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Why are Jocasta and Oedipus happy to hear about Polybus' death in 'Oedipus Rex'?
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∙ 14y ago
That Polybus dies of illness and old age and not at Oedipus' hands and that all prophecies may not come true are the reasons why the Theban royal couple, Jocasta and Oedipus, are happy to hear about the death of Oedipus' presumed father.
Specifically, years before the action of the play, Oedipus hears a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He is so horrified by the prospect and so frightened by the prophecy being carried out that he runs away from home. That he was no where near Polybus at the time of the latter's death give Oedipus and Jocasta hope that the rest of the prophecy will not come true either.
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∙ 14y ago
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How does Jocasta respond to the messenger's story in 'Oedipus Rex'?
It is with joy and relief that turn into horrified opposition to the telling that Jocasta responds to the messenger's story in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta is happy to hear that her first husband King Oedipus' father Corinthian King Polybus is dead from illness and old age. She is relieved because she considers this an indication that Oedipus' predicted fate as his father's killer is an incorrect prophecy. But she loses enthusiasm as with growing horror she learns that Oedipus is a Theban native adopted or fostered into the Corinthian royal household.
Who is Oedipus' mother in 'Oedipus Rex'?
Jocasta is Oedipus' mother in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta is the wife of Theban King Laius. Both she and her husband are descendants of Cadmus, Thebes' founder and first king. The royal couple try to continue the Cadmeian line as the parents of subsequent Theban King Oedipus. Subsequently, Jocasta albeit unknowingly becomes the wife of her own son.
Is Jocasta married to Oedipus?
Yes, Theban Queen Jocasta is married to Theban King Oedipus. It's her second marriage. Her first marriage ends with the death of her husband, Theban King Laius. She seems to be happy in her second marriage. But the couple's happiness ultimately is shattered with the revelation that wife and husband are also mother and son.
What the plot of Oedipus the king play?
It's very simple. Oedipus, a number of years ago was a wanderer when he saved the kingdom of Thebes from a Sphinx. As a reward, he gets to marry Jocasta, the dowager Queen of Thebes, whose husband was murdered on a highway in mysterious circumstances. Fast forward a few years, during which Oedipus and Jocasta have raised a happy family. However, Oedipus is invited to find the murderer of the late king. The play is the story of his investigation, in the course of which Oedipus discovers that he himself is the murderer, and that the late king was his father and Jocasta was his mother. Jocasta hangs herself when this revelation is made, and Oedipus blinds himself.
Does Oedipus have children with his own mother in 'Oedipus Rex'?
Yes, Oedipus has children with his own mother in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus marries Jocasta, the beautiful, older widowed queen of King Laius. The happy royal couple has four children: the twin Princes Eteocles and Polyneices, and the Princesses Antigone and Ismene. But the revelation that Oedipus is both son and husband to Jocasta, his mother and wife, destroys the royal couple's years of domestic bliss.
Who is the messenger in Oedipus?
The messenger has no name, but only brings the information from Corinth, Oedipus' childhood home, that Oedipus' adoptive father, Polybus, is dead. Oedipus is happy because he thinks Polybus is his biological father and he didn't kill him so he defied the prophecy. That is the purpose of the messenger.
How does Jocasta respond to the messenger's story in 'Oedipus Rex'?
It is with joy and relief that turn into horrified opposition to the telling that Jocasta responds to the messenger's story in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta is happy to hear that her first husband King Oedipus' father Corinthian King Polybus is dead from illness and old age. She is relieved because she considers this an indication that Oedipus' predicted fate as his father's killer is an incorrect prophecy. But she loses enthusiasm as with growing horror she learns that Oedipus is a Theban native adopted or fostered into the Corinthian royal household.
Who is Oedipus' mother in 'Oedipus Rex'?
Jocasta is Oedipus' mother in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta is the wife of Theban King Laius. Both she and her husband are descendants of Cadmus, Thebes' founder and first king. The royal couple try to continue the Cadmeian line as the parents of subsequent Theban King Oedipus. Subsequently, Jocasta albeit unknowingly becomes the wife of her own son.
Is Jocasta married to Oedipus?
Yes, Theban Queen Jocasta is married to Theban King Oedipus. It's her second marriage. Her first marriage ends with the death of her husband, Theban King Laius. She seems to be happy in her second marriage. But the couple's happiness ultimately is shattered with the revelation that wife and husband are also mother and son.
What the plot of Oedipus the king play?
