Oedipus the king / Sophocles
By: Sophocles [author].
Material type:
BookPublisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2009Description: xxiii, 114 pages : illustrations.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9781416500339.Subject(s): Oedipus -- (Greek mythological figure) -- Drama | Oedipus -- (Greek mythological figure)Summary: Aware that a terrible curse has befallen Thebes, he 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.
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. Well, she and Laius had the child killed, so obviously that prophecy didn't come true, right?
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.
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 murderer 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.
| Item type | Current location | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Main Library Reference Section | Circulation | C 882.01 So712o 2009 (Browse shelf) | Available | 106872d |
Browsing Main Library Shelves , Shelving location: Reference Section , Collection code: Circulation Close shelf browser
| C 863.0903 Eo62m 1961 The modern Spanish novel | C 863.62 B732u 2004 A universal history of iniquity | C 880.80 V795g 1965 Greek and Roman classics | C 882.01 So712o 2009 Oedipus the king | C 882.0108 G793 1968 Greek drama | C 882.0108 So712a 1998 Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra | C 883.01 H766o 1999 The Odyssey |
Aware that a terrible curse has befallen Thebes, he 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.
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. Well, she and Laius had the child killed, so obviously that prophecy didn't come true, right?
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.
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 murderer 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.
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