1. Oedipus Rex

2. How the Drama is Structured
Exposition: Chorus (citizens of Thebes) supplicating Zeus and Oedipus to remove the plague from their city. Often begins in the middle of things (in media res).
Complication / Rising Action: An exciting force is employed. Here it is the charge made by Tiresias that Oedipus is the cause of the plague. Complications arise between Creon and Oedipus.
Crisis Action: Oedipus overreaches his good fortune. He insists, against Jocasta’s urging, that the shepherd be brought to him.
Falling Action: A tragic force is employed. Here Oedipus forces truth from the shepherd and knows the horror of his life. The climax (the point of highest reader interest) occurs.
Catastrophe: Punishment or the death of the central character. Sophocles does not offer a restoration of balance and order; fate is in control and no man should be judged happy until after his death.

3. PROLOGUE Characters: Oedipus, Priest, & Creon
This is the Exposition: Chorus (citizens of Thebes) supplicating Zeus and Oedipus to remove the plague from their city. Often begins in the middle of things (in media res).
Discussion: Look closely at the conversation between Creon and Oedipus. How does this foreshadow the king’s accusation of Creon? 

4. PARADOS
Parados means “the processional entry.” Here the chorus enters, singing an ode in two antiphonal groups of seven each. They are divided into Strophes and Antistrophes.
Discussion: Look at how they appeal to their gods for good news and deliverance. How does this relate to the motif of inertia (sin breeds sin) and the need for a god (deus ex machina) to end the permanent motion of human sin?

5. EPISODE 1 Characters: Oedipus, Chorus, & Tiresias
An episode is a modern day scene. An exciting force is employed. Here it is the charge made by Tiresias that Oedipus is the cause of the plague.
Discussion: Look particularly at the arc of Oedipus’s emotion in this exchange with Tiresias. How does he begin smug, confident, arrogant, even distant at first? How do his rage, hubris, blindness, and stubbornness emerge by the end of the scene?

6. ODE 1
Discussion: Look at how the chorus alludes to Tiresias being the voice or eyes of the gods because he reveals Oedipus’s fate and Oedipus as being the voice or embodiment of the city, Thebes. How does the chorus feel conflicted by favoring one over the other?

7. EPISODE 2 Characters: Oedipus, Creon, Chorus, & Jocasta
Complications arise between Creon and Oedipus. 
Discussion: Look carefully at the conversation between Oedipus and Creon. What is revealed about the motivations of both characters through this?
Also, how does Oedipus’s ambition and pride (I rule – even if badly, I am Thebes, etc.) cause him to lose the respect of the Chorus and Creon?
What role does Jocasta play in this episode between her brother and her husband? How does her initial entrance define her character?

8. ODE 2:
Here the chorus wrestles with the world they know as chaos and pray to the gods to restore order. This stems directly from the arguments between Creon and Oedipus.

9. EPISODE 3 Characters: Jocasta, Messenger, Oedipus, & Chorus
This is the peripetia: a change of the situation into its opposite, reversal. The messenger comes to cheer Oedipus and to rid him of his fear concerning his mother; then, by showing him who he is, he does the opposite.
Discussion: This is also the anagnorisis of Jocasta. Read through the dialogue between the Messenger and Oedipus. Pay close attention to when Jocasta stops speaking. When does she know? How can you imagine her face looking as this information is being spoken about the baby she abandoned? Then look at her lines to Oedipus. This is the crisis action.

10. ODE 3
Here the chorus notes, in ominous tones, Thebes’s love of Oedipus, the joy at the prospect of finding him a countryman, and the irony in that he was found on Mt. Cithaeron. This was the land in which lived the Furies. These creatures were the personified curses that plagued guilty criminals. Once you were committed of a crime, you were plagued by these Furies for the rest of your life until a god stopped them. Again, sin breeding sin.

11. EPISODE 4 Characters: Oedipus, Shepherd (Old Man), & Messenger
Falling Action: A tragic force is employed. Here Oedipus forces truth from the shepherd and knows the horror of his life. The climax occurs.
Discussion: Read through the dialogue between the Shepherd and Oedipus. When is zanagnorisis? If it is early in this scene, why does Oedipus continue to pursue a truth that he already recognizes? What does that reveal about him?

