Oedipus Rex Script

Thebes is suffering a plague which leaves its fields and women barren. Oedipus, the king of Thebes, has
sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the house of Apollo to ask the oracle how to end the plague.

Oedipus: Creon go to the house of Apollo to ask how to end this plague.
Creon: I will your highness.
Creon returns, bearing good news:

Creon: If we find who killed Lauis, the plague in the land will end.

(Laius was Jocasta's husband before she married Oedipus). Hearing this, Oedipus swears he will find the
murderer and banish him.

Oedipus: I will find the murderer and I will banish that monster from the land!
The Chorus (representing the people of Thebes) suggests that Oedipus consult Teiresias, the blind
prophet. Oedipus tells them that he has already sent for Teiresias.

Oedipus: I have already asked for Teiresias. All we have to do is wait for the old prophet.
When Teiresias arrives, he seems reluctant to answer Oedipus's questions, warning him that he does not
want to know the answers.

Teiresias: Your highness, believe me, you do not want to hear the answers your questions because you
couldn’t handle them. You will surely regret it, your highness.

Oedipus: Answer it or you shall be slain! You will experience torture like never before!
Teiresias: You are the killer and your marriage is a sinful union! There!
Oedipus takes this as an insult and jumps to the conclusion that Creon paid Teiresias to say these things.
Furious, Oedipus dismisses him, and Teiresias goes, repeating as he does, that Laius's killer is right here
before him
Teiresias: You killed your father and married your own mother. You are a man who came seeing but will
leave in blindness. You’re a fool for denying it. An ignorant fool!
Creon enters, asking the people around him if it is true that Oedipus slanderously accused him.

Creon: Did Oedipus accuse me?! Did he accuse me of his father’s death?!
The Chorus tries to mediate, but Oedipus appears and charges Creon with treason. Jocasta and the
Chorus beg Oedipus to be open-minded:

Jocasta: Just be open minded and try to understand him. Try to understand your people as well. This
situation is not easy for anyone.
Oedipus unwillingly relents and allows Creon to go. Jocasta asks Oedipus why he is so upset and he tells
her what Teiresias prophesied.
Jocasta: Why are you so upset, my dear?
Oedipus: I’ve called for that n good prophet, Teiresias. He was so absurd to accuse me of killing my own
father and being married to my own mother! That’s ridiculous! Could you imagine?!
Jocasta: You shouldn’t believe in oracles and prophets because there’s no truth in it. I even have a proof.
Long ago an oracle told Laius that his own son would kill him, and as a result he and Jocasta gave their
infant son to a shepherd to leave out on a hillside to die with a pin through its ankles. Yet Laius was
killed by robbers, not by his own son, proof that the oracle was wrong. But something about her story
troubles Oedipus; she said that Laius was killed at a place where three roads meet, and this reminds
Oedipus of an incident from his past, when he killed a stranger at a place where three roads met. He
asks her to describe Laius, and her description matches his memory. Yet Jocasta tells him that the only
eyewitness to Laius's death, a herdsman, swore that five robbers killed him. Oedipus summons this
witness.

Jocasta: Why do you seem so troubled? What is bothering you?

Oedipus: When I was young someone told me that I am not my father’s son. I asked my parents about it
but they denied it. I went to the oracle but it told me that I would kill my father and marry my mother
which scared me that’s why I left my hometown. On my journey I killed a man because he insulted me.
I’m scared that maybe he was the king. I wish that the eyewitness will remember that it is not me.
If this is the case, Oedipus will be forever banished both from Thebes (the punishment he swore for the
killer of Laius) and from Corinth, his hometown. If this eyewitness will swear that robbers killed Laius,
then Oedipus is exonerated. He prays for the witness to deliver him from guilt and from banishment.
Oedipus and Jocasta enter the palace to wait for him.

Jocasta comes back out of the palace, on her way to the holy temples to pray for Oedipus. A messenger
arrives from Corinth.

Messenger: Greetings, your excellencey, I come baring some news. Your father, Polybus is dead.
Overjoyed, Jocasta sends for Oedipus, glad that she has even more proof in the uselessness of oracles.

Jocasta: See? I told you there is no truth in the prophesy.

Oedipus: I’m still afraid of the rest, I am terrified that it be true, that I married my own mother.
but then states that he is still afraid of the rest of the oracle's prophecy: The messenger assures him that
he need not fear approaching Corinth - since Merope, his mother, is not really his mother, and
moreover, Polybus wasn't his father either. Stunned, Oedipus asks him how he came to know this.

Messenger; You shouldn’t be afraid going to corinth, well in fact they are not your real parents.
Oedipus: How did you know?
Messenger: Years ago a man gave a baby to me and I delivered it to the king and queen of Corinth. A
baby that would grow up to be “Oedipus the King” The scar on your ankle, your higness, is a testament
to the truth because the infant’s feet had been pierced through the ankles.
Oedipus: Who gave the baby to you?
Messenger: It was one of Laius’s servants. Maybe Jocasta can help you search for the servant so that you
could unveil the story of your birth.
Suddenly understanding the terrible truth, Jocasta begs Oedipus not to carry through with his
investigation. Oedipus replies that he swore to unravel this mystery, and he will follow through on his
word. Jocasta exits into the palace. Oedipus again swears that he will figure out this secret, no matter
how vile the answer is. The Chorus senses that something bad is about to happen and join Jocasta's cry
in begging the mystery to be left unresolved.

Jocasta: I do not wish this mystery to be unravelled. I pray to the gods that Oedipus never finds out!

Oedipus's men lead in an old shepherd, who is afraid to answer Oedipus's questions.

Old Shephard: Your higness, I am devastated to bring you such information. I did, in truth, give the late
king Lauis a baby boy. The same infant that Jocasta ang King Lauis left on the hillside to die.

Finally the truth is clear - devastated, Oedipus exits into the palace. A messenger reveals that he
grabbed a sword and searched for Jocasta with the intent to kill her.

Oedipus: WHERE IS JOCASTA?! I SHALL FIND HER!

Upon entering her chamber, however, he finds that she has hanged herself. He takes the gold brooches
from her dress and gouges his eyes out. He appears onstage again, blood streaming from his now blind
eyes.

Oedipus: ( crying) I have done so many vile things, I shall never see again. Kill me! I should be dead! I
deserve nothing but death!
Creon enters, having heard the entire story, and begs Oedipus to come inside, where he will not be
seen.
Creon: Come inside Oedipus. I need a word with you for a moment.
Oedipus: Let me leave the city!
Creon: You must consult Apollo first, my brother. Don’t do rash things in your state.
Oedipus: You don’t understand, dear brother! I declared that the late king Lauis’s killer must be
banished! It should not have changed! Even if it were me!
Creon: If it is your royal decree, I will no longer argue.
Oedipus: Creon, please take care of my daughters, you know how much they mean to me. I will be
leaving forever.
The Chorus, alone, laments Oedipus' tragic fate and his doomed lineage