Oedipus Rex Mysterious Origins Group 2 Ijeoma, natalie, cathy, snezhana, avinash

Prompt "Oedipus Rex" features a character whose origins are unusual or mysterious. Analyze how these origins shape the character and that character's relationships, and how the origins contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole.

Literal Meaning Literal Meaning: The prompt is asking how the unknown origins or background of a character affect the development of the character and their interactions with the other characters in the work and how does this unknown origin help the development of the entire work. This topic relates to Oedipus because his origins are not investigated until the Corinthian Messenger tells Oedipus that Polybus is not Oedipus' father by blood. Rather, Oedipus is initially assumed not to be of noble birth.  Sophocles chose to write a play about Oedipus because the story of Oedipus was well known among to all Athenians, so it was not difficult for his audience in a Greek theatre to follow the play, the character's origins are only a mystery to the characters in the play.

Prompt Answer In "Oedipus Rex," a character who is featured with mysterious origins is Oedipus himself because Oedipus has lived his entire life believing that Polybus and Merope are his true mother and father, yet he is the son of Laius and Jocasta. Oedipus is shaped into the hero and savior of Thebes, yet the discovery of his origins end up being the cause of his fall. His unknown origins cause him to form an incestuous relationship with Jocasta, his mother who he has also married and reproduced with. The search for Oedipus' true origins builds suspense in the play and shows the king's weakness in controlling his temper.

Literal Meaning Example "You gave me to him? Did you... buy me? Or find me somewhere?" "I found you in the shady valleys of Mount Cithaeron." (Sophocles, 73) The Corinthian Messenger has come to Thebes to bring Oedipus home to Corinth, but Oedipus refuses because he fears that Apollo's prophecy will come true if he returns home when both of his parents still alive. However, when the messenger hears this prophecy he tells Oedipus that Polybus isn't the father of Oedipus so he didn’t have anything to fear in the first place. The messenger tells Oedipus that he received him from another shepherd, then he gave Oedipus to Polybus. This is the first time that Oedipus learns that he is not the son of Polybus.

Literal Meaning Example "What? With a clue like this? Give up the search? Fail to solve the mystery of my birth? Never!" (Sophocles, 77) Oedipus wants to investigate and find out who his true mother and father are whenever he learns that Polybus and Merope are not. Jocasta discourages Oedipus from looking for the answer but he insists on finding out who his parents are. His persistence to find out who his parents are shows how important the idea of family is to Oedipus. He doesn’t care even if his mother is a slave, he just wants to find her. This also shows how Oedipus allows his own self- identity to depend on his background because he loses his patience with Jocasta when she tries to convince him to let it rest, but he will not allow himself to rest until he has discovered who his parents are.

Literary device 1 Catharsis "You will not see...the horrors I have suffered and done. Be dark forever now." (Sophocles 93) "Darkness, dark cloud all around me, enclosing me, unspeakable darkness, irresistible...Ah, I feel the stab of these sharp pains, and with it the memory of my sorrow." (Sophocles 95) After Oedipus learns that Jocasta (his mother and wife) committed suicide and also that he killed Laius (his father), he feels sorrowful and depressed because the prophecy is proven to be true. He has such an emotional breakdown due to feelings of guilt and despondency that he asks Creon to banish him from Thebes, representing his devastating fall as a tragic hero in the novel. This situation displays the effect of Oedipus' mysterious familial origins while also causing the audience to feel a sense of relief and purification. Produces a feeling of "emotional purgation" that an audience feels after witnessing the plight of a tragic hero: can feel emotionally drained, but exultant. 

Literary device 2 Symbolic archetype: Supernatural Intervention “Here is what I was told by the god Apollo. He ordered us, in clear terms, to drive out the thing that defiles this land, which we, he says have fed and cherished.” (Sophocles 6) “It is to his (Laius) death that Apollo’s command clearly refers. We must punish those who killed him – whoever they may be.” (Sophocles 7)   Apollo’s command is what creates the main conflict in the play: the search for Laius’ murderer uncovers Oedipus’ mysterious origins as well as his crimes. In this case, the gods intervene against Oedipus to expose his ignorance of his past. Oedipus sees himself as a strong ruler and takes pride in his intellect, yet his downfall is his lack of self-knowledge. This divine intervention is what sets Oedipus' search for Laius' murderer in motion and, unknowingly, leads to the realization of his own past.  Occurs when the gods intervene to solve some human issue, could be on the side of the hero or (in this case) against him.

Literary Device 3 Cosmic Irony “If that’s what you want to hear first, here it is, a plain statement: Polybus is dead and gone.” (Sophocles 66) "In reality you have nothing to fear. (…) Because Polybus was not related to you in any way. (…) He took you from my hands – I gave you to him." (Sophocles 71-72) Oedipus believes he has avoided the prophecy because Polybus has died of natural causes and is briefly relieved. Cosmic irony is achieved when, on the contrary, Oedipus learns he is not Polybus' son and that the prophecy has actually come true because of his efforts to outrun it. The news only adds to Oedipus’ realization of his crimes and he has more to fear than before. In the end his free will is what completes the prophecy: he chose to leave Corinth and kill a stranger at a crossroads, fully knowing what the prophecy foretold.  Refers to an implied worldview in which characters are led to embrace false hopes of aid or success, only to be defeated by some larger force, such as God or fate.

