Oedipus Rex Flashcards
who wrote Oedipus Rex
Sophocles
Oedipus unsuccessfully tries to change his fate. An oracle has confirmed that his destiny is to
marry his mother and kill his father.
Further down the road, Oedipus meets a _________ who has been plaguing the city of __________ and challenging pedestrians with riddles such that anyone who guesses wrong gets gobbled up. Oedipus solves the riddle correctly and becomes the _____________. He also marries an attractive older gal named ____________, the recently widowed queen of Thebes
Sphinx; Thebes; King of Thebes; Jocasta
Sophocles won perhaps as many as __ victories, compared to ___ for Aeschylus and ____ for Euripides, and indeed he may have never received lower than second place in the competitions he entered.
24; 13; four
Of all his surviving plays, the tragedies of the Oedipus Trilogy — ___________________________________________— are the best known and most often produced.
Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone
As the play opens, the citizens of Thebes beg their king, Oedipus, to lift the ___________ that threatens to destroy the city. Oedipus has already sent his brother-in-law, _________, to the oracle to learn what to do.
plague; Creon
On his return, Creon announces that the oracle instructs them to find the murderer of _________, the king who ruled Thebes before Oedipus. The discovery and punishment of the murderer will end the plague. At once, Oedipus sets about to solve the murder
Laius
Summoned by the king, the blind prophet, ____________, refuses to speak at first, but finally accuses Oedipus himself of killing Laius. Oedipus mocks and rejects the prophet angrily, ordering him to leave, but not before Tiresias hints darkly of an incestuous marriage and a future of blindness, infamy, and wandering.
Tiresias
Oedipus becomes distressed by Jocasta’s remarks because just before he came to Thebes he killed a man who resembled Laius at a crossroads. To learn the truth, Oedipus sends for the only living witness to the murder, a _________________.
shepherd
Oedipus finds out from a messenger that ___________, king of Corinth, Oedipus’ father, has died of old age. Jocasta rejoices — surely this is proof that the prophecy Oedipus heard is worthless. Still, Oedipus worries about fulfilling the prophecy with his mother, ___________, a concern Jocasta dismisses.
Polybus; Merope
