Oedipus the King by Sophocles

Oedipus the King Summary

by Sophocles

How It All Goes Down

King Oedipus, aware that a terrible curse has befallen Thebes, sends his brother-in-law, Creon, to seek the advice of Apollo. Creon informs Oedipus that the curse will be lifted if the murderer of Laius, the former king, is found and prosecuted. Laius was murdered many years ago at a crossroads.

Oedipus dedicates himself to the discovery and prosecution of Laius’s murderer. Oedipus subjects a series of unwilling citizens to questioning, including a blind prophet. Teiresias, the blind prophet, informs Oedipus that Oedipus himself killed Laius. This news really bothers Oedipus, but his wife Jocasta tells him not to believe in prophets, they've been wrong before. As an example, she tells Oedipus about how she and King Laius had a son who was prophesied to kill Laius and sleep with her. Well, she and Laius had the child killed, so obviously that prophecy didn't come true, right?

Jocasta's story doesn't comfort Oedipus. As a child, an old man told Oedipus that he was adopted, and that he would eventually kill his biological father and sleep with his biological mother. Not to mention, Oedipus once killed a man at a crossroads, which sounds a lot like the way Laius died.

Jocasta urges Oedipus not to look into the past any further, but he stubbornly ignores her. Oedipus goes on to question a messenger and a shepherd, both of whom have information about how Oedipus was abandoned as an infant and adopted by a new family. In a moment of insight, Jocasta realizes that she is Oedipus’s mother and that Laius was his father. Horrified at what has happened, she kills herself. Shortly thereafter, Oedipus, too, realizes that he was Laius’s murder and that he’s been married to (and having children with) his mother. In horror and despair, he gouges his eyes out and is exiled from Thebes.

