Oedipus Study Q's

Oedipus the King Study Questions




1/3 (Parodos - Ode 1)



1. How would you characterize Oedipus as a ruler?

2. Oedipus has two main interests in locating Laios’ murderer. One is to lift the plague from Thebes. (a) What is Oedipus’ second reason for wanting to bring the murderer to justice? (b) How is his second reason significant in terms of plot?

3. Although Teiresias is blind, he has authoritative vision. (a) Interpret his claim that “whether I speak or not, it is bound to come.” (b) What is ironic about a seer being blind?

4. Teiresias says, You mock my blindness, do you? / But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind.” What else does Oedipus reveal in his exchange with Teiresias?

5. Discuss the references to darkness, blindness, and vision in Teiresias’ speech in lines 395-417.

6. What is the contrast between the Strophe and Antistrophe in Ode 1?





2/3 (Scene 2 - Ode 3)



1. (a) Why does Oedipus distrust Kreon? (b) How does Kreon try to prove that he has no interest in being king of Thebes?

2. In terms of plot, what is significant about the exact time when Oedipus comes to the crossroad where he kills the people in the carriage

3. (a) What reasons does Iokaste give for not having faith in prophecy? (b) In terms of their approach to destiny, what do Iokaste and Oedipus have in common?

4. What role does the Chorus play in heightening the dramatic tension of the play?

6. What is the religious message delivered by the Chorus in Ode 2?

7. What do you think Oedipus means by calling himself “a child of Luck”?





3/3 (Scene 4 - Exodos)



1. Interpret the Chorus’ remark: “But all eyes fail before time’s eye, / All actions come to justice there.”

2. What is significant about Oedipus’ blinding himself, especially by Iokaste’s brooches?

3. In lines 1286-1288, Oedipus says that Apollo brought his bitterness to completion, but the hand that struck him was his own. What does this statement reveal about him at this point in the play?

4. Why does Oedipus insist he is better off blind and living than dead?

5. Kreon says to Oedipus: Do not seek to be master in everything, for the things you mastered did not follow you throughout your life.” Support Kreon’s claim with evidence from the play.

6. Explain the famous lines that end the play: “Let every man in mankind’s frailty / Consider his last day; and let none / Presume on his good fortune until he find / Life, at his death, a memory without pain.”