Closing Remarks

Hello, readers!!!

The end of The End of the Blog...
I've decided to put this site to bed. So alas another blog goes the way of the dodo. Perhaps ill create a new blog someday and maybe ill afford it more attention unlike the sporadic nature of posting here. Thanks to whoever stopped by and had a read and left a comment and thanks to those who didn't also...you really missed out guys! but as September 22, 2013 of  there shall be no more posts.


See you again somewhere on the internet. :)



The End of the Blog (September 20- September 22,2013 )

Goodbye!

Reflections

My reflections on Oedipus the King.

I'd say the most important lesson to be learned is, not committing incest or murdering someone, but being ignorant all together, or at least being as ignorant as Oedipus was. While there were plenty of warnings given by various oracles, the king did not act in any way to prevent his undoing. His refusal to listen to the blind man, ended up destroying a close friendship with Creon. Oedipus did not like the facts he was hearing, so he jumped to the conclusion that Creon was trying to overthrow his kingship. Before Oedipus realized he was the murder of Laios, he declared that the killer shall be found and put to death, or exiled. After he knew it was him, he was shamed by his pervious words and felt it was fitting to receive both punishments, by blinding himself, that way he could not enjoy life, nor could he participate.

Her relationship with her father, by the poem "Daddy," was unpleasant. She feels like his amputated foot, useless and distant from her father. Her father died when she was eight, by diabetes mellitus, which was curable back then, but he miss diagnosed himself with lung cancer. Plath had several mental breakdowns throughout her life, causing one attempted suicide and one successful suicide. She marred the famous poet Ted Hughes, again interpreted from the poem "Daddy," idolized as her father. After Hughes had an affair with some chick, they separated and Plath moved into a flat in London. A year later she killed herself via head in a gas oven. Some suppose that this was actually an attempted suicide which turned successful, since she left a letter to her downstairs neighbour telling to call the doctor.

Hope you all had the same reflections as I did!!! >.<

Other Works of Sophocles

Hi!! I will be posting other works of Sophocles. I did this to show you and appreciate his other works. I put also a little summary of each story so that you would know what the story is about. Make sure to give time to read them and enlighten yourself with his other works just like Oedipus Rex.



Sources tells us that Sophocles wrote 123 plays in his lifetime, of which we know the titles of 118. Of this huge output of plays (Shakespeare, in comparison, wrote somewhere between 36-39 plays in his lifetime) only seven survive: Antigone, Oedipus Rex (sometimes also called Oedipus Tyrannos, Oedipus at Colonos, Ajax, Electra, The Women of Trachis, and Philoctetes.

 Antigone

Oedipus at Colonos


Oedipus was eventually exiled from Thebes.  After years of wandering with his daughter Antigone, Oedipus arrived at a grove in Colonus, a village near Athens.
In the meantime, Oedipus' sons -- each claiming the right to the throne of Thebes -- prepared to go to war.  Eteocles, the younger son, supported by Creon, took over the throne.  He and his brother Polynices were supposed to share it six months at a time.  Once in power, he did not wish to give it up.  Polynices gathered an army to attack Thebes.
Interest was awakened in the former king when it was learned that a prophecy promised victory in battle to the city in which Oedipus was buried.  Suddently, the aged pariah became of great value to any city which proved his final resting place.

Both Polynices and Creon came to bring Oedipus away.  But Oedipus, defended by King Theseus of Athens, chose to stay at Colonus.  Creon attempted to kidnap Antigone in order to force Oedipus' hand, but she was rescued by Theseus.  Polynices admitted to Oedipus that he should have remained by his father's side, but Oedipus was unforgiving.  He foresaw that the brothers would slay themselves in battle.  Polynices knew that he would die in battle, but decided to fight anyway -- as an example to his supporters.  Antigone vowed to see that his body would receive a proper burial.

The gods themselves summoned Oedipus to his mysterious end in the grove, a scene witnessed only by the great Theseus, who swore never to reveal it.  Evidently, it was a victorious and exalted exit for one who had lived such a life of suffering.
Assisted by six chieftains, Polynices attempted to invade Thebes.  The seven men led attacks against each of the seven gates of Thebes; Eteocles defended the gate attacked by Polynices.  The two brothers, as Oedipus predicted, died at each other's hands.  Then, the Theban army finally beat back the attack.


