Sophocles in Short- Oedipus the King

Sophocles in Short

 

Oedipus the King, also known as Oedipius Rex is the first of three Theban plays which detail the initial instance that cursed Thebes and the fallout thereafter. It is a mess, as all Greek tragedy is.

Anyway, here goes:

 

 

Enter Oedipus, we will call him “Oeddy.”

 

“All you silly geese,

What is it you’re dong

Strewn about my step?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the play the speak of plague is ambiguious—is it the people, themselves, sick with some disease? Is the city plagued by barren fields and misfortune? I like to assume it is disease and that Oeddy is exposing himself because he is a headstrong sillypants.

 

“From the sphinx and her

Tribute you saved us. We rose,

Do not let us fall.”

 

 

 

“Just kidding, I know

Illness brought you here. I sent

Creon already.”

Enter Creon. Note his big shoes.

 

 

“The oracle said

Laius must be avenged to

save your lovely Thebes!

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We’re screwed Oeddy!

Our previous king was killed;

No one knows by whom.”

 

So, Oeddy pledges to avenge Laius (king previous to Oeddy) despite there being zero chance in hell of finding the killers. As a starting point, Oeddy summons (he does quite a bit of this summoning thing. Perhaps he is working toward a level in wizard?) a prophet.

 

“… … … … …

… … … … … … …

… … … … …”

 

 

 

 

Oeddy gets pissed when the prophet wont tell him anything. Words are exchanged and Oeddy decides tat Creon (shoes) paid the prophet to suit his own interests. More arguments and the prophet leaves (with an angry hobble) mumbling something:

 

 

“The murderer is 

Native to Thebes. Father and

Brother to his kids.”

Creon comes to face Oeddy’s accusations. Oeddy is about to shank a bitch (Creon) when Jocasta (bad '90s JLo ponytail), Oeddy’s wife shows up.

 

“Pish, posh! Oracles

Are full of shit! Laius was

To die by his son

------------------------

E’ryone knows he

Was killed by highwaymen, right?

Right! I am pretty sure!”
 

Oeddy forces more info from her because he is uneasy for some reason (not sure why). To rest his suspicions he summons the last remaining witness and admits the following to Jocasta:

“A long time ago

Some lush in Corinth said I

Had been adopted.”

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An oracle said

I’d murder my father and

Sleep with my mother!

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So I left Corinth.

I came to the same crossroads

Where Laius was killed.

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Some dicks drove me off

The road. I was pissed! So, out

I got and killed them!

----------------------------

One of ‘em looked a

Whole lot like your despcription

Of Laius. I’m concerned.”

Rumor had it that Laius was killed by a slough of men, not just one. So, everyone writes it off as no big deal and moves on with their lives. Oeddy was ‘rull’ bothered by it. He immediately summons a ton of people to prove that the oracle was wrong. Seriously though, how many summon spells can one dude have?

 

“Your dad is dead, dude.

No big deal. Hope you didn’t like
Him much because, well…”

 

The messenger is sporting a cowboy hat and lasso, both are entirely appropriate in ancient Greece. Promise. Our cowboy friend isn’t the only cool breeze arriving from Corinth. Soon after, a letter arrives with some more telling information for Oeddy’s present situation:

 

 

 
Dear Oeddy, you scamp!

Polybus, yer dad.

Totally took you in when

You were found, exposed

Signed, sincerely, or something,

Telling you yer fucked

(insert “your mom” here)

By “exposed” I mean, “exposed to the elements.”

            Jocasta puts the pieces together and begs Oeddy to stop asking questions, operating on the idea that it is easier to ignore a huge problem that everyone already knows about than it is to accept it. That is a legitimate response, right? Denial? When Oeddy refuses she runs away, like a poorly written little girl, into the palace.

            Oeddy finally gets ahold of the shepherd wo saw Laius’ slaughter. He happened to also be the guy who brought Polybus a baby instead of killing it by the command of the baby’s father. Great family dynamic.

 

 

“So…that baby

I gave Polybus was the

Son of King Laius.

------------------------

Hope you don’t care. I

Mean, killin babies is bad.

Kinda worse than incest.”

 

“Why, Gods, why? I will

Curse myself then curse fate and

I’ll stomp off this stage!”

 

So he does.

 

 A servant comes up to explain what happened to the crowd.

 

 

 

“Turns out that Oeddy

Is incestuous. Huh. Maybe

Watch out for that.”

 

 

 

 

 

            We now find that Jocasta has hung herself. Oeddy, distraught by the death of his wife and knowledge that she is also his mother, commands that someone bring him a sword. When his staff, refuse he mills (by “mills” I mean “rages,” full-on, barbarian style rage) about the palace. He comes to Jocasta’s still hanging corpse, takes her down, pulls the pins that bind her clothing together from her person because now is the very best time to get naked. He proceeds to stab his own eyes out.

            Oeddy begs to be exiled due to his own shame and despair. Creon is unsure and consults the oracles. While he waits, Oeddy is comforted by his two daughter/sisters, Ismene and Antigone.

“I lament that I

Released my man juices in

Our mom and you’re here.

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Boo hoo hoo, boo hoo

Boo hoo! We are cursed, my dear

Sisterly-daughters!”

Oeddy asks Creon (despite having nearly killed him a few short scenes back) to care for his sister/daughters while he is in exile. The moral of Oedipus the King, as we find in the final chorus is,

“No man should be considered fortunate until he is dead.”