It's very simple. Oedipus, a number of years ago was a wanderer when he saved the kingdom of Thebes from a Sphinx. As a reward, he gets to marry Jocasta, the dowager Queen of Thebes, whose husband was murdered on a highway in mysterious circumstances. Fast forward a few years, during which Oedipus and Jocasta have raised a happy family. However, Oedipus is invited to find the murderer of the late king. The play is the story of his investigation, in the course of which Oedipus discovers that he himself is the murderer, and that the late king was his father and Jocasta was his mother. Jocasta hangs herself when this revelation is made, and Oedipus blinds himself.
Does Oedipus have children with his own mother in 'Oedipus Rex'?
Yes, Oedipus has children with his own mother in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus marries Jocasta, the beautiful, older widowed queen of King Laius. The happy royal couple has four children: the twin Princes Eteocles and Polyneices, and the Princesses Antigone and Ismene. But the revelation that Oedipus is both son and husband to Jocasta, his mother and wife, destroys the royal couple's years of domestic bliss.
Why does Tiresias keep mentioning King Oedipus's parents?
The fact that Theban King Oedipus doesn't know who his real parents are is why Teiresias the blind prophet mentions them. That knowledge is critical to the solving of the problems that overwhelm the Theban people and their king. The reason is that the seemingly happy, model royal couple are living in sin. That sin pollutes the entire city of Thebes and all of its people.Oedipus and his people believe Corinthian King Polybus and Queen Merope to be none other than the monarch's biological parents. Oedipus and his people believe Theban Queen Jocasta to be a legitimate royal consort. And Oedipus and his people believe the royal marriage to be decent and valid.But in actuality, the Corinthian monarchs are foster parents to Oedipus. In actuality, neither Oedipus nor Jocasta may be considered as legitimate spouses to each other. Their true relationship prevents all notion of legality or legitimacy. In fact, they're mother and son. So their marriage is neither decent nor valid. It comes about through the murder of Jocasta's first husband, Theban King Laius. And the albeit unknowing murderer is Oedipus.
How did the dramatic irony of 'Oedipus Rex' arise from the audience's knowledge of the myth?
In Oedipus the King, Oedipus feels ill at ease because he does not know the true story of who his parents were, or how he came to be king. Oedipus feels that when he knows these things he will be happy. The audience knows (and Jocasta suspects) that the knowledge will be disastrous for Oedipus (and it proves so). The dramatic irony is that Oedipus is destroyed by his quest for knowledge; even though seeking out knowledge is usually a good thing.
What world view is represented by Oedipus' anagnorisis?
Anagnorisis is the tragic hero's change from ignorance to knowledge. In the case of 'Oedipus Rex', Theban King Oedipus changes from ignorance to knowledge of the workings of fatein his life. For example, he begins with a view in which he believes that he can control world events because of his free will. But the more he tries to escape his fate, the closer he gets to it. Oedipus learns of his predicted fate to kill his father and marry his mother. He thinks that he can escape such a horrendous fate by fleeing his home in Corinth. Little does he know that Corinthian King Polybus and Corinthian Queen Merope aren't his biological parents. In his ignorance, Oedipus ultimately ends up in his true hometown of Thebes. On the way, he comes to the meeting place of three roads. At that crossroads, a stranger engages him in a street brawl over the right-of-way. Oedipus kills in self-defense the stranger, who actually is his own father and sovereign, Theban King Laius. At Thebes, he saves the city's people from the Sphinx. As a reward, he marries Laius' grieving widow, Theban Queen Jocasta. The happy couple became parents to twin sons, and two daughters. Unbeknownst to Oedipus, his doom is complete since Jocasta is his biological mother. And so Oedipus begins with a confident belief in his ability to control his life. He ends with a horrified realization of his complete inability to escape his fate. So he moves from a position of free will to one of fateful resignation.
Does the action in 'Oedipus Rex' take place near the end of the Oedipus myth?
Yes, the play "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) takes place near to, but not at, end of the Oedipus myth.Specifically, how the myth ends is the subject of two other plays by the same ancient Greek playwright. "Oedipus at Colonus," as the chronological sequel to "Oedipus Rex," covers the Theban King's exile and happy death at Colonus. "Antigone," as the chronological sequel to "Oedipus at Colonus," covers what happens to Oedipus' children.
Why does the Chorus say 'Count no man happy till Oedipus dies' in 'Oedipus Rex'?
That Oedipus is one of the most tragic examples of cruel fate is a reason why the chorus says that no man can be happy until Oedipus dies in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the chorus comments that the gods do not guarantee happy lives to any mortal. The gods never leave the slightest commission or omission of mortals unpunished. For example, disgraced Theban King Oedipus operates under a slew of curses just for being born into the divinely cursed Theban royal household. He will not escape a horrible fate or any divine change for additional suffering until the curse ends with his death.
What incident disturbs Oedipus' happy existence?
Some man at a banquet who had drunk too much shouted out that Oedipus is not his father's son.