Ajax

Sophocles's play recounts the tale of the ill-fated Ajax. The tale begins while Odysseus is searching for Ajax, whom he believes has killed a herd of cattle over the night. The Greek commander is soon approached by Athena, who tells him that his enemy, possessed, killed the herd, mistaking them for Greek soldiers. She calls Ajax from his tent, and reveals that he truly is possessed.

In the next scene, Tecmessa, Ajax's captive bride, informs the chorus that Ajax is possessed. Ajax emerges from the tent,sane this time, and expresses remorse for his actions. He decides he must die. Tecmessa pleads with him, but he appears to have made up his mind.

Later, Ajax reappears and expresses a change of heart. He decides that rather than dying, he will devote himself to yielding to the gods and to Greek leaders. The chorus rejoices.
Next, a messenger arrives to the Greek headquarters and announces the return of Ajax's half-brother, Teucer. He also warns Ajax to remain inside his tent if he wants to stay alive.
In the next episode, Ajax is seen alone with Hector's sword in front of him. He makes his final speech and then kills himself with the sword. Tecmessa finds his body and laments. Teucer joins her mourning. Then Menelaus, the brother of Agamemnon appears, and proclaims that Ajax's body should be left unburied. He and Teucer have an altercation that
escalates when Agamemnon joins. Finally, Odysseus arrives and makes peace, persuading Agamemnon to bury his enemy. The play ends as Teucer carries out Ajax's final burial rites.
Electra

is based around the character of Electra, and the vengeance that she and her brother Orestes take on their mother Clytemnestra and step father Aegisthus for the murder of their father, Agamemnon.

The Women of Trachis

Philoctetes

Before the Greeks go to war against the Trojans, the greatest of the Greek archers, Philoctetes, suffers a snakebite on his foot. While he is at sea on his way to Troy, his wound becomes infected and his cries of pain are so piercing that his shipmates abandon him on the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea.

The play begins in the ninth year of the Trojan War. At that time, the cunning Greek warrior Odysseus travels to Lemnos, a lonely island in the northern Aegean Sea, with Neoptolemus, the son of mighty Achilles, to find the greatest of the Greek archers, Philoctetes, and return with him to Troy. The Greeks desperately need Philoctetes, for a seer has warned that only his bow and poisoned arrows—weapons that once belonged to Heracles—can end the Trojan War.

After their arrival on the island, Neoptolemus and Odysseus discover the abode of Philoctetes, a cave in which he sleeps on leaves and eats from a crude wooden bowl. Philoctetes himself is not there. They believe that he his is out searching for food or for herbs to treat his wound. Odysseus realizes that Philoctetes will become angry at the sight of any of the Greeks who abandoned him and may draw his deadly bow against them. Odysseus then comes up with a plan: Neoptolemus will approach Philoctetes and pretend to be a Greek warrior ill-used by Odysseus, then offer to return with Philoctetes to Greece. Odysseus says that Neoptolemus will be revered for ages to come as a wise and courageous warrior if he sets in motion a course of action that results in a Greek victory. Therefore, Neoptolemus agrees to play the deceiver.

All goes well when Neoptolemus meets with Philoctetes. However, after a time, Neoptolemus, is deeply affected byPhiloctetes' misery..Consequently, Neoptolemus confesses the truth to him, telling everything, but nevertheless tries to persuade Philoctetes to accompany him to Troy. When Odysseus appears, Neoptolemus declares asks forgiveness for his trick and invites Philoctetes to come back with him to be healed and to contribute to the Greek cause in the war. Philoctetes agrees to return because of a mandate issued by Heracles, When he returns to Troy, Heracles says, his wound will heal.

Lessons and Insights

Hello!!! I posted the moral insights people can learn from reading this story even if it grosses all of us out. lol I found the story both intriguing and appalling at the same time but nevertheless it is still a masterpiece. :D

The moral of Oedipus Rex is not exactly that you can't outrun fate. This is oversimplifying things. Oedipus is the archetypal tragic hero who is helpless in the hands of Fate. Whatever he did, the outcome would always be the same. 

Every possible action would lead to him killing his father and sleeping with his mother. When he was first told about this in a prophecy, he decided to leave his city to avoid it (not knowing, of course that those were his adoptive parents). This action led him closer to his real parents, even though he was trying to avoid this. The moral of the story is that, you can't outrun Fate, and if you resist it it's a hubris (a sin and insult against the gods), but even though you may have a terrible Fate awaiting you, you always have to be strong and brave and honorable.

