Oedipus Rex by Sophocles- Greek Tragedy - Summary

Oedipus Rex

           Oedipus Rex, by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, stands as one of the great masterpieces of Greek tragedy. Written in the 5th century BC, this dramatic work explores the tragic downfall of Oedipus, a noble and revered king, as he unwittingly fulfils a dire prophecy.

             

                 The play revolves around Oedipus' relentless pursuit of truth in the wake of a plague ravaging his city-state, Thebes. As he unravels the mystery, Oedipus gradually realises that he himself is the cause of the curse, having unknowingly killed his father and married his own mother, Queen Jocasta. The story deals with themes of fate, free will, and human action, highlighting the limitations of human knowledge and the tragic irony of Oedipus' situation.

               Sophocles' masterful storytelling, powerful dialogue, and complex characters make Oedipus Rex a seminal work of dramatic literature. It delves deep into the human psyche, raising profound questions about the nature of identity, morality, and destiny. Oedipus Rex continues to resonate with audiences today, reminding us of the fragility of human existence and the inevitable grip of fate.

About the author(Life and Works):

          Sophocles, one of the greatest classical writers of World Literature, was the younger contemporary of Aeschylus and the older contemporary of Euripides. He was born around 497BC at Colonus, a village outside the walls of Athens.

               He is best known to us for his tragedies. He wrote over 123 plays but only seven have survived: Aias (early 440's b.c.e.; Ajax, 1729), constructed around Ajax, the mighty hero of the Trojan War whose pride drives him to treachery and finally to his own ruin and suicide some two-thirds of the way through the play; Antigonī (441 b.c.e.; Antigone, 1729), Trachinai (435-429 b.c.e.; The Women of Trachis, 1729), OidipousTyrannos (c. 429 b.c.e.; Oedipus Tyrannus, 1715), Ēlektra (418-410 b.c.e.; Electra, 1649), Philoktītis (409 b.c.e.; Philoctetes, 1729), and Oidipous epi Kolōnōi (401 b.c.e.; Oedipus at Colonus, 1729).

                   Sophocles' excellence lies on his plot construction. He beautifully weaves the complex yet charming plots of his every tragedy along with the employment of the protagonists who are characterized by 'tragic flaw' or 'hubris' that leads them to their ultimate tragic end. Sophocles develops his characters' rush to tragedy with great economy, concentration, and dramatic effectiveness, creating a coherent, suspenseful situation whose sustained and inexorable onrush came to epitomize the tragic form to the classical world. In his tragedies he highlights the ignorance, delusion and folly of people. In his treatment of language in his works he is very flexible, as in he chooses language that suits the dramatic needs of the moment. The language can be ponderously weighty or swift moving, emotionally intense or easygoing, highly decorative or perfectly plain and simple. In creating high dramatic tension and tragic irony, Sophocles is unsurpassed. Even Aristotle considers his "Oedipus Rex' 'the masterpiece of construction'. He presents 'the gods' as the natural forces of the universe to which human beings are unknowingly or unwillingly subject to. In most of his works, human beings are projected as a puppet of fate. It is important to mark, Sophocles' treatment of human sufferings and pain somehow in his tragedies is the projection of the fact that these are the emotions or factors that make a person more human or more genuinely himself.

                Sophocles' memorable characters, and his insights into the way human destiny is shaped by fate and frailty have continued to influence Western playwrights throughout the century. In short, Sophocles is one of the best classical dramatists who highly shaped, influenced and filled the literary cell.

Major characters:

1. Oedipus-The king of Thebes, husband of Jocasta 

2. Jocasta-The queen of Thebes, wife of Oedipus 

3. Creon- The brother of Jocasta 

4. Tiresias-A blind prophet who can see the past, present and future 

5. A Shepherd

6. Messenger- comes from Corinth

Setting: The royal house of Thebes

Summary

                The play opens during the plague years in Thebes. Depressing and demise, the humans don't realize what to do about their situation. Nothing-now not even prayers to the gods-is helping.Oedipus is an excellent and kind king, and he feels the pain of his people. Drawing close the devoted however despairing worshippers at his altar, he asks what he can do. A priest of Zeus, the king of all of the gods, details the chaotic situation of the people. Death is everywhere. Crops, cattle, human beings all are being afflicted. In spite of the devastation, the priest still has faith in the gods and in his king, and having made offerings at the altar he now begs Oedipus to do something.