Oedipus the King Oedipus the King Summary

• Oedipus emerges from his palace at Thebes. Outside are a priest and a crowd of children. Oedipus is the King, in case you didn’t get that from the title. Everyone else is, in short, "suppliant."
• Oedipus has heard rumors that a curse is afflicting Thebes. After briefly congratulating his own greatness, he asks the priest what’s up.
• The priest responds that basically everything that could be wrong in the city is wrong: crops are dying, cattle are dying, people are dying, and there's generally low morale.
• Because Oedipus is the boss man, the priest asks him to please take care of this mess.
• We learn that Oedipus has saved the city once before by lifting a curse put on it by the Sphinx.
• Oedipus reveals he already knew that the city was in a bad state, so he sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to Apollo (or at least to Apollo’s oracle) to get more information.
• In the midst of this conversation, Creon returns with news from Apollo.
• Creon tells Oedipus that Apollo told him that in order to lift the curse on the city, the men that murdered the city’s former king, Laius, must be banished or killed.
• Well, where was the criminal investigation unit when the murder went down? Turns out the Sphinx had previously warned against inquiring into the murder. Talk about mixed signals. So thus far, no one’s busted out the cavalry to hunt the murderers down.
• Oedipus repeatedly congratulates himself and promises to deal with the murderers and save the city.
• Everyone exits except the Chorus, an ever-present group of wise and gossip-prone observers. They, unfortunately, do not sing.
• The Chorus then recounts the multiple problems the city faces including infertility, plague, famine and no one’s Xboxes are working. The lamentation is split into two voices, the "Strophe" and the "Antistrophe." This is a Greek tool where the Chorus is made up of two halves so it can sort of converse with itself. Like a duet made of lots of people. Anyway, the Chorus begs for help.
• Oedipus reenters and demands that anyone with information about the former king's murder speak up. He curses the murderer.
• The Chorus responds that they know nothing and suggest Oedipus ask the blind prophet, Teiresias (which we think is a major case of irony) for his knowledge.
• Oedipus, ever-prepared, informs the Chorus that, quite conveniently, Teiresias is already on his way.
• Teiresias shows up immediately.
• Oedipus briefly explains to him the city’s situation and Apollo’s advice. Then Oedipus asks for help.
• Teiresias says with great foreboding (and foreshadowing), "You do NOT want to hear what I have to say." Roughly speaking, anyway. Teiresias continues to insist that it is better for him to leave rather than speak.
• Oedipus, however, demands that Teiresias tell him what he knows.
• Oedipus works himself into an angry rage and then busts out an insult we think you should add to your personal repertoire: "You would provoke a stone!." Oh, diss.
• Teiresias grumbles "fine" and reveals that Oedipus himself was the one who killed the former king.
• Then Oedipus says, "What? I didn’t hear you."
• Teiresias tells him for the second time.
• Most mysterious of all, according to Teiresias, Oedipus is committing "the worst of sins" with the people "he loves the most." More foreshadowing. Teiresias tells Oedipus that he is a threat to himself, in the "stop asking questions" kind of way.
• Oedipus responds that he thinks Teiresias and Creon are simply framing him in order to seize the throne. He then taunts Teiresias about his blindness, which is not only politically incorrect but makes him out to be a total jerk.
• The Chorus freaks out and tells the men they aren’t solving anything by arguing. Let’s just call them "reality-check Chorus."
• Teiresias tells Oedipus he’s majorly, grossly cursed and will end up blinded, poor, and alone. This is the worst psychic reading ever. He then casually mentions Oedipus’s parents and informs Oedipus that he "shall learn the secret" of his marriage.
• Then, right before he leaves, he says (in cryptic language) that Oedipus is married to his mother. Well, he says that Oedipus is "a son and husband both," which maybe isn’t so cryptic after all, unless you’re Oedipus.
• The Chorus talks about the fight between Oedipus and Creon. The Strophe says whoever he is, the murderer needs to get out of Thebes, and fast. The Antistrophe which, don’t forget, is made up of the city’s citizens, declares that it can’t believe Oedipus is at fault until they see the glove on his hand, so to speak. Both halves of the Chorus agree that they have no idea whether or not to believe Teiresias.
• Creon arrives, having overheard that Oedipus accused him of conspiring to steal the throne. Rumor, apparently, travels almost as fast in Thebes as in high school.
• Oedipus enters again and accuses Creon to his face. Creon wants the opportunity to respond, but Oedipus won’t shut up.
• Finally, Creon gets a word in. He explains that, as Oedipus’s brother-in-law, he has everything he could want without any of the stress of being in charge. Basically, no one wants to shoot the Vice President. In ancient Greece.
• Oedipus continues to make accusations and says he’ll have Creon killed.
• Jocasta, Oedipus’s wife and Creon’s sister, comes in. She is horrified at her husband and brother’s fighting, and also at the death threat.
