Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus

Study Questions:

The character of Oedipus: what kind of man is he? Think about his personal relationships. How does each other character bring out Oedipus' personality? Pay particular attention to places where he anticipates advice and to places where he makes assumptions about others' actions and motives. Is he ever right in his assumptions about others. How does his image of himself compare to others' image of him? What does he consider the greatest act of his life?

Describe and compare the triangular (three actor) scenes. Can you see any development in the Oedipus as compared with the Antigone in the handling of three person scenes?

How does the staging bring out the centrality of Oedipus? Is there any episode in which he is not in control? Find places where he controls the actions and emotions of others. How can his misunderstanding of Teiresias be explained in terms of his own feelings at the time: is he projecting his own feelings onto the seer?

Is Oedipus ever a victim of anything except his own blindness? Are there places where he can be seen as an artist (or poet), creating the situation, creating (or trying to) the roles of others, creating himself? Does he not think he has created himself?

Oracles: at line 979 Jocasta says, "it is best to live at random." Follow the references to oracles in the play. Would the tragedy have been avoided if all the characters could have followed Jocasta's advice (of line 979)? In what way do oracles influence events? What is the necessary condition of Oedipus' crime?

Start with Oedipus in the play. What does he do in the play. It is tempting to those reading the play for the first time to define Oedipus only in terms of his two "crimes" but it is necessary to look at him as he is in the play first. The crimes were committed years ago and he is ignorant of them. Try to look at the play this way: Sophocles did not invent the myth of Oedipus. He wrote a play which shows the kind of man who could do what Oedipus did and yet be somehow innocent of it. The playwright explores a tragic situation and the character(s) who fit it. Oedipus has a fate but it is own. A fate does not exist by itself: it needs a character to carry it out. No more does an oracle determine the future. An oracle predicts the future or states the present: it does not cause.

Time: Can the past be separated from the present in the play? Follow Oedipus' past as it is presented in the play: in what order do we find out about his past? What makes him remember the incident at the crossroads and bring it up when he does?

What stages of Oedipus' life are given? We see him as a man in the prime of life. What other ages are mentioned and when?

What led Oedipus to the crossroads? Where was he coming from? Where was Laius going? Are there any similarities between Oedipus and the man he killed? Compare Oedipus' two sets of parents.

The riddle of the Sphinx was "What moves on four feet at dawn, two at midday, three at night?" Does this have anything to do with Oedipus' life?

Along with the revelations of Oedipus' past life, follow the clues to the murder and how the two come together.

Oedipus at the crossroads: what does Oedipus already know when he meets the men at the place where three roads meet? {What has the oracle just told him about himself?} Does he act similarly in the play? Consider his scenes with other, especially older men (the priest, Creon, Teiresias, the shepherds). Compare these scenes: do they form a pattern of Oedipus normal/Oedipus irate? Watch for violence or threats of violence.

Oedipus and Jocasta: what is Jocasta to him (wife, mother, means of becoming king, comforter)? How does he happen to marry her: how does he describe his marriage? What do you think of his treatment of her at the end of the play?

What do you think when Oedipus is advised to go no further? Do you ever want him to stop? Is he justified in his treatment of Teiresias?

Irony and Knowledge: the Oedipus is not a play about incest and murder, but a play about knowledge and ignorance. How does the irony enhance this theme?

Does fate play a part in Oedipus' actions within the play?

What is the role of the chorus? Consider the changes in mood in the chorus.

What about the gods in the play?

Follow the references to sight and blindness. Why does Oedipus blind himself?

What part does coincidence play?

Journal Entry

Follow one of these themes:

• Oedipus' self-image
• Oedipus' image of others
• Irony (the "knowledge gap")
• Oedipus and older men                    
• Oracles
• Ignorance and knowledge
• Oedipus' threats
• Past and present
• Parent and child
• Oedipus as king, as husband, as kinsman
• Recognitions                                                                                             
• Blindness
• Sickness
• Moods of Oedipus
• Minor characters
• Clues to the mystery

Choral Odes in Oedipus the King