1. By: Emily, Glaiza, Michael, & Andrew
Oedipus presentation
By: Emily, Glaiza, Michael, & Andrew

2. KILLED A GUY Prompt DIDN'T KNOW HIS NAME
Choose a character who views the past with such feelings as reverence, bitterness, or longing. Show with clear evidence from the work how the character’s view of the past is used to develop a theme in work.
The prompt is asking to pick a character in the story with one of the three views/feelings about their past and reflect on how it affected their current life.
KILLED A GUY
DIDN'T KNOW HIS NAME

3. ANAlysis
Oedipus is a character whom longs for answers of his past. He is left unknowing who he truly is and where he came from. With his longing for truth of who and where he is from created a theme of emptiness in Oedipus leading him down a dreary road to his unrevealed answers.
“My father was Polybus, a Dorian, and my mother Merope, of Corinth. I was regarded as the greatest man in the city until something to me quite by chance, a strange thing, but not worth all the attention I paid it.” (55)
Sophocles strove for a clarity of language with great density of content. He took complex ideas like Oedipus' misfortunes and fate and, using irony, gave symbolism to the meaning. This is in relation to Sophocles idea of presenting Oedipus Rex in Greek theatre.

4. Irony: dramatic when Tiresias has a point
Irony was a major downfall for Oedipus. It showed his fate and taught him that you never know when you could be wrong. With this help from irony he was able to not try and outsmart the prophecies.
“I say that without knowing it you are living in shameful intimacy with your nearest and dearest. You do not see the evil in which you live.” (25)
This Dramatic irony from Tiresias proved Oedipus of his wrong doings and blindness to his actions. This was the for oedipus to realize the only person harming him is himself.
when Tiresias has a point

5. Symbolism: Oedipus’ Swollen Foot
Oedipus Rex
Not only is Oedipus’ name in greek “swollen foot,” but it also is in regards to his feet being pinned together at birth in hopes that he would die. This was a deed that Oedipus had not known of until later on in the story. His lack of knowledge of his true past is what shaped his life as an adult. After beginning his quest to find the murderer of Laius, the accusations that he was the killer left him longing for truth about his past, motivating him to find the culprit even more.
His swollen foot represents his fate. It is something he cannot control, and it is something that restrains him from living the live that he desires.
Swollen foot

6. Archetype: The quest
To rescue Thebes from the plague, Apollo said that they must “punish those who killed [Laius].” Oedipus calls for Tiresias to get more information about the murderer only to be told that it is him. At the beginning in his quest for the truth about the murderer and his identity, he is narrow-minded and prideful and denies the information he is presented. Later, he unravels the truth, grieves, and banishes himself from Thebes.

7. Significant Moment: Oedipus sees Jocasta Hanging
Family Tree
After learning of his true past Oedipus rushes to see Jocasta, only to find that she was dead.
This horror pushed him over the edge, causing him to stab his eyes, making him blind.
This act was caused by Oedipus’ false truth about his past.
If he had only known of his true origins he would not have killed his father or married and birthed kids with his mother.
Laius
Jocasta
Ismene
Oedipus
Antigone
Eteocles
Polynices

8. Significant Moment: Oedipus encounters the Corinthian Messenger and Shepherd
The Corinthian Messenger affirmed that Oedipus was adopted and the Shepherd admitted that he did not kill Laius and Jocasta’s child but gave him to the messenger instead. This moment is significant because their testimonies solidified the truth about Oedipus. In relation to the prompt, he reacted to the revelations by feeling remorse that he killed his father and married and had children with his mother. Ultimately, he realizes that he isn’t an almighty king; he is just another human with no control over his destiny.

9. Examples from text
“O Cithaeron, why did you receive me? Why did you not take and kill me on the sport, so that I should never reveal my origin to mankind?” (99)
“I would never have become my father’s killer, never have been known to all men as my own mother’s husband. Now I am godforsaken, the son of an accursed marriage, my own father’s successor in the marriage bed. If there is any evil worse than the worst that a man can suffer – Oedipus has drawn for his lot.” (98)
These quotes clearly illustrate the pain and regret he feels looking back at his past. At the end of the book, he is so tormented with the revelations that he even feels bitter given a chance to live.

10. Significant moment: Beginning of oedipus curiosity and search
Oedipus’ curiosity to discover the truth about his history exponentially grows after the story that Jocasta relays to him about the circumstance of Laius, the previous king’s murder. Having encountered a murder scene himself at a crossroads, Oedipus suspects similar details from the story Jocasta had told him and his own experience of murdering five men.
Jocasta, in her fear of Oedipus’ curiosity, says “In God’s name, if you place any value on your life, don’t pursue the search” (Sophocles 77), because she dreads and notices the foreshadowing of the words Tiresias, the blind prophet, speaks at the beginning of the novel. But originally, Oedipus “was running to a place [he] would never see that shameful prophecy come true” (Sophocles 56), and since he believed that it never did come true, he never wanted to shy away from the truth or give in to predetermined fate. His journey and downfall began and ended with Jocasta’s testimony of her husband’s death.
when the mother of your children
turns out to be your mamma too

11. 2011 Prompt
In a novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life “is a search for justice.” Choose a character from “Oedipus Rex” who responds in some significant way to justice or injustice. Then analyze the character’s understanding of justice, the degree to which the character’s search for justice is successful, and the significance of this search for the work as a whole.
Oedipus is practically judge, juror, and executioner embodied within a single body. He strives for justice to be served for his predecessor of the throne (Laius, Jocasta’s late husband) and no matter the consequences Oedipus will not be held back from discovering the truth behind these atrocious events. Oedipus plays a part as executioner because once it has been confirmed that he was the murderer of his father, he follows through with the punishment that he states at the beginning of the novel that the murderer should be forced to face. In addition, he acts as juror dictating the facts and making sure no mysteries remain unsolved even going so far as to also “atone” in his way by gouging out his eyes. Oedipus search dictates his whole life, beginning at birth, shifting as the king, and suffering through his self-punishment and banishment.

12. 2017 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.
Oedipus’ mysterious origins is the whole subject and plot of the work as a whole because even from his birth he was adopted but raised without ever knowing who his birth parents were or that he was even adopted. This mysterious upbringing and his exceptional talents, compared to those of the citizens in his city, raised him to grow into the status of King that his late father passed to him in his murder. Once Oedipus is aware of these unknown origins, however, his pride and stubbornness at uncovering the horrendous truth leads to his self-destruction. Hubris grows from his search and the catastrophe of Oedipus’ whole world beings.

13. Works Cited https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oedipus-Greek-mythology