WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE

STORY BASED ON

THE PICTURE?

Oedipus the King

The Basics - Birth

When Oedipus was born to the king and queen of Thebes, they were told that there was a prophecy saying he would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother.

Of course, the king and queen thought that was bad. So they gave him to a shepherd and told him to KILL the infant!

They drove a sharp stake through his foot, and left him on a hillside to die.

But Oedipus didn’t die!

A shepherd rescued him and gave him to another king to raise as his own.

Oedipus got his name from the foot injury he had- Oedipus, in Greek, means “swollen foot”.

Next…

When Oedipus grew up, a drunk man told him the king wasn’t his real father.

Oedipus asked the gods who his real father was, and heard the terrible prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother!

What would you do?

Oedipus did exactly what anyone would do- he ran away as fast as his swollen feet could take him!

BUT…

You can’t escape fate that easily!

As Oedipus traveled to another city to start a

new life, he came upon a man driving a carriage. The man hit Oedipus and told him to get out of his way.

This made Oedipus mad, and Oedipus killed the driver!

Guess who Oedipus had killed?

THE KING OF THEBES!

ALSO KNOWN AS HIS FATHER!

But no one knew that, including Oedipus!

He thought he had just killed a random stranger (still not okay, but better than killing your father).

When he got to Thebes, everyone was upset- because their king was missing and they were being menaced by…

The Sphinx!

The riddle

The Sphinx wouldn’t let anyone pass unless they could answer a riddle. If they couldn’t answer, she would eat them!

What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the daytime, and three legs at night?

The hero

Oedipus solved the riddle and the Sphinx left the city of Thebes alone.

The citizens were very grateful- and they were looking for a new king. Oedipus married the queen of Thebes – Jocasta.

Anyone see a problem here? Who is Oedipus married to?

The play

The play begins when all of this has already happened. For some reason, the city of Thebe is plagued by “pestilence” – sickness that affects the people and the crops. Women can’t give birth to babies, the crops are dying, and people are getting sick and dying.

The people of Thebes KNOW that the reason for this is that the gods are angry at them. They DON’T know why the gods are angry.

Do you know?

For the reader

We KNOW the whole time that Oedipus himself is the problem. Oedipus does NOT know- and even when it seems obvious, he still refuses to see the truth.

When the audience knows something the main character does not know, it is called dramatic irony.

This play is called a tragedy – you must know THREE important facts about tragedy.

Three facts about tragedies

The hero is a very important person who is high in society- a king or prince, usually!

The hero has a TRAGIC FLAW – something is wrong with his character that causes his trouble (often hubris!)

The hero realizes his tragic flaw as bad things begin to happen to him, bringing him to misery.

Is Oedipus a tragic hero?

Oedipus is a king of a great city, with a happy family life.

Oedipus has a tragic flaw- we will decide what it is after we have read the play!

Very, very bad things are happening to the city AND to Oedipus as a result of his flaw. He goes from a happy king to a blind beggar.