                 The king says that he has already performed something he has sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the Oracle at Delphi for some advice. As omnipresent in historical Greek political opinions as political pundits are these days, the Oracle at Delphi mixed the role of a spiritual shrine with that of a present day spin medical doctor. The Oracle's pronouncements had been taken seriously with the aid of many effective human beings, and it's miles a sign of humility and of respect for the gods that Oedipus sends for its advice.

                 Creon returns, and Oedipus straight away asks for the reason of the plague. Creon suggests that it'd pleasant if it been delivered in personal, but Oedipus insists on having Creon inform his news publicly. The news seems simple enough, at first. The Oracle has said that the murder of the previous king, Laius, need to be avenged.

                The complex element is a way to do this. The crime has gone unsolved for decades, and any clues the murderer left have lengthy on the grounds that disappeared. Oedipus mocks the people for having let such a criminal offense pass unsolv
ed and unpunished. He vows to locate the killer, serve justice, and stop the plague.

                    In a protracted speech, the chorus mourns the dead, and begs the gods for help.

               Oedipus hears the fervent prayers, and tells the chorus to look to him for deliverance. He declares his intention to discover and punish whoever killed Laius, and he warns of horrible punishments for everyone who hides the reality. The chief of the chorus suggests that the blind prophet Tiresias is probably able to assist, and the ever-vigilant Oedipus says a message has already been sent to him. That is an early foreshadowing of the interplay between sight and blindness that builds during the play. It's one of the central ironies of the play that the blind old man is the first to see the truth.

                    For all his strength, intelligence, and wisdom, Oedipus is unaware of the important and most tragic information of his life that he's the man who murdered his father and that he has taken his biological mother as his wife. Even though he has built his existence to avoid the destiny that was foretold to him, he has failed to see that all his efforts have only led him in the direction of fulfilling that grim prophecy.

                      When the chief sees Tiresias coming, he proclaims that the prophet is the person who will convict the old king's assassinator. He speaks more profoundly than he knows.

                    Oedipus welcomes the prophet, with praise for his powers and his information. However the seer is strangely reticent. He wishes only to head back home, without speaking.

                       At first cajolingly after which angrily, Oedipus insists on listening to what Tiresias has to say. Tiresias says that Oedipus is the cause of the plagues, and that the king is the murderer. In a rage, Oedipus rejects Tiresias and his vision and prescient, and accuses the seer of conspiring with Creon against the throne.

                   The leader of the chorus attempts to smooth over the state of affairs, but it's too late. Tiresias answers Oedipus furiously, saying that the king can see far much less than a blind man can. The phase ends with mutual threats and insults.

               Next segment starts with a long music from the chorus, whose faith in the strength of prophecy and in Oedipus, their King, is being sorely tested. One thing is certain that a person who committed the terrible crime of murdering Laius is free within the town and fate lies in wait to punish him, the chorus says. However the prophet Tiresias, who has always been reliable, is now making horrible accusations against a king who has been brave, just and wise, casting the chorus into turmoil. Figuring out to dispose of any decision, the chorus needs evidence earlier than accepting the charges Tiresias has made.

                  The gods, who understand the truth, may want to deliver the truth the chorus seeks, however Zeus and Apollo are keeping what they understand to themselves. While the chorus waits for the gods to talk, they wish that Oedipus turns out to be innocent.

               Creon enters then, proclaiming his innocence. Indignant and feeling wronged, he wants to confront his brother-in-law over the charges of conspiracy and treason that Oedipus has publicly hurled at him and Tiresias. The chief of the chorus advises calm, saying Creon need to bear in mind overlooking the incident. But that isn't going to happen, because Oedipus enters and repeats the charge.

                The two men interrogate each other, seeking to prove guilt and innocence, and Creon cleverly argues that he doesn't want the throne. Being the king's brother-in-law offers Creon all of the prestige and wealth of the ruler with none of his duties, Creon says. The chief of the chorus hears cause in what Creon says, and shows that Oedipus is being hasty in condemning his relative. Oedipus rejects this consideration, announcing he desires Creon dead. The two men resume their argument, and the chief of the chorus attempts to interfere while Jocasta enters.

