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Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus (Ancient Greek: Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, pronounced [oidípuːs týrannos]), or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed c. 429 BC, this is highly uncertain. [1]
Oedipus sent for Tiresias, and Tiresias admitted to knowing the answers to Oedipus' questions, but he refused to speak, instead telling Oedipus to abandon his search. Angered by the seer's reply, Oedipus accused him of complicity in Laius' murder, which offended Tiresias. Tiresias revealed to the king that "you yourself are the criminal you seek".
Oedipus (UK: / ˈ iː d ɪ p ə s /, also US: / ˈ ɛ d ə-/; Ancient Greek: Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes.A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family.
The prophet Tiresias appears and is asked by Oedipus to make clear the meaning of the oracle. Tiresias then proceeds to carry out a sacrifice, which contains a number of horrific signs. As Tiresias does not have the name of King Laius' killer, he proposes to summon Laius' spirit back from Erebus to learn the identity of the guilty one.
The Creon of Oedipus Rex is in some ways different and in some ways similar to the Creon of Antigone. In Oedipus Rex, he appears to favor the will of the gods above decrees of state. Even when Oedipus says that, once dethroned, he must be exiled, Creon waits for the approval of the gods to carry out the order once he has been crowned king.
Oedipus Separating from Jocasta by Alexandre Cabanel. In Greek mythology, Jocasta (/ dʒ oʊ ˈ k æ s t ə /), also rendered Iocaste [1] (Ancient Greek: Ἰοκάστη Iokástē [i.okástɛː]) and also known as Epicaste (/ ˌ ɛ p ɪ ˈ k æ s t iː /; Ἐπικάστη Epikástē [2]), was a daughter of Menoeceus, a descendant of the Spartoi Echion, [3] and queen consort of Thebes.
When the army of the Seven reached Thebes, they proceeded to launch an attack on the city. In a story first attested in Euripides' The Phoenician Women, the seer Teiresias prophesied that Thebes would be saved if Creon's son Menoeceus (previously unknown) sacrificed himself, which he did. [17]
The name "Pentheus", as Dionysus and Tiresias both point out, means "Man of Sorrows" and derives from πένθος, pénthos, sorrow or grief, especially the grief caused by the death of a loved one. His name appeared to mark him for tragedy.