 It wasn't Oedipus' fault that he killed his father and slept with his mother. Sophocles doesn't want us to judge him for that, but pity him. This happened to Oedipus because of an ancient curse on his family for a crime committed by an ancestor. Oedipus actions, though show that he managed to remain honorable and brave through all of this. 

He was a brave man during his life, and a good king. When he found out the truth, he didn't commit suicide, like his mother did, but punished himself by plucking out his eyes. He left his kingdom and lived as a beggar in the mountain Cithaeron, so that his subjects wouldn't have to suffer because of his crimes and so that no one would be able to see his shame. 

He also left his children, because he didn't want them to live a cursed life in shame with him. In the sequel to Oedipus Rex, Oedipus in Colonus, Oedipus is absolved because of his honorable behaviour, his endurance and his stoicism during his ordeal.


The lesson is don't create bad karma by doing bad deeds. All the tragedy in Oedipus Rex is caused by Oedipus biological father, King Laius.

In his youth, Laius was a guest of King Pelops of Elis, and became the tutor of Chrysippus, youngest of the king's sons, in chariot racing. He then violated the sacred laws of hospitality by abducting and raping Chrysippus, who according to some versions killed himself in shame. This cast a doom over him and his descendants.

So do you agree?? 

Other Literary Tools used in Story

Sophocles included many literary devices that helped tell the story. I hoped you would take time to read through this and use this to refer to your own research on Oedipus Rex. :)

The most used literary device in the play is dramatic irony. 

 It is frequently used throughout most of the play.
 For example, when Creon tells Oedipus about the god's curse on Thebes, Oedipus puts his own curse on the murderer of Laius, not knowing it was he who killed Laius (Sophocles,14.) Throughout the book, Oedipus learns things that the audience would have already known, such as when Oedipus discovers who his parents really are. Those were just some examples of dramatic irony in the play. 

Another literary device used by Sopocles is characterization. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles used characterization to portray Oedipus as the tragic hero. 
A third literary device used in the play is flashback, which is where the story switches from the present to an event that occurred in the past.

A tragedy is where many troubling events happen to the characters during the story. The one who has the worst things happen to them is called the tragic hero. Oedipus is told he has to find out who killed Laius, the ruler of Thebes before Oedipus. Oedipus later learns that he has no idea who he really is, and that he was the one who killed Laius. When Oedipus' mother and wife Jocasta realized she had married her son, she kills herself. Finally, Oedipus stabs out his eyes, and begs to be exiled from Thebes. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is known as the tragic hero, the one who suffers through all of the horrific events.

The final major literary device used in Oedipus the King is flashback. The first example of this is when Oedipus and Jocasta are talking about what happened to Laius the day he was killed. Jocasta tells Oedipus who Laius was with at the time, and where he was killed. When Oedipus hears this information, he describes a time in his past when he left Corinth (Sophocles, 53.) Later, Oedipus is talking to the shepherd who took the baby from Jocasta. They talk about what happened, and what the shepherd did with the baby (Sophocles, 83.)

Relation of Story to Modern Society

Hello there!! I posted these (with some help) for the readers who thinks it may be possible to link the story to modern day events or can be use in today's times. Guess what?? it's possible!! XD

Sophocles' Oedipus Rex is a complex piece of literature and there are many themes that are applicable to our modern world. The theme that is most applicable is human pride or what the Greeks call "hubris." Oedipus all throughout the play believed that he could solve the problem of the plague of Thebes. He failed to realize that he was the problem. In short, he overestimated himself and did not know himself at the same time.

The financial crisis is an example. All the "experts" out there believe that they could solve the problem, but they fail to realize that many of them are part of the problem. For example, if it is bad that the banks are too big to fail, then why did they make the banks bigger? If overspending is the problem, why do they want consumers to spend even more?

The dynamics here are a universal formula for disaster. People overreach and hence they are the problem. The message of Oedipus Rex will always resonate with humanity, because there is a tragic flaw in all of us.

 One aspect of the contemporary relevance of Oedipus Rex involves the play's lessons about the need for leaders to question facile assumptions, doubt their first impulses, and seek the fullest possible information before making decisions with enormous consequences.

