, or moral that the...
Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus Rex, what is the character of Jocasta?
Jocasta is a conflicted character who appears doomed from the start. This doom begins in a prophecy; that is, that Laius will die by his son's (Oedipus) hands and sleep with his mother, Jocasta. As...
Oedipus Rex
What problem is afflicting Thebes in Oedipus Rex?
On the surface, the problem afflicting Thebes is a plague. But, when Oedipus sends Creon to discover the source of the plague, he learns it springs from a moral problem: the murderer of Laius, the...
Oedipus Rex
When does the reader feel pity and affair in Oedipus Rex? During the study of play oeidpus rex feeling of reader...
This is what Aristotle meant in Poetics regarding katharsis, the purgation of pity and fear: Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in...
Oedipus Rex
What are the strengths and weaknesses of Oedipus as a man, a ruler, and a husband?
Oedipus is a strong ruler who earns the kingship of Thebes after he solves the riddle of the Sphinx who plagued the city, causing the Sphinx to commit suicide. This showed Oedipus' intelligence and...
Oedipus Rex
How is Oedipus Rex still significant in the 21st century? I have to study for a test and this might be an essay...
Oedipus Rex reminds us of the blindness and arrogance of the powerful. This message is still relevant today. Oedipus is a king who has at his disposal the ability to find out what is causing a...
Oedipus Rex
Catharsis In Oedipus
Catharsis refers to the cleansing feeling that one experiences by witnessing a tragedy, particularly one that is performed, and going through the emotional phases of that tragedy without having to...
Oedipus Rex
In the second choral ode of Oedipus Rex, what information does the chorus relay?
The chorus in Greek plays served several purposes. This group of around twelve men in masks sometimes played small roles, sang and danced, and served as a group of citizens. In the case of the...
Oedipus Rex
For what reason does Oedipus blind himself? What meaning, if any, do you find in his choice of surgical instrument?
In this Athenian tragedy by Sophocles, Oedipus chooses to blind himself after it is revealed that he has, as foretold by a prophecy, killed his father and slept with his mother. Oedipus cannot bare...
Oedipus Rex
How does Oedipus develop and change throughout Oedipus Rex?
Everything that happens to Oedipus in Sophocles's Oedipus Rex happens as a result of the will of the gods. The changes in Oedipus's life, from his birth to his tragic downfall and exile, are the...
Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus Rex, what does Teiresias predict will happen to the man that killed Laios?
After receiving the news from Creon that the plague will continue to ravage Thebes until the murderer of Laius is driven from the city, Oedipus petitions the blind prophet Tiresias to identify the...
Oedipus Rex
What is the role of the oracle and its importance in Oedipus Rex?
The oracle tells Oedipus that he will murder his father and marry his mother. A horrified Oedipus decides to leave home for good so that this prophecy could not come true. What the oracle did not...
Oedipus Rex
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, what quotes exemplify Oedipus's arrogance?
Sophocles most definitely characterizes Oedipus as arrogant in Oedipus Rex; in fact, arrogance is Oedipus's fatal tragic character flaw. We can especially see Oedipus's arrogance portrayed in his...
Oedipus Rex
What are some examples of figurative language in the play Oedipus Rex? Will you please cite them and/or tell me where...
In lines 25–27, the Priest of Zeus uses metaphors to compare Thebes, the city, to a ship and death to the ocean that threatens her. He says, " For our city, as you yourself can see, / is badly...
Oedipus Rex
What importance does Oedipus Rex have in our society?
The answer already given is excellent, but I will take this in another direction: Oedipus Rex has a special place in our society particularly because it has given us, via Sigmund Freud, the term...
Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus Rex, what did the shepherd do?
The shepherd did the one thing that enabled the dire prophecy of the Delphic oracle to eventually come true. When Oedipus was born, the oracle had predicted that he would grow up to kill his...
Oedipus Rex
What is an example of peripeteia in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex?
According to Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon, the noun peripeteia refers to a turn in the opposite direction, a "reversal", a "sudden change", or, among other definitions, a "sudden...
Oedipus Rex
What is the setting of Oedipus Rex?
Oedipus Rex is set in the ancient Greek city-state of Thebes. Or, to be more precise, it's set in front of the Theban royal palace. Ancient Greek playwrights were sticklers for the three unities of...
