Oedipus Rex Part 3

Question 1

Identify a) the Corinthian messenger, and b) the shepherd.

Answer 1

a) The messenger is from Corinth who wants the truth to come out. He is the one who got Oedipus from the shepherd.
b) The shepherd gave Oedipus to the messenger as a baby. He does not want the truth to come out.

Question 2

Explain how the Corinthian messenger and the shepherd are connected.

Answer 2

The shepherd is the one who have baby Oedipus to the messenger (who took him to Polybus.)

Question 3

Why does the shepherd insist that his memory is failing him?

Answer 3

He does not want the truth to come out, he is afraid of Oedipus.

Question 4

Read lines 52-70 and explain how Oedipus treats the old shepherd.
- Why does he treat the shepherd this way?

Answer 4

Oedipus threatens and proceeds to torture the shepherd until he speaks. He is very aggressive with the sheperd.

Question 5

What info does the shepherd finally give Oedipus in lines 72-74?
- What do we call this moment in the play?

Answer 5

The shepherd says the baby given to him was the son of Laius. He also says Jocosta will know more.
- the climax

Question 6

Why does the shepherd insist on bringing Jocasta into the conversation?

Answer 6

She’s the one who gave Oedipus to him, and he know’s she’s his mother and that she has all of the answers.

Question 7

How has the shepherd tried to “cheat” fate?

Answer 7

He did no let Oedipus die as a baby as he was intended to. Instead he gave him to someone else out of pity.

Question 8

Explain the following lines from the chorus:

a) “I count no man blest. You outraged all men” (107)
b) “Time, all seeing Time has dragged you into the light” (128)

Answer 8

a) They believe in him so much that if he is considered “not blessed”, then they believe that no man should be considered blessed.
b) Time is given credit for Oedipus’s fall. Truth is revealed through time passing.

Question 9

Quote an epigram in the palace messenger’s speech, lines 138-148.

Answer 9

“The pains we inflict on ourselves hurt most of all.” (147-148)

Question 10

According to the palace messenger, how did Jocasta first react to the realization that she had married and had children with her son?

Answer 10

She runs to her chambers while pulling her hair out and screaming. She eventually hung herself in her room.

Question 11

According to the palace messenger, how did Oedipus first react to the realization that he had married and had children with his mother?

Answer 11

Oedipus breaks into her chamber screaming and asking for a sword (wanting to kill her or himself.) He does not see her so he breaks into her room and sees her dead. He embraces her.

Question 12

Describe the last image that Oedipus sees.

Answer 12

The last image he sees is dead Jocasta swinging back and forth.

Question 13

a) How does Oedipus bling himself?
b) How is this action a symbolic act?
c) Explain how this act is “poetic justice.”

Answer 13

a) He takes Jocasta’s broaches from her robe and digs them in his eyes and across his face to blind himself.
b) He refused to see the truth throughout the play, and now that he is blind he sees the truth.
c) The punishment seems to fit the crime to him. He blinds himself instead of killing himself because it’s more painful to be blind with that being the last image in his head than to be dead. He thinks that killing himself would be the easy way out.

Question 14

Why does Oedipus come outside and face the chorus after he blinds himself?

Answer 14

He comes out to show them what he has done; to show them he brought justice onto himself and that he is accepting responsibility.

Question 15

What does Oedipus indicate in these lines: “Dear friend, sill here?/ Standing by me, still with a care for me,/… loyal to the last” (246-249)

Answer 15

Oedipus indicates that he still believes they are his loyal subjects even after all of this and his blindness.

Question 16

What is Oedipus indication with these lines: “But the hand that struck my eyes was mine, mine alone- no one else- I did it all myself!” (256-258).

Answer 16

Oedipus indicates that he brought justice to himself. He is trying to emphasize that he is fair, and that they shouldn’t pity him.

Question 17

a) Whom does Oedipus curse after he is blind?

b) What is the curse, and why does Oedipus say this?

Answer 17

a) He curses the shepherd.

b) He says this because he wishes he had died and he curses the shepherd for saving him.

Question 18

Explain how the words “I am Oedipus” have a different meaning at the beginning of the play than they do at the end of the play.

Answer 18

At the beginning these words showed confidence and at the end his claim to fame is that he’s hated by the gods.

Question 19

What is Oedipus’s last act as King of Thebes?

Answer 19

He exiles himself from Thebes.

Question 20

Why does Oedipus feel the need to list all of his crimes in lines 317-330?

Answer 20

He wants to confess everything to everyone, so he has nothing to hide.

Question 21

“Put your requests to Creon. Here he is,/Just when we need him. He’ll have a plan, he’ll act./ How that ht’s the sole defense of the country” (337-340).
Why are these lines, spoken by the Leader of the chorus, so important? What do the lines show?

Answer 21

These lines show transfer of power. The chorus used to support Oedipus, but now they support Creon. They are putting their trust in him.

Question 22

a) What is Creon’s reaction to Oedipus’s public display in lines 344-353?
b) Quote an epigram from that speech.

Answer 22

a) He is disgusted by Oedipus and makes him go inside.

b) “Kindred alone should see a kinsman’s shame. This is obscene” (352-353).

Question 23

What is important about Creon’s insistence that “First I wanted the god to clarify my duties… in such a crisis/ it’s better to ask precisely what to do.”

