Oedipus the King By Sophocles
Origin Oedipus is raised in a city called Corinth His father is Polybus His mother is Merope He is content until a drunk man at a bar says his parents weren’t in fact his parents Oedipus secretly goes to the oracle at Delphi
Fate The oracle tells him his fate is to kill his father and sleep with his mother In fear he flees Corinth While he is traveling, he kills and old man and guards on the road He continues on to Thebes
Thebes Oedipus defeats a sphinx and becomes king of Thebes Thebes is suffering a plague Oedipus is told that the plague is a curse The curse is because the murderer of the last king was never found
More Thebes The blind seer of Thebes is requested, and indirectly tells Oedipus he’s the killer] Oedipus has him sent away Creon is accused of treason An argument ensues, Jocasta comes and ends it
Jocasta Jocasta tries to ease Oedipus’ anger by telling him her old husband’s fate Laius’ fate was to be killed by his son She reveals that he was struck down where three roads meet Oedipus stresses, as he cursed the Laius’ killer
The Palace Oedipus tells how he killed a man once where three roads meet The only surviving witness is called to the palace While waiting for him to arrive, a messenger from Corinth comes Polybus has died, Oedipus can rule Corinth
Revelations Oedipus reveals the curse to the messenger The messenger tells Oedipus that Polybus and Merope aren’t his parents He got baby Oedipus from a shepherd
The Shepherd The shepherd arrives, and relents to torture Lauis was Oedipus’ father Oedipus disappears into the palace
Pain Jocasta has hung herself Oedipus uses the gold brooches of her dress to dig his eyes out
Exile Creon takes control of Thebes Oedipus sees his daughters, then is exiled from the city