                   Jocasta is Creon's sister and the wife of Oedipus, and she breaks up the fight among them by means of shaming them into silence. She gets from each man, Oedipus and Creon, a short version of their aspect of the story, after which she asks Oedipus to believe her brother's denials and to spare his existence. The chorus facets with Jocasta and Creon, and says that Oedipus might do well now not to execute a kinsman on a whim. Oedipus yields, but without grace. Creon leaves, muttering prophetically that Oedipus is the kind of guy who is going to same distance. Oedipus and Jocasta quarrel over Creon, and the refrain interrupts them, pronouncing there is hassle enough in Thebes without the royal couple combating and making matters worse.

                 The refrain offers Oedipus and Jocasta some privacy, and the Queen asks the King why he is so disenchanted. Oedipus says that Creon has planned with Tiresias to put the charge of the murder of Laius on him.

                 Seeking to calm her husband, Jocasta says that she and Laius long ago outwitted the gods and their prophets, and that he want not worry them either. Proclaiming victory over the entirety sacred, Jocasta tells Oedipus how she and her first husband, Laius, cheated fate. It turned into prophesied that their son would kill his father, and Jocasta and Laius undid that foretelling by using forsaking their infant child to starve on a mountainside the whole thing tuned out best, Jocasta says, and there's nothing to worry about now.

               In preference to calming Oedipus, his spouse's narrative makes him more disturbed. Portions of memory begin forming themselves into horrifying shapes in his thoughts. As he asks Jocasta further on the details of the previous king's homicide that filtered again to the palace, Oedipus starts to suspect that he murdered Laius. Jocasta tells Oedipus now not to jump to conclusions, and they comply with send for the freed slave who's the murder's sole surviving witness. Oedipus then offers a long speech. He still believes himself to be the son of the Corinthian king, Polybus, however he's troubled through a dim memory of a drunken reveler at a feast pronouncing otherwise. On the time, his father and mother denied that he became followed, and he believed them.

                He remembers his visit to the Oracle at Delphi, where he heard for himself the prophecy that he would kill his father and wed his mother. A loving son to the only father and mother he has ever recognized, and a bold and shrewd man who believes he can use his powers to thwart destiny, Oedipus fled and in no way looks back.

                Wandering, Oedipus soon meets and kills avintage man and the escorts accompanying him. The confrontation begins as an ordinary roadside combat, however it escalates speedy into himicide. The antique man commenced the fight, in step with the version of events that Oedipus recollects. Via almost jogging Oedipus off the street-after which placing him-the antique man asked for a combat. However what the antique man got changed into demise, and the achievement of the prophecy that he would be killed by his son. Oedipus is simply beginning to figure out who the vintage guy turned into. Telling the tale, Oedipus feels his memories connect now with the present, and he sees for the primary time that he killed the stranger on the identical crossroads wherein Laius was murdered.

               Feeling humility for the first time in many scenes, Oedipus prays to the gods that someone can someway clean him of the crime he now suspects he committed.

            Jocasta solutions by telling Oedipus to place his faith in her. Just as she and her first husband thwarted fate once they deserted their infant child, so Oedipus outran his future while he fled Corinth.

              No longer exactly, says the refrain, calling down the judgment of the gods. Livid on the prideful manner wherein Oedipus and Jocasta have proclaimed themselves to be capable of outdoing the prophesy of the gods, the chorus says that its contributors will worship the gods no extra if the prophecy goes unfulfilled. Oedipus is distraught, and Jocasta says she feels helpless. A Messenger from Corinth appears. He proclaims that Polybus, the King of Corinth is dead, and that the people want Oedipus to be their king. Listening to this, Oedipus believes that he's now free of the prophecy of murdering his father. If death is occurred to his father, Polybus, then Oedipus cannot likely dedicate patricide. He celebrates his victory over oracles and prophecy, and Jocasta stocks his pleasure in prevented fate.

                 This victory turns out to be illusory. Involved approximately the part of the prophecy that says he'll marry his mother, Oedipus says he must live far from Corinth so long as she is alive and nicely there. Attempting to comfort Oedipus, the Messenger from Corinth speaks and finishes up revealing shattering the truth.

              King Polybus raised Oedipus as his own son, the Messenger says, and Queen Merope cherished the child in addition to any herbal mother, but they had been most affectionate foster father and mother. So, Oedipus is free to go back to Corinth anytime he likes without fear of illicit relations along with his mother, because Merope isn't any blood relation of his, the Messenger

               In place of bringing alleviation to Oedipus, this information will increase his distress. He presses the Messenger for details, and the Messenger says that the kid raised by Polybus and Merope become a foundling, rescued from a hillside wherein he became deserted to hunger, his ankles bound collectively. A shepherd found out the child and brought it to

                 the Messenger, who turned it over to the childless royal couple on the palace. Oedipus asks for a description of the shepherd, and the Messenger says as far as his recollection, the person turned into a servant of Laius. Decided to know the complete incident, Oedipus asks if each person within the Chorus knows this shepherd. The chief of the Chorus says that's up to Jocasta to mention.