Oedipus Rex
What lesson do the final lines of Sophocles' Oedipus the King contain and does Oedipus's life exemplify that lesson?...
The last lines are a lesson and a warning about fate, spoken by the chorus. In modern American terms, they might be paraphrased as "It isn't over til it's over," a sentiment that says a football...
Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus Rex (or Oedipus the King), how does Oedipus show pride?
King Oedipus displays his pride by believing that he can triumph over his fate and establish his own destiny despite the gods' ultimate design. Oedipus is unaware of his background and does not...
Oedipus Rex
What is the paradox of blindness in Oedipus Rex and the connection to irony?
This is a great question. Oedipus is the leader of Thebes in the beginning of the play. He is great in the eyes of people, and he is deeply insightful. We know this because he was able to solve the...
Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus Rex, what does the chorus's final speech tell us about human life?
The final speech of the Chorus looks back to reinforce one of the lessons of the play -- that the future is beyond human knowledge:Ye men of Thebes, behold this Œdipus, .... And, lo! in what...
Oedipus Rex
Role Of Chorus In Oedipus Rex
Like the chorus in many Greek tragedies, the chorus in Oedipus Rex represents the voice of the greater society. The elders of the chorus are considered to represent men of Thebes who honor and...
Oedipus Rex
Who is the Choragos and what is his task in scene 1?
The Choragos is the leader of the chorus, and he is also the member of the chorus who participates in the drama of the play as a member of the cast. In his role, he interacts with people in the...
Oedipus Rex
What is the purpose of Oedipus Rex?
There are many morals one could derive from Oedipus Rex in order to describe its purpose, but the most important one is related to its didactic function of teaching the audience the dangers of...
Oedipus Rex
What is a good thesis statement for an essay about the tragedy Oedipus Rex? Looking for some ideas to help get me...
A strong thesis is both specific and arguable. For instance, saying that Oedipus Rex is about fate is too vague. It's also not really arguable, as nobody is likely to assert that the play is not...
Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus Rex, what is the message from the oracle of Delphi?
At the start of the play, Thebes is suffering from a devastating plague, and the Priest of Apollo asks King Oedipus of Thebes to help put an end to it. King Oedipus responds by saying that he...
Oedipus Rex
How does Creon act as a foil to Oedipus?
A foil is a character who contrasts the protagonist to highlight the main character's qualities and traits. In Sophocles's classic play Oedipus the King, Creon serves as Oedipus's foil. Creon is...
Oedipus Rex
What is the problem in Oedipus Rex?
The problem in Oedipus Rex is the king's refusal to accept the truth which Teiresias brings him: Oedipus himself is the cause of the plague because he is the murderer of the previous king of...
Oedipus Rex
What is the difference between Drama and Narrative? And how could you explain it in the light of Oedipus?
By my understanding, "drama" here refers to the action that propels the plot forward and keeps the story moving in a logical and exciting sequence of events that ensures we stay on the edge of our...
Oedipus Rex
Show how the good as well as bad qualities of Oedipus contribute to his tragic fall in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex
Oedipus's good qualities include his desire for justice and his will to save the people of Thebes from the plague that is devastating them. He is a strong and responsible leader who wants to...
Oedipus Rex
What made Oedipus go to the oracle when he was young?
It is revealed to the reader during a conversation between Oedipus and Jocasta that Oedipus went to the Oracle of Delphi because of a rumor that he heard at a feast. One of the people attending the...
Oedipus Rex
Why do Laius and Jocasta abandon Oedipus at birth in the play Oedipus Rex?
Laius and Jocasta are told that their son Oedipus will grow up to murder his father and marry his mother. Hoping to prevent such horrible things from occurring, they give the baby to a shepherd,...
Oedipus Rex
Why did citizens of Thebes not investigate Laius' murder at the time it occured?
Simply put, the Thebans have other things on their minds, most notably the Sphinx. This terrifying monster has put a curse on the city and she's warned the citizens of Thebes from inquiring into...
Oedipus Rex
What are the central ideas in Oedipus Rex? What are the central ideas in which Sophocles conveys?
Excessive pride is another important idea in the play. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus greets the priest asking for his help by noting that of course, he can help solve the problem of the...
Showing 1-50 of 898