• Jocasta and the Chorus urge Oedipus to listen to Creon’s honest appeals and spare his life.
• Creon storms off.
• Jocasta asks Oedipus what’s going on. He explains he’s been accused of killing Laius. He leaves out the "you might be my Mom" part.
• Jocasta responds that such prophecies are ridiculous. As an example, Jocasta says that her son by Laius was prophesized to kill his father, but that they killed the child as a baby to prevent it. Plus, Laius was killed by foreign highway robbers, none of which could possibly have been his son.
• Oedipus, hearing the story, flips out. Suddenly, he worries that he might be the murderer after all. He asks Jocasta lots of questions about the murder’s whereabouts and other details.
• Confused, Jocasta reveals that one of Laius’s servants survived the incident at the crossroads.
• Oedipus insists that the servant be summoned for questioning.
• Oedipus tells Jocasta that as a child, a man once told him that his mother and father were not his real parents. It was also prophesized that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother.
• The plot is thickening considerably.
• Oedipus also reveals that he killed several men in a small incident at a crossroads. Oops. He hopes to find out from the servant whether the King’s murderers were many or just one man. Oedipus utters the incredibly wise statement, "One man can not be many." Well, now we know why this guy is king. In other words, he’s saying if it was a sole murderer, that will confirm his guilt. (You know, in case the repeated prophecies, overwhelming evidence, and sinking stomach feeling were not enough).
• Jocasta reminds Oedipus that even if he did kill Laius, he is not Laius’s son, since their only child was killed.
• The Chorus pleads with the gods for mercy.
• Jocasta, completely frazzled, makes an offering to the gods and prays for Oedipus to keep his temper and wits.
• The Chorus asks a lot of questions, mostly revolving around the one big question of "what is going on?"
• Conveniently, a messenger shows up from Corinth and informs Jocasta and Oedipus that Oedipus’s father, the King of Corinth, has died of natural causes. Jocasta interprets the King’s natural death as proof that the prophecy about Oedipus killing his father was false. Phew.
• Jocasta pulls an, "I was right and you were wrong," and Oedipus is all, "Yeah, yeah, I know."
• Oedipus, however, is still worried about the sleeping with his mother part of the prophecy. Jocasta tells Oedipus that if he just stops thinking about it, it will go away. We wish this still worked today.
• The messenger questions Oedipus about the prophecy and his fears. The messenger tells Oedipus that the King of Corinth (Polybus) and his wife, Merope, were not Oedipus’s real parents. Unable to have a child themselves, they adopted Oedipus. Yet another "uh-oh" moment.
• Turns out, Oedipus (as an infant) was given to the messenger with his feet pierced and tied. This is apparently why he is named "Oedipus," which means "screwed-up foot" in Greek (roughly speaking).
• The messenger got the infant Oedipus from a shepherd who, conveniently, is still alive and within bellowing distance of the rest of our cast.
• Jocasta urges quite energetically that Oedipus drop the issue before he discovers more than he bargained for.
• Oedipus says, "No," and insists on his talking to the shepherd.
• Jocasta makes reference to seeing Oedipus for the last time and runs off wailing.
• Oedipus assumes she’s ashamed of his low birth (since as an infant he was found in some rather raggedy swaddling clothes) and vows to set things right.
• The old shepherd shows up.
• Oedipus questions the old shepherd. Like Teiresias, this guy refuses to speak. Oedipus has his servants twist the old man’s arms to try to force him to talk.
• The man folds like a bad poker hand, revealing that Jocasta was the mother of the child that he discovered and gave to the messenger. Jocasta wanted the child taken away because it had been prophesized that the boy would kill his father and sleep with his mother.
• FINALLY, Oedipus pieces things together and realizes that Jocasta is his mother. As predicted by the prophecy, he has slept with his mother and killed his father.
• Oedipus runs out, saying, quite eloquently, "O, O, O."
• The Chorus, expectedly, laments the tragedy.
• Another messenger arrives and announces that Jocasta, disgusted with herself for sleeping with her own son, has hung herself. She’s dead.
• Oedipus finds that he has lost both his wife and mother. He very dramatically rushes to her dead body, tears the broaches from her dress (which have sharp, phallic pins on them) and gouges out his eyes.
• Oedipus staggers outside all bloody and gross.
• The Chorus is startled (understatement of the year) and feels bad for him (understatement of the century).
• Oedipus explains that he gouged his eyes out because there was no longer anything pleasant for him to see. We’re just amazed that the man can manage to stand around and explain things at this point.
• Oedipus asks the Chorus to help send him out of Thebes or kill him. He wishes he had died as a child.
• Creon enters and Oedipus asks to be sent away. Oedipus feels it is his fate to stay alive so that he can suffer.
• Oedipus asks Creon to take care of his daughters, but not his sons because they can take care of themselves.
• Creon leads Oedipus out of the room while Oedipus continues to beg for his exile.