If we look at some of the central moral interests and thematic interests of Oedipus Rex, we can pull out a number of relevant ideas:

• Ignoring or hiding problems doesn't fix anything. You can't just hide your head in the sand...
• Guilt stems from one's regret, not necessarily from one'sactions. Context defines justice and injustice, crime and legality.
• Secrets can do harm and so can the truth.
• Each of these ideas can be applied in various ways to today's world and tomorrow's.

The story may be old, and from a culture that no longer exists, but it has entered our popular culture. Oedipus was already well known when Freud picked him up and used him to develop his famous Oediplus Complex theory, which is so disturbing that most people know about it.

Criticizing Oedipus Rex

First Critic: 

That the play is strong in character study and dramatic structure but weak in its beginning are the literary criticisms of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.). 

Specifically, a literary criticism involves a very close look at a piece of literature in terms of its strengths and weaknesses. The play is strong in its study of character. Another strength is its dramatic alternating of choral odes of entertainment and explanation with dramatic episodes of character dialogue and revelation. 

But at the same time, the play is weak in its prologue. The prologue is supposed to set the grounds for the story and to bring the chorus onto the stage quickly thereafter. Instead, it somewhat overwhelms the audience with the sheer numbers of characters on the stage. It also includes lengthy speeches by Theban Kings Creon and Oedipus, and the priest of Zeus. It therefore has the feel more of an episode than of the prologue.

Second Critic: 

The main criticism of 'Oedipus Rex' is the prologue. Its length gives it the feel and function of the longer episodes. It delays the important, first appearance of the chorus in the parados. It brings together a lot of people in a small space. So it adds an overwhelming, confusing note to the play's beginnings.

Third Critic:

Oedipus Rex is a classical Greek play about a guy fated to kill his father and marry his mother. To prevent this, his father orders him exposed at birth. The child is found and adopted. As an adult, he meets and kills his biological father without realizing who he is. Oedipus, still ignorant of his true identity, marries his mother. The moral: you can't escape your fate.

So What do you think?? Do you also agree with them??

Symbolism, Imagery and Allegory: Part 3

The Crossroads

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

Oedipus killed his father, Laius, at a place where three roads meet. A fateful decision made at a crossroads, huh? We detect symbolism. Oedipus could've run into his father anywhere along the Theban Way, but instead Sophocles specifically places the confrontation at a three-way intersection.

Crossroads are a traditional symbol of choice in literature. Makes sense, right? You come to an intersection and you have to decide which way to go. It's probably pretty easy to see how such a place could represent all the moments of choice in our life. In a way, every second in one's life is a tiny little crossroad. Every small choice we make affects our future in someway.

Of course, Oedipus's fate has been predetermined from birth. For their own mysterious reasons the gods have decided that it's necessary for Oedipus to have a tragic life. Oedipus does make a fateful choice at the crossroads, but it is one that he was predestined to make. Perhaps the highly religious Sophocles is trying to show how all the seemingly free choices we make in life are really programmed into us by higher powers.

It's interesting that Sophocles makes it specifically a three-way crossroads. (Why not four or five?) The fact that it's three is reiterated several times in the play, so there's a good chance it has some larger significance. There's not a lot of scholarship on this particular detail, but we have a theory: the three roads represent past, present, and future.

The Greek goddess of the crossroads, Hecate, was said to have three heads. Each head looked down a different path – one saw the past, one the present, and one the future. Though Hecate isn't mentioned in the play, perhaps the three-way crossroads in Oedipus the King has a similar symbolism. This idea is pretty darn consistent with themes of fate in the play. Oedipus is being pushed along by the irreversible flow of time.

Also, note that Oedipus was three days old when his parents abandoned him. Is there some connection between this and the junction of three roads? What do you think?

Symbolism, Imagery and Allegory: Part 2

The Scars on Oedipus's Feet

When Oedipus was three days old, his parents received a prophecy saying that he would one day kill his father. So, they pierced and bound his feet and sent him off to be abandoned on a mountainside. Oedipus survived the incident, but was left with scars on his feet. In fact, his name in Greek translates to "swollen foot."

Oedipus's scarred feet are more than a little symbolic. They highlight the fact that he has been marked for suffering from the moment of his birth. This expounds upon Sophocles's idea that humans have no power in face of the gods. For some mysterious reason, Oedipus has always been damned, and there's not much he can do about it.