12. ODE 4
Appalled at the truth, the chorus sees in Oedipus the fate of all men. He seemed to be the ideal man, but he has been reduced to the lowest station a man may hold.
Discussion: Read the ode closely. The chorus notes that Oedipus could have escaped fate if he had been stillborn. Moreover, the chorus now suffers because Oedipus suffers. Oedipus becomes symbolic of all humanity.

13. EXODOS
Characters: 2nd Messenger, Chorus, Creon, Oedipus, Antigone, & Ismene
This is the Catastrophe: Punishment or the death of the central character. Sophocles does not offer a restoration of balance and order; fate is in control and no man should be judged happy until after his death.
Discussion: How does the image of the two girls with their father strike you? Would it feel different if it were his sons? Read carefully the final words from the chorus. What moral do we as audience members take from the play? Where is our catharsis?

14. More Questions to Help with the Plot
How is the murder of Laius discovered? Why wasn’t it acted on before?
How do the steps taken to discover the murderer involve Oedipus? Trace them from the proclamation, the curse, the sending for Tiresias, the quarrel with Tiresias, with Creon.

15. “Oedipus” means “swollen foot.” Explain the significance.
Early in the play, why does Oedipus believe Creon is using Tiresias to accuse him of being the murderer of Laius?
Explain the connection between Jocasta, the Shepherd, the Corinthian Messenger, and Oedipus.  

16. Does Jocasta blame anyone for what happened. Why does she kill herself
Does Jocasta blame anyone for what happened? Why does she kill herself? Why does Jocasta disregard the prophecies of the oracle as faulty? If she is aware or unaware of her actions, then what does she fear?

17. What steps are taken to quiet Oedipus’ guilty feelings and fears
What steps are taken to quiet Oedipus’ guilty feelings and fears? Trace them through the quarrels, the behavior of Jocasta with Oedipus, the arrival of the Messenger, the confrontation with the shepherd.
Why is Oedipus sure of his guilt? When does he know?
Do you see the oracle as a good or bad “force” in the play? Does it bring pain on purpose? If it is viewed as a symbol of Fate, do you believe that it makes fair or just decisions? How does it limit man?

18. The Greeks, long before Newton determined one of the Laws of Gravity, held firmly to the belief that with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. How do we see this balance in Oedipus Rex and how is it both petrifying and comforting to Man today? 

19. Consider the biblical verse: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12 NIV). How does temptation of those with power reveal true character? Furthermore, what does Sophocles imply about God (or, in his case, gods) if He willingly places us under trial and temptation?

20. Why does Oedipus blind himself instead of killing himself
Why does Oedipus blind himself instead of killing himself? Does he think that suffering would be worse than death? Moreover, Oedipus is the jury and defendant in his own trial. Do you think he gave himself a just trial and sentence?

21. If Oedipus’ act of self-mutilation is prophesied by Fate, then is his choice to not follow Jocasta’s suicide with his own truly an act of free will? And if his self-mutilation is not an act of free will, can he be blamed for any of his sins?

22. Aristotle claims that a tragic hero must be in a high social position and must possess a tragic flaw – something in his character or a failure in his judgment that brings disaster. But if Oedipus only is pursuing Truth for the good of the city of Thebes, could he really be considered a tragic hero?

23. Oedipus prides himself on being intelligent, a solver of riddles, and the riddle her is faced with is his own nature, which he must discover. How does his discovery both destroy and create him? Furthermore, how do you see truth in the play of the following statement: The man - who will know who he is - is doomed.

24. At what specific moment do you feel Jocasta realizes the identity of Oedipus and the fruition of the oracle’s prophesy? Why doesn’t Oedipus realize the truth when she does?

25. To what extent does ambition blind Oedipus to spiritual truth
To what extent does ambition blind Oedipus to spiritual truth? To what extent did the people of Thebes feed him that ambition? Look at the argument between Creon and Oedipus specifically:
O: You are a born traitor.
C: And you don’t understand anything.
O: Whether I do or not – I am in power here.
C: Not if you rule badly.
O: Listen to him, Thebes, my city.
C: My city, too, not yours alone.