Oedipus the King Summary

Oedipus the King

There is a plague in Thebes. Oedipus has sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to find out news from the gods on how they can get rid of the plague. When Creon returns, he tells them that Apollo has spoken and says to find the murderers of Laius, the king before Oedipus, and rid the land of them. Oedipus wants to find out who killed Laius, so they call on the prophet Tiresias. The prophet tells them that Oedipus is the murderer and with this accusation he is offended by this nonsense, and after intense arguing, he sends the prophet home. Oedipus then starts arguing with Creon and accusses him as the murderer because he called upon the prophet. Jocasta enters the room and stops them from arguing. She mentions that the prophets told her that her husband would be killed by their child, but a shepard who was the only one to survive from the group of travelers consisting of King Laius, told them this was the not the case because he was killed by thieves. While Jocasta is praying, a messenger from Corinth comes and tells her that Oedipus’ father, Polybus, is dead. They first rejoice at this news because it appears that Oedipus is not the killer of the king and the prophets were wrong. This news also meant that Oedipus could not be his father’s murderer, he died of natural causes. Later, the messenger informs Oedipus, that Polybus was no more a father to him than he was. They learn that this man had received Oedipus as a child, from a Shepard, a shepard from King Laius. He had been given to him by the Queen Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife, to go and have him killed, due to the fact that the prophets told her that her child would kill his father and be be father and brother to his children. The Shepard didn’t have the heart to kill a baby, so that’s how Oedipus ended up in Corinth. Oedipus trying to keep from fulfilling the prophecy of killing his parents, left Corinth and ran into Laius on the crossroad, and killed him not knowing that this was really his father.

Jocasta began to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and ran off to her room telling Oedipus he should just let it die and leave it alone. But Oedipus was determined to find out his birthright. Jocasta hung herself, while Oedipus was learning of his cursed destiny, and when he discovered her body, he took the brooches from her dress and gouged his eyes out. After being blinded, he faced his people and told them to seek Creon, so that he could be put to death. Oedipus asks Creon to take care of his two daughters, because he knows that no man would want to marry them. He asks to see his daughters one last time, and then Creon separates them and takes Oedipus to be executed.