Oedipus Rex

By Sophocles

     This play takes place in the palace of Thebes where a priest and chorus gather to call on their king, Oedipus, for help. Creon arrives and informs Oedipus that revenge on the murderer of Laius, the kingdom's former ruler, must be exacted for the plague to end. The blind prophet, Tiresias, informs Oedipus that he will not like the truth and refuses to tell him. Oedipus enrages the prophet until he tells him that Oedipus himself is the murderer.
     Oedipus calls on Creon and accuses him of treason against him. He tries to sentence him to execution but the chorus convinces him otherwise. The story of Laius's murder is that he was killed by marauders, giving Oedipus hope that Tiresias was wrong in his accusation. He remembers a prophecy he received from an oracle in Delphi that he would someday kill his own father and sleep with his mother. Afterward, he killed a party traveling the other way after an argument at the very same crossroads that Laius was murdered at. He summons a shepherd to give his story of Oedipus's past.
     This shepherd reveals that he had delivered a baby to Polybus, the king of Corinth. It is revealed that the baby was Oedipus and that his real mother is his wife, Iocaste. Iocaste commits suicide at the knowledge of what she has done, and Oedipus gouges his own eyes out in grief and disgust.