forward, only to be told by thesoothsayer Teiresias that Oedipus himself is the "accursed polluter of this land" (421) and to say how completely blind Oedipus is to the extent of damage his own arrogance and hotheaded temper have caused:

[Y]ou have your eyesight, and you do not see how miserable you are, or where you live, or who it is who shares your household. (496-98)

The climax is defined as the turning point in the story, the moment when rising action turns to falling action, leading towards the resolution. The climax is also often the most emotionally intense moment of the story. The climax occurs soon after the messenger from Corinth comes to announce the death of Oedipus's father, King Polybus, and further informs Oedipus that Polybus and Merobe were really Oedipus's adopted father and mother. Soon after this, the shepherd is sent for who had given baby Oedipus to the messenger. The climax occurs the moment the shepherd confesses to having saved the life of baby Oedipus, King Laius's son, by giving him away; the shepherd's confession, coupled with the scars on Oedipus's ankles, proves that Oedipus was the son of King Laius, the father he had killed at the crossroads near Delphi.

The denouement is defined as the continuation of the story after the resolution, bringing the story to an end. The resolution occurs the moment Oedipus realizes the extent of the damage he has caused since he truly did kill his own father, fulfilling the prophecies. The details of the denouement include his gouging out his own eyes to symbolize that Teiresias was correct to have called him blind, Jocasta hanging herself, and Oedipus saying goodbye to his children before being led out of the city in exile.