              Jocasta is starting to suspect the fact that the infant she abandoned not only killed Laius however is now her husband. She begs Oedipus to stop his quest for the truth.

              Jocasta asks Oedipus to drop the concept of finding the shepherd who stored him from abandonment, but he does not hear of it. As deaf to her pleas as he is unaware of the reality about himself, he vows to discover his origins. Leaving the moment with a cry of anguished grief, Jocasta issues the chief of the chorus, who indicates to Oedipus that the Queen's sorrow may want to lead to something sordid. He's proper, as the play's earliest audiences knew, however Oedipus brushes off the leader's issues. Vowing to find out his origins, Oedipus once again displays his unerring potential to walk into problem through appearing on his ardour.

                         Problem seems quick enough, inside the character of the Shepherd. Who prefer to let the name of the game remain buried, the Shepherd attempts to avoid answering the questions Oedipus asks him. That tactic elicits threats of torture and dying from Oedipus, who's bound and determined to know what the Shepherd so desperately needs now not to inform. The secret is found out right away once the Shepherd decides that there's no point in seeking to press the truth any more. The baby that Jocasta and Laius deserted was the same infant who become raised at Corinth and who got here domestic to Thebes to kill Laius and marry the dead king's wife.

                      Oedipus fast realizes the horror of what he has been encountered, and he rushes offstage.

                     The Chorus reacts by first singing of the glorious achievements Oedipus gained for himself inside the world. An historic Athenian instance of the first-rate and brightest of guys, he changed into mighty, he became clever, and he became simply. But that didn't spare him from being the most tremendously cursed man or woman that everybody within the Chorus can consider, the members say.

                    Piling tragedy afer tragedy, a Messenger from the palace comes onstage to announce that Jocasta has hanged herself. He offers the Chorus every detail-how she tore her hair from her head on her way to the royal bed room, how she bolted the doors close at the back of her and the way she wailed with grief and sorrow.

                      Oedipus is likewise with distress, and the Messenger describes how the king followed Jocasta to the bed room and broke down the doorways. Within the chamber, Oedipus found his spouse and mother-suspended with her head in a noose, swinging back and forth, lifeless.

                       The Messenger tells the chorus that once Oedipus lightly reduced Jocasta's frame and laid it down, the king pulled pins from her garments and blinded himself, riding the points of the long shafts again and again into his eyes. As he blinds himself, Oedipus rages that he has long been metaphorically blind and now he chooses to be physically blind.

                    The chorus is moved to pity, however shudders on the ugly sight of the blinded king, blood streaming down his face, publicly pleading responsible to the crimes that have just been found out. Oedipus tells the chorus that he has selected blindness because maiming himself is the only aspect he has ever achieved in his existence that become not prophesied by using the gods.

              The chorus solutions that it is better to die than to be alive and blind, however Oedipus insists that his self-mutilation became the proper issue to do. As a minimum now he'll not should see his father's eyes when they meet in dying, he says. He also can't bear to observe his youngsters, his kinsmen or the human beings of Thebes, he says. Creon comes onstage, flanked through guards, and he orders the men to deliver Oedipus deep in the palace to spare the ruined man from turning into a public spectacle.

          Oedipus begs Creon for banishment, requests a decent burial for Jocasta, and asks that his daughters be sorted. His sons will manage, he says they're guys and they are able to continually make a dwelling with their palms if want be. However the girls had been princesses reared for marriage to royal guys, and they haven't any hope of finding husbands now, Oedipus says. Creon offers most of these requests, and brings the girls to Oedipus for farewell embraces. Oedipus apologizes to them for the horrors they ought to now stay with and begs them to by some means discover a manner to go beyond the awful circumstances in their lives.

              The play ends with the chorus saying that, no matter his would possibly and brilliance, Oedipus has ended up beaten by sorrow. If this could happen to Oedipus, the man who solved the riddle of the Sphinx and who became an effective king, it may occur to anybody, the Chorus says.