Drama Summary - Oedipus the King

             The story of Oedipus, one of the first examples of a literary tragic hero, is of a man plunged suddenly from prosperity and power to ruin and disrepute. We see him at the height and the depth of his worldly fortunes. Oedipus, whom in the first scene the Priest calls "the first of men," to whom all knees are bent, is at the end of the play polluted, blind, banished from the land he ruled and loved and from the people who lovingly obeyed him.
             The city of Thebes (which is a real city yet people or events are totally mythical) is ruled by Oedipus, the saver of the city, the one who answered the riddle of Sphinx, the monster which was threatening the city, faces a danger. His city is cursed with plague and pollution. People of Thebes once again come to Oedipus, ask him, and beg him to save them once again. Oedipus answers them, says he does not know why are all those evil is because but hopes that they will know the reason for he has sent Creon, his wife Jocasta's brother and his trusted friend, also the second most powerful man in Thebes, to the temple of Apollon to ask the god the reason of this evil. Right after Oedipus speaks to his people Creon returns with the answer and demand of Apollon. He says Apollon said all the evil is because of an unsolved mystery, unpunished criminal and he wants the mystery of the former king's, former husband of Oedipus' wife, Laius' death to be solved, the murder to be banished or shedding blood for blood.
             With the reason and solution of the curse Oedipus swears in front of his people that he will not rest till this mystery is solved, the murder is found and punished and he also curses the murderer and whoever helps him. He asks his people to say if any one of them knows the murder or his whereabout to speak and promises those who speak at that moment will not be punished. After his people's and Creon's advice, Oedipus summons Teiresias, the blind seer to help them maybe even tell them who the murder...

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Drama Summary - Oedipus the King. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 10:08, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/15544.html