The scars also highlight the irony of Oedipus's ignorance. Although his name blatantly points attention to his scarred feet (which are the keys to discovering his identity), Oedipus doesn’t realize his true identity until it’s too late. This one's on Jocasta as well. You'd think she might she might have clued in to Oedipus's name long ago and asked him how he got it.

Symbolism, Imagery and Allegory: Part 1

Eyes, Vision, and Blindness

Sophocles certainly wasn't shy about the motif of sight vs. blindness. If you've got way too much time on your hands, go through the play and highlight words like "see," "sight," "vision," "eyes," and "blind." Since this motif is symbolic of the pursuit of "knowledge," you can go ahead add that word, along with terms like "oracle," "truth," "prophecy," and "Apollo," since he's the god that represents all these ideas. The Oracle of Shmoop predicts that your highlighter will run out of ink, and your script will end up looking like a neon patchwork quilt.


Though this motif of seeing and not seeing is laced throughout the beginning of the play, it first becomes crystal clear when the prophet Teiresias hobbles on stage. If one of Sophocles's ancient audience members missed the irony in this episode, he must've visited the wine stand a few to many times. Teiresias is literally blind, but he can see clearly the horror that is Oedipus's past, present, and future. Oedipus's eyes work just fine, but unfortunately he's completely blind to the dreadful fate the gods have placed upon him. The doomed king's ignorance on this key matter is made even more ironic by the fact that he was made famous for his keen insight, by solving the riddle of the Sphinx.


When Oedipus finally sees the terrible truth of his life, Sophocles hammers home his metaphor by having the king stab out his own eyes. Oedipus says he does this because he can no longer look on the horrors that his unwitting actions have created. With this most famous of gougings, Oedipus literally becomes the thing he's always metaphorically been: blind. At the end of the play, Oedipus becomes symbolic of all of humanity, stumbling forward through a dark and unknowable universe.

Themes

Hello!!! This post is all about the themes that were used in the story. These are important because they embody the story's progress as well as the emphasis on the story's main idea.

Fate and Free Will

A central theme of the Oedipus the King is the tension between individual action and fate. While free choices, such as Oedipus’s decision to pursue knowledge of his identity, are significant, fate is responsible for Oedipus’s incest and many of the other most critical and devastating events of the play. By elevating the importance of fate, Sophocles suggests that characters cannot be fully responsible for their actions. It becomes difficult, for example, to blame Oedipus for marrying mother given his ignorance.

Wisdom and Knowledge

In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is a seeker of knowledge and truth. He struggles to uncover Laius’s murder and his own identity, despite numerous warnings that he should leave the truth alone. His pursuit of knowledge and truth, however, results in ruin as Oedipus uncovers his destiny, which he was better off not knowing. This suggests that knowledge is futile and limited in its ability to bring happiness to those who seek it.

 Determination

Determination is one of Oedipus's and his mother's primary character traits. Despite the important role of fate in the lives of the characters, Oedipus and Jocasta are all driven, at times stubbornly, to pursue their goals. Determination in Oedipus the King is linked to hubris and proves less an asset than a flaw to the characters who possess it.

Power

Power both corrupts and metaphorically blinds characters in the Oedipus the King. As a ruler, Oedipus is arrogant, unperceptive, and downright mean to people around him. Assuming other characters are trying to steal his power, Oedipus doesn't listen to their wisdom.

Memory and the Past

Memories of the past have a complex impact on the characters inOedipus the King. One message in this play is that delving too far into the past – as Oedipus does against the warnings of nearly everyone around him – is dangerous and self-injuring.

So what do you think?? Do you also agree with the themes of the story??

Analysing the Story: Last Part

This is the last part where the word tragedy is the focal point in the story is portrayed...

"Jocasta urges Oedipus not to look into the past any further, but he stubbornly ignores her. Oedipus goes on to question a messenger and a shepherd, both of whom have information about how Oedipus was abandoned as an infant and adopted by a new family. In a moment of insight, Jocasta realizes that she is Oedipus’s mother and that Laius was his father. Horrified at what has happened, she kills herself. Shortly thereafter, Oedipus, too, realizes that he was Laius’s murder and that he’s been married to (and having children with) his mother. In horror and despair, he gouges his eyes out and is exiled from Thebes."

