A plot overview of oedipus
Creon says that he thinks some of the dissidents of the city bribed the sentry to perform the rites, and he vows to execute the sentry if no other suspect is found. Disturbed, Oedipus consulted the oracle of Apollo, who told him he would sire children by his own mother and that he would kill his own father.
As an example, she tells him the prophecy she once received—that Laius, her first husband, would be killed by their own son. That baby was Oedipus, who in fact killed his father Laius and married his mother. To find a solution, he sends Creon, his brother-in-law, to the shrine of Apollo.
Oedipus curses the unknown murderer and swears he will find and punish him. Jocasta, grieved by the enmity between her brother and Oedipus, tells her husband that an oracle informed King Laius that he would be killed by his own child, the offspring of Laius and Jocasta.
The messenger tells him not to worry—the king and queen of Corinth were not his real parents. At first he refuses to tell Oedipus what he knows.
Hearing this, Oedipus fled his home, never to return. He also asks Creon to give Jocasta a proper burial and to see that the sons and daughters of the unnatural marriage should be cared for and not be allowed to live poor and unmarried because of the shame attached to their parentage.
Creon leads the wretched Oedipus away to his exile of blindness and torment. The shepherd then enters. From there he went on to Thebes, where he became the new king by answering the riddle of the Sphinx. Not knowing where to go now, Antigone says they will have to wander forever alone.
Oedipus says that his time of death has come. Antigone wails that they will cry for Oedipus for as long as they live. The messenger himself brought Oedipus as a baby to the royal family as a gift after a shepherd found the boy in the mountains and gave him to the messenger.
That baby was Oedipus. Citizens are dying from plague, crops fail, women are dying in childbirth and their babies are stillborn. It seems his prophecy might not come true, but he remains worried because his mother is still alive.
Tiresias predicts that the gods will bring down curses upon the city. At that point Jocasta realizes the dreadful truth.
The Sphinx had parked herself outside Thebes, and would kill anyone who could not answer the following riddle: Convinced that Creon is plotting to overthrow him, Oedipus declares his intention to banish or execute his brother-in-law.
Blind and grief-stricken, Oedipus bemoans his fate. He tells the Corinthian this is why he cannot return home, but the Corinthian explains that Merope and Polybus, the parents who raised Oedipus, were not his real parents, but had accepted Oedipus as a gift from him.
Now blinded and disgraced, Oedipus begs Creon to kill him, but as the play concludes, he quietly submits to Creon's leadership, and humbly awaits the oracle that will determine whether he will stay in Thebes or be cast out forever.
The citizens gather outside the palace of their king, Oedipus, asking him to take action. Oedipus accuses the old man of being in league with Creon, whom he suspects of plotting against his throne, but Teiresias answers that Oedipus will be ashamed and horrified when he learns the truth about his true parentage.
The oracle has predicted that the burial place of Oedipus will bring good fortune to the city in which it is located, and both sons, as well as Creon, know of this prophecy. Only one of his fellow travelers escaped alive.
To be notified when we launch a full study guide, please contact us. Oedipus threatens Creon with death, but Jocasta and the people advise him against doing violence on the strength of rumor or momentary passion.
Oedipus tells Antigone that, earlier in his life, when Apollo prophesied his doom, the god promised Oedipus that he would come to rest on this ground.
Oedipus sends for Tiresias, the blind prophet, to help with the investigation. In fact, the messenger himself gave Oedipus to the royal couple when a shepherd offered him an abandoned baby from the house of Laius.
When he tells the story of killing the band of travelers who attempted to shove him off the three-way crossroads, Oedipus shows that he has the capacity to behave rashly.
The people mourn their dead, and Oedipus advises them, in their own interest, to search out and apprehend the murderer of Laius. Oedipus answers that he will lead the king to the place where he will die, and that Theseus must never reveal that spot, but pass it on to his son at his own death, who in turn must pass it on to his own son.
But while Oedipus finds great comfort in the fact that one-half of the prophecy has been disproved, he still fears the other half—the half that claimed he would sleep with his mother. The riddle asked what went on all fours before noon, on two legs at noon, and on three legs after noon.
He asks that they provide him with a proper burial should he die in battle.
He again calls for the servant. A short summary of Sophocles's The Oedipus Plays.
This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of The Oedipus Plays. Creon, the brother of Jocasta, Oedipus’s queen, returns from the oracle of Apollo and discloses that the plague is punishment for the murder of King Laius, Oedipus’s immediate predecessor, to whom Jocasta was married.
Oedipus accuses Tiresias of playing a part in Laius's death. Tiresias grows angry and says that Oedipus is the cause of the plague—he is the murderer of Laius. As the argument escalates, Oedipus accuses Tiresias of plotting with Creon to overthrow him, while Tiresias.
Plot Overview Antigone.
Antigone and Ismene, the daughters of Oedipus, discuss the disaster that has just befallen them. Their brothers Polynices and Eteocles have. Oedipus accuses Tiresias of playing a part in Laius's death. Tiresias grows angry and says that Oedipus is the cause of the plague—he is the murderer of Laius.
As the argument escalates, Oedipus accuses Tiresias of plotting with Creon to overthrow him, while Tiresias hints at other terrible things that Oedipus has done.
Oedipus goes on to question a messenger and a shepherd, both of whom have information about how Oedipus was abandoned as an infant and adopted by a new .
A plot overview of oedipus