Reference:

Oedipus the King. Oedipus the King Summary. Retrieved on 1 may 2012 from 

http://www.shmoop.com/oedipus-the-king/detailed-summary.html

Ringkasan Oedipus the King

            Oedipus adalah seorang  raja dari Thebes. Pada saat itu, dia menyadari bahwa kota Thebes sedang mengalami kutukan yang sangat mengerikan. Lalu, untuk mngetahui cara menghilangkan kutukan tersebut, Oedipus mengirim saudara ipar nya, Creon, untuk menemui dewa Apollo. Hal ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui penyebab dan cara mengatasi kutukan tersebut. Apollo mengatakan bahwa, kutukan tersebut akan lenyap apabila pembunuh Raja Laius (raja terakhir Thebes sebelum Oedipus) ditemukan dan diadili. Diketahui sebelumnya bahwa Raja Laius dibunuh beberapa tahun yang lalu dipersimpangan jalan. Kemudian, Oedipus mengumumkan kepada rakyatnya bahwa dirinya lah yang akan menemukan pembunuh dari Raja Laius dan akan mengadilinya. Oedipus memulai pencarian pembunuh Raja Laius dengan mempertanyakan beberapa hal kepada masyarakat dan juga seorang peramal Buta bernama Teiresias.

Teiresias mengataklan kepada Oedipus bahwa Oedipus lah yang menmbunuh Raja Laius. Berita tersebut sangat mengganggu Oedipus. Namun, istrinya, Jocasta meminta Oedipus untuk menghiraukan ramalan tersebut.  Jocasta mengatakan kepada mereka bahwa ramalan peramal buta itu tidak pantas untuk dipercaya karena banyak sekali ramalan yang tidak terbukti kebenarannya. Jocasta memberikan sebuah bukti bahwa peramal buta tersebut sering meramalkan hal yang tidak benar adanya, seperti ketika Dia dab Raja Laius diramalkan akan memiliki seorang anak yang akan emmbunuh Raja Laius dan yang akan menikah dengannya. Namun, bukti membuktikan bahwa anak dari Jocasta dan Raja LAius terbunuh. Jadi, Jocasta menyimpulkan bahwa ramalan untuk Jocasta tidaklah benar. Meskipun Jocasta telah menjelaskan bahwa peramal buta itu tidak bisa dipercaya, Oedipus tetap merasa tidak nyaman dan masih membuktikan kebenaran ramalan Teiresias untuk dirtinya. Hal ini terjadi karena Oedipus tidak hanya mendengar ramalan tersebut sekali saja. Ketika Oedipus kecil, seorang lelaki tua mengatakan kepada Oedipus bahwa dia telah diadopsi. Setelah itu, lelaki tua itu berkata bahwa dia kelak akan membunuh ayah kandungnya dan menikahi ibu kandungnya. Belum lagi, lelaki tua itu juga mengatakan bahwa Oedipus pernah membunuh seseorang dipersimpangan jalan yang mana cerita tersebut terdengar sama dengan bagaimana Raja Laius terbunuh.

            Selain itu, Jocasta tetap  memaksa Oedipus untuk tidak mempercayai apapun, termasuk ramalan ttersebut. Namun, Oedipus tetap keras kepala dan tidak menghiraukan Jocasta. Oedipus lalu pergi menemui Pembawa pesan dan penggembala. Kedua orang tersebut memilki informasi mengenai bagaimana Oedipus ditelantarkan ketika bayi dan diadopsi oleh keluarga baru. Jadi, pembawa pesan mengadopsi Oedipus dari penggembala. Setelah itu, penggembala yang semula tidak mau mengungkapkan informasi mengenai masa lalu Oedipus akhirnya juga mengatakan bahwa Jocasta adalah ibu dari Oedipus. Penggembala mengatakan bahwa Jocasta menelantarkan Oedipus karena dia diramalkan akan membunuh ayah kandungnya-Raja Laius dan menikahi ibunya sendiri.

Akhirnya, Oedipus menyadari bahwa Jocasta yang saat itu adalah istrinya, merupakan ibu kandung yang telah melahirkannya. Di sisi lain, Jocasta memutuskan untuk bunuh diri karena merasa jijik telah menikah dengan anaknya sendiri hingga memiliki anak. Kemudian, setelah Oedipus menyadari bahwa dia yang membunuh Raja Laius dan menikahi ibunya sendiri, Oedipus merasa putus asa dan memutuskan mencungkil matanya sendiri karena tidak akan ada hal indah yang lagi yang bisa dia lihat di dunia ini. Selain itu, Oedipus memohon kepada Creon untuk diasingkan dari Thebes dan meminta agar Creon bisa merawat putrinya. Namun, semua permintaannya tidak dihiraukan oleh Creon.

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