Significant moment 1 – Tiresias tells Oedipus he is the murderer of Laius After learning about the death of a former king of Thebes (Laius), Oedipus decides that he wants to find and punish the murderer. Oedipus learns that Tiresias knows something about Laius' murder so he demands him to tell him what he knows. Tiresias doesn't want to tell Oedipus at first, but then he gets angry and eventually tells him that he is the individual who murdered Laius and also that Laius is his father. Oedipus, also angry, finds this absurd and is continuously in denial. He refuses to believe Tiresias' statement because it would mean that the prophecy is true. Even though Oedipus can see clearly, he is blind to the truth while Tiresias is actually blind, but can see the truth of Oedipus being the one who murdered Laius. Tiresias: “You are the murderer, you are the unholy defilement of this land” (Sophocles 23).

Significant moment 2 – Jocasta tells Oedipus details of Laius's death As Jocasta retells the story of Laius's death, she mentions that the murder took place at where three highways meet, in a country called Phocis. As Oedipus learns where the murder took place, the physical characteristics of Laius before his death, and the congregation surrounding Laius, he begins to expresses alarm at how much the story fits with the night he murdered Laius. The confusion Oedipus has faced is now clear, as he finds out there is a possibility that he is, in fact, a murderer and the person that the prophecy regards. As a result, he demands that the former slave (now shepherd) be brought to him for questioning. Since Oedipus still believes he is Polybus's son, and fears that he has brought curses upon him, he is driven to confirm whether  the story is true or not by gaining other accounts of Lauis's death. He gains knowledge of his family line through the words of the Corinthian messenger and the Shepherd. Corinthian messenger reveals that he gave Oedipus to Polybus after finding his ankles pinned together. Leads to his discovery of who his true parents were and how Polybus was not his true father. Oedipus: "What? With a clue like this? Give up the search? Fail to solve the mystery of my birth? Never!" (pg 77)

Significant moment 3 – Oedipus hears from both the messenger and shepherd Despite Jocasta's plea for Oedipus to stop trying to find out who he is and where he came from, Oedipus pushes on, saying he must not give up. Corinthian messenger tells Oedipus that he and the child from the Laius household that was passed down are one and the same. The shepherd, a servant of the Laius household, is brought in. Laius tells Oedipus that he was passed down from Jocasta to other people in an attempt to prevent the prophecy from coming true. As Oedipus finally connects the dots, he realizes that he was the murderer all along and that he has brought down shame and curses. Oedipus has uncovered the truth of his family line, and with the death of his mother by hanging, he has finally caused the prophecy to come full circle. Shepherd: "If you are the man he says you are, you were born the most unfortunate of men." (pg 89) Jocasta Shepherd Corinthian messenger Polybus

Extra Prompt #1 1988: In “Oedipus Rex,” some of the significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. Describe how Sophocles manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. The most significant event for Oedipus was when he finally had an awakening and accepted that he was the one who killed his father and married his mother. Sophocles gives this event its excitement by allowing the audience to know the truth beforehand. This dramatic irony allows the audience to wait in suspense as Oedipus finally accepts the truth about himself that has been obvious to the audience for so long. Sophocles is able to make the awakening seem so climactic by describing the effect this internal event had on Oedipus’s external life. Oedipus gouged his eyes out and volunteered to go into exile, which symbolizes how he is now a changed man who has accepted his fate.

Extra Prompt #2 2000: In “Oedipus Rex” identify the mystery and explain how the investigation illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. The initial event that starts the conflict in Oedipus is the mystery of the plague and why it is harming the people of Thebes. The mystery causes Oedipus to further investigate into the matter, and he starts becoming more doubtful than ever before after learning about the prophecies from Tiresias and Apollo. The investigation represents the process of Oedipus accepting the truth about himself. After Tiresias gives him the answer to who killed Laius, it takes Oedipus a significant amount of time to accept the answer. He is unable to immediately accept the truth and instead accuses Creon and Tiresias of plotting against him. Eventually, however, he solves the mystery and proves that he can clearly see the truth. This moment is symbolized by him gouging out his eyes, since he chooses to take his own physical sight after being metaphorically blind for so long. Oedipus is shown to finally accept his fate at the end of the mystery as he begs to be exiled and shamed for life.

Citations Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Translated by Bernard Knox, New York, POCKET BOOKS, 1994. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved= 0ahUKEwjtupSMg97ZAhUM74MKHWlsAeQQjRwIBg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.storyboardthat.c om%2Fstoryboards%2Fseraphinan%2Foedipus-nemesis- catharsis&psig=AOvVaw3wThqKpN1xi_mrNZecdWhB&ust=1520643058113137 http://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_sophocles_oedipus_king.html https://interestingliterature.com/2017/01/10/a-summary-and-analysis-of-sophocles-oedipus-the- king/

Guess The Character Game

This is... Oedipus

This is... King Laius

This is... Tiresias

This is... Queen Jocasta