Answer 23

It shows he’s reestablishing the people’s faith in the gods and bringing religion back after Oedipus and Jocasta threw it away. He’s restoring order.

Question 24

In lines 370-395, Oedipus first commands and then begs Creon for several things. Why does he change his tone from commanding to pleading?

Answer 24

He realizes that he is no longer in charge; Creon is in charge now so he has to beg.

Question 25

In lines 370-395, what does Oedipus have to say about:

a) Jocasta?
b) Mt. Cithaeron?
c) his sons?
d) his daughters?

Answer 25

a) He asks that they bury Jocasta.
b) He wishes to live and die here because that’s where he was intended to die in the first place.
c) He asks to allow them to make their own way, and that Creon need not worry about them.
d) He tells Creon to take care of his daughters because they will suffer and will be alone because of their father’s curse.

Question 26

What is line 395 particularly important?

Answer 26

He says “Please… my King.” Oedipus has to beg Creon to let him see his daughters. The tables have turned and Creon is in charge now.

Question 27

Why does Oedipus bless Creon?

Answer 27

He lets Oedipus see his daughters.

Question 28

What does Oedipus mean when he tells his daughter that they will be “cut off” from public gatherings? Include in your answer the reason that they will be “cut off.”

Answer 28

They will be social outcasts because of their father’s sins.

Question 29

What does Oedipus predict for his daughters’ future marriages?

Answer 29

They won’t get married because of their father’s curse. No one will want them, and they will always be known for what his father did. No man will want Oedipus’s curse to rub off on them.

Question 30

When Oedipus reaches out to touch Creon after like 441, why does Creon “draw back”?

Answer 30

Creon is disgusted by Oedipus and pities him. He doesn’t think Oedipus is worthy, and he doesn’t want the curse to rub off on him.

Question 31

Summarize Oedipus’s final words to his daughters (445-448).

Answer 31

He tells his daughters to pray that they live in a place they can grow and to have a better life than he had.

Question 32

What is Oedipus’s lat request to Creon, and what is Creon’s reaction?

Answer 32

His last request is for Creon to exile him and Creon’s reaction is that he must ask the gods permission first.

Question 33

a) Why does Creon say “Still the king, the master of all things?” (462).
b) What is Creon’s tone in asking this question?
c) What does the question and the tone reveal about how Creon views Oedipus?

Answer 33

a) He says this to mock him and let him know he is now in charge.
b) He has a mocking tone.
c) It shows that he has no respect for Oedipus and looks at him as an embarrassment.

Question 34

Quote Creon’s final epigram.

Answer 34

“None of your power follows you through life.” (464)

Question 35

Summarize the exodos, the chorus’s exit speech.

Answer 35

The chorus talks about Oedipus’s rise to power by talking about the riddle. They also talk about His fall from power. They believe that no man will find happiness til death.

Question 36

What is the central theme or idea of the play? Cite 3 examples from the play to support this idea/theme.

Answer 36

The theme of Oedipus Rex is that fate and that you cannot escape it.
Three examples:
1. Laius and Jocasta tried to escape fate by attempting to kill Oedipus as a baby.
2. The shepherd tried to escape fate by not leaving Oedipus to die on the mountain.
3. Oedipus and Jocasta marry because they did not know they were mother and son.

In all of these examples, the characters tried to escape fate, but their attempts did not work. Oedipus killed Laius and married his mother. That was his fate.

Question 37

Identify Oedipus’s tragic flaw? What character trait seems to be responsible for his downfall?

Answer 37

Oedipus’s tragic flaw is pride. Pride and anger led to his downfall.

Question 38

They play is full of dramatic irony. Cite 5 examples, from anywhere in the play, that stand out as models of dramatic irony.

Answer 38

1. “You are sick to death all of you, but sick as you are, not one is sick as I” (line 73). Oedipus says this before he knows he is the murderer.
2. “No, I’ll start again- I’ll bring it all to light myself” (line 150). Oedipus says he will bring the truth to light himself not knowing he will end up bringing himself to light.
3. “Whoever killed the king may decide to kill me too” (line 157). Oedipus does not know he killed the kind and eventually killed himself.
4. “He is the plague, the heart of corruption” (276). Oedipus says these things about the murderer without knowing it’s him.
5. Oedipus curses the murderer in lines 280-290. He does no know he is cursing himself.

Question 39

With what extended metaphor does Sophocles describe Thebes and the events that occur in this play?

Answer 39

Sophocles uses the ship and its captain as a metaphor for Oedipus and Thebes. Thebes is the ship, Oedipus is the Captain.

Question 40

Explain how Oedipus is a tragic hero. Look back at your background notes for this information.

Answer 40

A tragic hero is a character who makes a decision that leads to their own downfall. They fall from greatness. Oedipus was king, but was exposed as the murderer of Laius and was removed as king.

A tragic hero is an extraordinary person with a tragic flaw. Oedipus is strong, mighty, and smart, but has a tragic flaw which is pride.

A tragic hero experiences a moment of realization that he/she has made a mistake. Oedipus realizes he killed his father and married his mother. Because of this realization he gouges his eyes out.

A tragic hero has to suffer. Oedipus gouged his own eyes out and banished himself to Mt. Citheron to die.