Plot Summary of Oedipus Rex

The Oracle of Thebes tells that plague and misery will end if the murderer of the previous
king Laius is punished. Oedipus brings another blind visionary man, called Tiresias, to tell
him about the murderer. This seer accuses Oedipus to be the murderer of the late king Laius.
Oedipus investigates and tells his new queen that he had left his birthplace city because of
some prophecy: he would kill his father and marry his mother. Jocasta The widow of the late
king and Oedipus wife tells Oedipus to forget the prophecy.

A messenger came to Oedipus and told him that he was adopted and not the real son of those
king and queen. A shepherd came to tell that the baby Oedipus was the son of Jocasta and
late Laius. Oedipus remembers that he had killed some men in the mountains and one of them
had the features of Laius, his real father. Now the prophecy was uncovered. Jocasta, Oedipus
wife, killed herself and Oedipus ripped his eyes out. He was banished away later on.

Main Themes:

1.Fate Vs Free Will: Fate means that gods planned the misery and ends of people and the gods
plans cannot be changed. Oedpius and his wife Jocasts seems to have free will. Oedipus left
his land to escape his fate. He came to the land where he married widow queen Jocasta, his
mother. He fulfilled the gods will though he thought he had his own actions.

2.Guilt Vs Shame: In the opening , Oedipus sets himself the task of discovering the guilty
party—so guilt, in the legal sense, is central to Oedipus Rex. After all, one can argue that
neither Oedipus nor Jocasta are guilty in a legal sense. They committed their acts unknowingly.
Yet they had overwhelming feelings of guilt and shame for violating two of the basic rules of
civilized humanity.

3.Uncovering the Truth: Oedipus and his family might have all remained happy in their
ignorance had the plague not come to Thebes and the oracle not commanded that the murderer
of Laius be found. Oedipus swears he will find the murderer. Every step of the way, people are
reluctant to speak and try to tell him that it would be better if the past were left alone. Oedipus
wants to show that he is open to the truth and keeps no secrets from his people.

4.Sight Vs Blindness: When Oedipus publicly declares his intention to solve the mystery of
King Laius's murder, he says, "I'll start again—I'll bring it all to light myself." Oedipus's vision
and intelligence have made him a great king of Thebes—he solved the riddle of the Sphinx and
revitalized the city. But he is blind to the truth about his own life. It takes the blind prophet,
Tiresias, to point out his ignorance.

Main Characters

Oedipus Destroys himself. The same leadership skills that have brought Oedipus to fame and
success—decisive action, a desire to solve mysteries using his intellect—drives him to his own
destruction.

Creon as Political and Scheming Person: Creon is offended and alarmed when Oedipus accuses
him of treason, but he speaks calmly and tries to show the error of the accusation by appealing
to Oedipus's sense of reason. At the end, he cautiously makes sure to follow the dictates of the
gods, rather than to trying to resist fate as Oedipus has done.

Jocasta’s Free Will : She tries to convince Oedipus not to worry about what Tiresias says. she
begs him not to dig any further into his past. Realizing that her son killed her first husband, that
she is now married to her son, and that Oedipus is about to bring all of this to light, Jocasta
takes her own life.