Analysis:

Jocasta urges quite energetically that Oedipus drop the issue before he discovers more than he bargained for. Oedipus says, "No," and insists on his talking to the shepherd.
Jocasta makes reference to seeing Oedipus for the last time and runs off wailing.
Oedipus assumes she’s ashamed of his low birth (since as an infant he was found in some rather raggedy swaddling clothes) and vows to set things right.
The old shepherd shows up.

Oedipus questions the old shepherd. Like Teiresias, this guy refuses to speak. Oedipus has his servants twist the old man’s arms to try to force him to talk.
The man folds like a bad poker hand, revealing that Jocasta was the mother of the child that he discovered and gave to the messenger. Jocasta wanted the child taken away because it had been prophesized that the boy would kill his father and sleep with his mother.

FINALLY, Oedipus pieces things together and realizes that Jocasta is his mother. As predicted by the prophecy, he has slept with his mother and killed his father.
Oedipus runs out, saying, quite eloquently, "O, O, O."
The Chorus, expectedly, laments the tragedy.

Another messenger arrives and announces that Jocasta, disgusted with herself for sleeping with her own son, has hung herself. She’s dead. Oedipus finds that he has lost both his wife and mother. He very dramatically rushes to her dead body, tears the broaches from her dress (which have sharp, phallic pins on them) and gouges out his eyes.

Oedipus staggers outside all bloody and gross.
The Chorus is startled (understatement of the year) and feels bad for him (understatement of the century). Oedipus explains that he gouged his eyes out because there was no longer anything pleasant for him to see. We’re just amazed that the man can manage to stand around and explain things at this point.

Oedipus asks the Chorus to help send him out of Thebes or kill him. He wishes he had died as a child. Creon enters and Oedipus asks to be sent away. Oedipus feels it is his fate to stay alive so that he can suffer. Oedipus asks Creon to take care of his daughters, but not his sons because they can take care of themselves.

Creon leads Oedipus out of the room while Oedipus continues to beg for his exile.

Yehey!!! we finished understanding and dissecting the story!!! so what do you think about the last part???

Analysing the Story: Part 3

Third Part of The Story...now the truth in this part of the story is being revealed slowly.... 
>.<

"Jocasta's story doesn't comfort Oedipus. As a child, an old man told Oedipus that he was adopted, and that he would eventually kill his biological father and sleep with his biological mother. Not to mention, Oedipus once killed a man at a crossroads, which sounds a lot like the way Laius died. "

Characters:

(these are the characters that had not yet made their appearances in the first parts of the story)

Messenger - reveals to Oedipus that Polybus and Merope are not his real parents. 

King of Corinth, Polybus - He was the king of Corinth and husband of either Merope or Periboea. He raised Oedipus as his adopted son

Queen Merope - one of the Heliades, daughter of Helios (or his son Clymenus) and Clymene

Shepherd - the shepherd of former king Laius who had given the infant to the shepherd of King polybus out of pity to the infant

Analysis: 

Oedipus also reveals that he killed several men in a small incident at a crossroads. Oops. He hopes to find out from the servant whether the King’s murderers were many or just one man. Oedipus utters the incredibly wise statement, "One man can not be many." Well, now we know why this guy is king. In other words, he’s saying if it was a sole murderer, that will confirm his guilt. (You know, in case the repeated prophecies, overwhelming evidence, and sinking stomach feeling were not enough).

Jocasta reminds Oedipus that even if he did kill Laius, he is not Laius’s son, since their only child was killed.

The Chorus pleads with the gods for mercy.
Jocasta, completely frazzled, makes an offering to the gods and prays for Oedipus to keep his temper and wits.

The Chorus asks a lot of questions, mostly revolving around the one big question of "what is going on?"
Conveniently, a messenger shows up from Corinth and informs Jocasta and Oedipus that Oedipus’s father, the King of Corinth, has died of natural causes. Jocasta interprets the King’s natural death as proof that the prophecy about Oedipus killing his father was false. Phew.

Jocasta pulls an, "I was right and you were wrong," and Oedipus is all, "Yeah, yeah, I know."
Oedipus, however, is still worried about the sleeping with his mother part of the prophecy. Jocasta tells Oedipus that if he just stops thinking about it, it will go away. We wish this still worked today.

The messenger questions Oedipus about the prophecy and his fears. The messenger tells Oedipus that the King of Corinth (Polybus) and his wife, Merope, were not Oedipus’s real parents. Unable to have a child themselves, they adopted Oedipus. Yet another "uh-oh" moment.

