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Sophocles Oedipus The King

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Oedipus is the second of three Theban plays that Sophocles wrote. The play is set in Thebes, an ancient Egyptian city. There is a plague over the city and will not be lifted until the death of the former King Laius is solved. Throughout Oedipus there are four recurring characters: Jocasta, Creon, Tiresias, and Oedipus. These characters are the ones that get close to Oedipus and help him figure out the plague of Thebes. To better understand the story of Oedipus the characters, the theme and the plot need to be examined. The protagonist of the play is Oedipus. He is the king of Thebes and was made king by solving the riddle of the Sphinx. Jocasta is the wife of Oedipus and mother, who is later revealed in the play. She tries to make …show more content…
A plague has stricken Thebes; the people are dying and falling ill. Oedipus sends his brother-in-law, Creon to the Delphic oracle to find out how to stop the plague. When Creon arrives back, he tells Oedipus in order to end the plague; the murder of Laius (former king) must be driven out of Thebes. Creon goes on to tell the story of how Laius was murdered, which leads into Oedipus wanting to know why there was no attempt to find Laius’s murder. Oedipus believes he can end the plague himself by finding the murders and send them to exile. Trying to find out what happened, a blind prophet Tiresias is sent to Oedipus. When probing Tiresias to hard and Oedipus accuses him as the murder, Tiresias reveals that Oedipus is the curse over Thebes. Oedipus becomes enraged by what he hears he concocts a story the Creon and Tiresias are conspiring to overthrow him. Jocasta, Oedipus’s wife tries to tell him that this is wrong because the oracle said that Laius’s own son would kill him. She tells him that the son was sent away to die on a mountainside. With Oedipus’s constant need to know what happened and not leave well enough alone, he finds out more than he can handle. He finds out his wife is actually his mother to which she hangs herself, and that Laius was his father. When Oedipus goes to find Jocasta, he finds her dead and takes her broach off her dress. With the

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