What is the situation in Thebes at the beginning of Oedipus? Why are the people gathered in front of Oedipus’s palace?
What is the question the priest has for Oedipus, and how does Oedipus respond to it?
When Creon returns from Delphi, and when Oedipus asks him what he found, how does he respond? Why would he respond as he does?
How does Oedipus react to Creon’s suggestion?
What is the message from the Delphi?
When, where, and how was the murder of Laius committed? What is Oedipus’s hypothesis as to how it happened?
What is Oedipus’s attitude toward his assignment to find and punish the murderer of Laius?
Chorus I
Which gods does the chorus appeal to in their first choral ode?
Which is the last god they appeal to, and what is his significance?
Scene II
What comment does Oedipus make when he comes back in after the chorus? How do we feel about his comment?
What is the purpose of Oedipus’s proclamation to the people of Thebes?
How do we feel when he says, “I curse myself as well” (l. 284)? Why do we feel that way?
When the leader of the chorus suggests that Oedipus call Tiresias, what is Oedipus’s immediate reaction?
When Tiresias arrives, what kind of attitude does he display? How does that attitude affect Oedipus?
What finally gets Tiresias to talk?
Why doesn’t anyone believe what Tiresias says?
What in fact does Oedipus accuse Tiresias of, and whom else does he accuse?
Chorus II
“. . . the man the voice of god denounces . . .” (l. 528). What man is the chorus talking about in this ode?
Do they know that they are talking about him? Why not?
Scene III
When Creon shows up to face the music, what does the chorus tell him?
When Oedipus comes in and confronts Creon, what exactly does he accuse him of?
Whose word do we have that the Oracle really said to find the murderer of Laius? Whose idea was it to send for Tiresias? How strong a case does Oedipus have against Creon?
What is Creon’s defense against the conspiracy charge? Does it make sense?
Oedipus is ready to string Creon up right now. What finally makes him back down?
Creon says, “Natures like yours chiefly torment themselves.” What is Oedipus’s nature?
“A prophet?” says Jocasta. “You’re worried about a prophet?” What comfort does she offer Oedipus about prophets and prophecy, and what effect does it have?
How does Oedipus plan to find out whether he is the murderer of Laius?
Can you straighten out the chronology of the story now and tell the Oedipus’s whole story, from his birth up to now?
If you were the shepherd Oedipus is calling back, and Oedipus asked you if you remembered Laius murder—and remember that Oedipus is a big galoot—and if Laius was killed by a gang of thieves or by one man, and, if one man, if that man was me, Oedipus, what would you say?
Chorus III
“Pride breeds the tyrant,” says the chorus, and “if any man . . . cannot restrain himself from outrage . . .” Whom are they talking about? Do they know whom they are talking about? Why not?
“Never again will I go reverent to Delphi,” they say, “unless . . .” Unless what?
Scene IV
The messenger from Corinth comes in with the first good news-bad news joke in history. What’s the good news? What’s the bad news? Why is the good news good and the bad news bad?
How does Jocasta react to the news of Polybus’s death?
What lingering worry does Oedipus have, and how does the messenger seek to relieve Oedipus’s fears? Does his strategy work?
So far, Oedipus is only worried that he killed Laius. Who is first to figure out the whole situation?
What does Oedipus think is bothering Jocasta?
When the shepherd arrives, why would he claim that his memory is bad?
What does it take to get the shepherd to talk?
What is the relationship between the Theban shepherd and the messenger from Corinth? Where do they know each other from? What does Oedipus’s name mean, and where did he get it?
From Jocasta’s line, “You know, he looked a lot like you,” to the arrival of the shepherd, Oedipus is trying to find out whether he killed Laius. What is he finding out now? And what does he do about it?
Chorus IV
What does the chorus have to say about Oedipus now?
Final Scene
The ancient Greeks did not have very good special effects in their dramatic productions. How do they get across the full horror of the events here?
When (as the messenger reports) Oedipus cries out to give him a sword—what would he do with the sword?
What state does he find Jocasta in, and what does he do then?
Why was it appropriate to take the action he did, according to Oedipus?
Creon’s name means “ruler.” What are his attitude and actions when he comes in at the end of the play, now running things?
What does Oedipus have to say to his daughters, Ismene and Antigone?
“Count no man happy till he dies,” the chorus says. Why then?
Summary Questions
Does this play illustrate the inevitable working out of fate, as many have said? What if the oracle’s messages for Laius and Oedipus had gotten mixed up, like specimens in a hospital? As long as Laius believed his message, and Oedipus believed his, would that have changed the outcome of the play? Did the Greeks, in other words, necessarily believe in fate any more than we do?
The Oresteia makes a kind of political statement, coming at the end of the Persian Wars, “We can do anything we want to do!” Does Oedipus, coming at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War (which Athens ultimately lost), have some counter statement to make?
Solution:
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