Turns out, Oedipus (as an infant) was given to the messenger with his feet pierced and tied. This is apparently why he is named "Oedipus," which means "screwed-up foot" in Greek (roughly speaking).

The messenger got the infant Oedipus from a shepherd who, conveniently, is still alive and within bellowing distance of the rest of our cast

Hope you had fun reading...the next is more intense as we're going near to  the last part of the story!!!

Analysing the Story: Part 2

Second Part of the Story ^^ hope you enjoy it...

"Oedipus dedicates himself to the discovery and prosecution of Laius’s murderer. Oedipus subjects a series of unwilling citizens to questioning, including a blind prophet. Teiresias, the blind prophet, informs Oedipus that Oedipus himself killed Laius. This news really bothers Oedipus, but his wife Jocasta tells him not to believe in prophets—they've been wrong before. As an example, she tells Oedipus about how she and King Laius had a son who was prophesied to kill Laius and sleep with her."

Characters: 

The Chorus - an ever-present group of wise and gossip-prone observers. 

Teiresias - was a blind prophet of Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed

into a woman for seven years.

The Strophe - part of an ancient Greek choral ode sung by the chorus when moving from

right to left.

Antistrophe - part of an ancient Greek choral ode answering a previous strophe, sung by the

chorus when returning from left to right.

Jocasta - was a daughter of Menoeceus and Queen consort of Thebes, Greece. She was the

wife of Laius, mother of Oedipus, and both mother and grandmother of Antigone, Eteocles,

Polynices and Ismene. She was also sister of Creon and mother-in-law of Haimon.

Second Part of the story........

The Chorus responds that they know nothing and suggest Oedipus ask the blind prophet, Tiresias (which we think is a major case of irony) for his knowledge. Teiresias shows up immediately. Oedipus briefly explains to him the city’s situation and Apollo’s advice. Then Oedipus asks for help. 

Teiresias says with great foreboding (and foreshadowing), "You do NOT want to hear what I have to say." Roughly speaking, anyway. Teiresias continues to insist that it is better for him to leave rather than speak. Oedipus, however, demands that Teiresias tell him what he knows. Oedipus works himself into an angry rage and then busts out an insult we think you should add to your personal repertoire: "You would provoke a stone!." 

Teiresias grumbles "fine" and reveals that Oedipus himself was the one who killed the former king.
Then Oedipus says, "What? I didn't hear you." Teiresias tells him for the second time. Most mysterious of all, according to Teiresias, Oedipus is committing "the worst of sins" with the people "he loves the most." More foreshadowing. Teiresias tells Oedipus that he is a threat to himself, in the "stop asking questions" kind of way.

Oedipus responds that he thinks Teiresias and Creon are simply framing him in order to seize the throne. He then taunts Teiresias about his blindness, which is not only politically incorrect but makes him out to be a total jerk. The Chorus freaks out and tells the men they aren't solving anything by arguing. Let’s just call them "reality-check Chorus."

Teiresias tells Oedipus he’s majorly, grossly cursed and will end up blinded, poor, and alone. This is the worst psychic reading ever. He then casually mentions Oedipus’s parents and informs Oedipus that he "shall learn the secret" of his marriage. Then, right before he leaves, he says (in cryptic language) that Oedipus is married to his mother. Well, he says that Oedipus is "a son and husband both," which maybe isn't so cryptic after all, unless you’re Oedipus.

The Chorus talks about the fight between Oedipus and Creon. The Strophe says whoever he is, the murderer needs to get out of Thebes, and fast. The Anti strophe which, don’t forget, is made up of the city’s citizens, declares that it can’t believe Oedipus is at fault until they see the glove on his hand, so to speak. Both halves of the Chorus agree that they have no idea whether or not to believe Teiresias.
Creon arrives, having overheard that Oedipus accused him of conspiring to steal the throne. Rumor, apparently, travels almost as fast in Thebes as in high school.

Oedipus enters again and accuses Creon to his face. Creon wants the opportunity to respond, but Oedipus won’t shut up. Finally, Creon gets a word in. He explains that, as Oedipus’s brother-in-law, he has everything he could want without any of the stress of being in charge. Basically, no one wants to shoot the Vice President. In ancient Greece. Oedipus continues to make accusations and says he’ll have Creon killed. Jocasta, Oedipus’s wife and Creon’s sister, comes in. She is horrified at her husband and brother’s fighting, and also at the death threat.

Jocasta and the Chorus urge Oedipus to listen to Creon’s honest appeals and spare his life.
Creon storms off. Jocasta asks Oedipus what’s going on. He explains he’s been accused of killing Laius. He leaves out the "you might be my Mom" part. Jocasta responds that such prophecies are ridiculous. As an example, Jocasta says that her son by Laius was prophesied to kill his father, but that they killed the child as a baby to prevent it. Plus, Laius was killed by foreign highway robbers, none of which could possibly have been his son.

Oedipus, hearing the story, flips out. Suddenly, he worries that he might be the murderer after all. He asks Jocasta lots of questions about the murder’s whereabouts and other details.
Confused, Jocasta reveals that one of Laius’s servants survived the incident at the crossroads.

Oedipus insists that the servant be summoned for questioning. Oedipus tells Jocasta that as a child, a man once told him that his mother and father were not his real parents. It was also prophesied that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother.

Sorry if it's long but as long you were able to understand it better, right??

Analysing The Story: Part 1

Today, we will be analyzing the story by parts, Oedipus Rex.... this is for sharing my knowledge of understanding and my own opinions on one of the greatest works in both drama and literature. I cut down the story by parts so that it would be easier to dissect and decipher what each part is conveying to the reader. ^^
 Hope you enjoy reading!!!

For starters, I want you to take a look at the story that took place on the City of Thebes where King Oedipus is seeking the solution to the curse.

First Part:

"King Oedipus, aware that a terrible curse has befallen Thebes, sends his brother-in-law, Creon, to seek the advice of Apollo. Creon informs Oedipus that the curse will be lifted if the murderer of Laius, the former king, is found and prosecuted. Laius was murdered many years ago at a crossroads."

First things first...we will get to know the characters that were in the first part of the story. 

There is King Oedipus of course, he is the main character of the story, the doomed hero right from his birth he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother. 

Oedipus The King

Next, there is Creon who is ironically not only his brother-in-law but unknowingly is also his uncle!!! talk about a major confusion in the family tree....

Creon (after Oedipus death)

Then there is the god, Apollo. Like every other gods, he is very conniving and playful with human nature. He didn't revealed to Creon that the one who murdered his former King and brother-in-law is also the one sitting on the throne and is also the stowed away son of the former king and queen.

God Apollo

Now, it's time for the story...

Oedipus has heard rumors that a curse is afflicting Thebes. After briefly congratulating his own greatness, he asks the priest what’s up. The priest responds that basically everything that could be wrong in the city is wrong: crops are dying, cattle are dying, people are dying, and there's generally low morale.

Because Oedipus is the boss man, the priest asks him to please take care of this mess.
We learn that Oedipus has saved the city once before by lifting a curse put on it by the Sphinx.
Oedipus reveals he already knew that the city was in a bad state, so he sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to Apollo (or at least to Apollo’s oracle) to get more information. In the midst of this conversation, Creon returns with news from Apollo. 

Creon tells Oedipus that Apollo told him that in order to lift the curse on the city, the men that murdered the city’s former king, Laius, must be banished or killed. Oedipus reenters and demands that anyone with information about the former king's murder speak up. He curses the murderer. (He didn't know that he was actually cursing himself, hilarious right!?)

So what do you guys think??? 


 

Oedipus Rex (Movie)

Hello, everyone!!! >.<   

This post is all about showing you one of the best playwright in film ever made. Entitled 'Oedipus the King' this was about just like the story of Oedipus from childhood to unveiling the truth about his fate.

The Cast 
OEDIPUS REX, the William Butler Yeats adaptation of the play by Sophocles; directed by Tyrone Guthrie; filmed in Canada by Oedipus Rex Productions, using the players of the Shakespearean Festival, Stratford, Ont.; presented by Leonid Kipnis; released by Motion Picture Distributors, Inc.; an Irving M. Lesser presentation. At the Fifty-fifth Street Playhouse. 
Messenger . . . . . Douglas Rain 
Oedipus . . . . . Douglas Campbell 
Priest . . . . . Eric House 
Creon . . . . . Robert Goodier 
Tiresias . . . . . Donald Davis 
Jocasta . . . . . Eleanor Stuart 
Man from Corinth . . . . . Tony van Bridge 
Old Shepherd . . . . . Eric House 
Chorus Leader . . . . . William Hutt