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Theban King Oedipus wants to find his royal predecessor's murderer in order to end the suffering of his people. The Delphic Oracle says that Thebes is visited by a plague, for not having tracked down the murderer of their previous sovereign, Theban King Laius. The Oracle says that any perpetrator of that heinous offense must be identified and brought to justice. Otherwise, the suffering of the city and its people will continue unabated.

Theban King Oedipus wants to find the murderer of his royal predecessor, Theban King Laius. His motive is his desire to end the plague He wants to stop the suffering of his people who are seeing their own numbers reduced as quickly as those of his livestock and as fast as the volumes of his harvests.

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Q: Why does Oedipus want to find Laius' murderer?
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What does Oedipus want the murderer to do in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Turn himself in is what Oedipus wants the murderer to do in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus looks for the guilty in the murder of his royal predecessor, King Laius. He seeks quick results, because his city's pestilence will end with the murderer's identification and punishment. He suggests that the murderer make things easy and surrender.


What does Teiresias do first when Oedipus asks for help?

The first reaction of Teiresias the blind prophet is not to want to help Theban King Oedipus. Oedipus asks Teiresias for the help that gods and mortals aren't giving him to identify the murderer of previous Theban King Laius. Teiresias indicates that he knows of the long unsolved crime, but doesn't want to give any information. He ends up identifying Oedipus as the very murderer only after being threatened, insulted, and accused as the murder's planner, by the King.


What information leads Oedipus to believe that Teiresias is the murderer in 'Oedipus Rex'?

That Teiresias does not want to talk or even be there is the information that leads Oedipus to believe that Teiresias is the murderer in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet is the royal advisor to all of Thebes' kings since the city's founding by founding King Cadmus. He must answer whatever questions that the current king asks of him. But he says that he does not even want to be in Theban King Oedipus' presence. Oedipus therefore states that Teiresias must be the planner if not the perpetrator of the murderous crime against King Laius, Oedipus' royal predecessor.


Why does Oedipus want to discover the murderer of Laius?

To show respect to the Oracle at Apollo's Shrine is the reason why Theban King Oedipus wants to discover the murderer or murderers of his royal predecessor, Theban King Laius. The Oracle says that finding and punishing the perpetrator or perpetrators will end the pestilence that afflicts the Theban people and their livestock and harvests. Additionally, Oedipus decides that he needs to carry out the quest for his own self-protection. He suggests that otherwise what happens to one Theban king well may happen to another. He may be next in line on someone's assassination list.


What prophecy was given to Laius?

This is definitely a school question. Laius, the old king before Oedipus took the throne in Sophocles' tragedy, was told by the oracle that . . . one should do one's own work. For those who really need to/want to know, Oedipus killed Laius. And Laius was his father. Reverse engineer the prophecy.

Related questions

Why does Oedipus want to discover the murderer of Laius?

To show respect to the Oracle at Apollo's Shrine is the reason why Theban King Oedipus wants to discover the murderer or murderers of his royal predecessor, Theban King Laius. The Oracle says that finding and punishing the perpetrator or perpetrators will end the pestilence that afflicts the Theban people and their livestock and harvests. Additionally, Oedipus decides that he needs to carry out the quest for his own self-protection. He suggests that otherwise what happens to one Theban king well may happen to another. He may be next in line on someone's assassination list.


What prophecy was given to Laius?

This is definitely a school question. Laius, the old king before Oedipus took the throne in Sophocles' tragedy, was told by the oracle that . . . one should do one's own work. For those who really need to/want to know, Oedipus killed Laius. And Laius was his father. Reverse engineer the prophecy.


Why does Oedipus want to see the sole survivor?

The getting of specific information about the murder of Theban King Laius is why Theban King Oedipus wants to see the sole survivor of that crime. Oedipus at first accepts hearsay information. He finds nothing questionable in the information that Laius and all but one of his escorts were attacked and killed by robbers. But then he learns that the killings took place at a crossroads somewhere between Delphi and Thebes.Around the time of that killing, Oedipus was carrying out his own bloodbath. He took the lives of a stranger who was old enough to be his father, and whom he resembled, and of the stranger's companions. The killings all happened at that same crossroads.So Oedipus needs to find out whether Laius was killed by a lone perpetrator or if he met death at the hands of a group of thugs. Such information only can be gotten from the sole survivor. That survivor can be counted on to tell the truth. He in fact is the most devoted and trusted servant of Theban Queen Jocasta, wife of Laius and wife and mother of Oedipus.


Who hands the infant Oedipus over to the shepherd to be exposed in the play 'Oedipus Rex'?

Jocasta hands the infant Oedipus over to the shepherd to be exposed in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban monarchs Laius and Jocasta receive a prophecy that their son will grow up to kill his father. Laius therefore makes it clear that Jocasta must kill her three-day-old infant son Oedipus. Jocasta does not want to disobey her husband, but also does not want to carry out the deed herself. She therefore asks her most trusted servant, a Theban shepherd, to leave Oedipus exposed to the ravaging weather and scrounging wildlife on the mountains outside Thebes.


How does Tiresias react to King Oedipus pleading for help?

An initial refusal to help is the reaction of Teiresias the blind prophet to Theban King Oedipus pleading for help. He doesn't want to cooperate, because he knows the ugly reality behind the beautiful illusion of happy royal married life in Thebes. He knows that albeit unknowingly Oedipus is a murderer and a sex offender.Specifically, Tiresias knows that Oedipus kills his father and royal predecessor, Theban King Laius. Then as a reward for saving Thebes from the beastly Sphinx, Oedipus marries Laius' grieving widow, Theban Queen Jocasta. So Jocasta becomes wife and, albeit unknowingly, mother to her only son.Teiresias knows that Oedipus will find this information completely unbelievable. So the prophet is in a bind. He may lose his life by telling his superior the shocking truth.At the same time, Teiresias may lose his life by saying nothing. A pestilence is ravaging the Theban population, livestock and harvests. If not stopped, it may kill the entire city. The only way of stopping it is identifying and punishing Laius' killer[s]. And that killer is the prophet's and the entire city's superior and king.


What are Oedipus' two main reasons for looking for the killer in 'Oedipus Rex'?

To end the pestilence and to protect himself are the two main reasons why Oedipus looks for the killer in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Delphic oracles says that the pestilence in Thebes will end with the identification and punishment of the guilty in Theban King Laius' murder. King Oedipus, Laius' royal successor, heads the murder investigation. He announces that he will carry out divine will, end the pestilence and protect himself since whoever is guilty in the murder of one Theban king may want to become guilty of killing another.


Why does Oedipus believe he is being framed?

Teiresias the blind prophet's revelations and accusationslead Theban King Oedipus to believe that he's being framed. The prophet reluctantly identifies the King as the murderer of the royal predecesor, Theban King Laius. This is such an unexpected charge that Oedipus believes uncle and brother-in-law, Theban King Creon, and Teiresias to be fellow conspirators.Oedipus thinks that they want to frame him for the murder so that Creon may have the Theban throne all to himself. At this point in the play, Oedipus is in a power sharing arrangement with Creon and with wife and mother Theban Queen Jocasta. Oedipus actually seems to like to play his cards close to his chest. So he may have wanted to have all of the royal powers for himself. With such ambitions, it may have been easy for him to attribute the same motivations and motives to others.


Why Oedipus only want thesus to know about his burial?

what blessing does oedipus have


What is important about Oedipus' father in 'Oedipus Rex'?

That he thinks that he can outsmart the gods and escape a miserable fate but is careless in his avoidance behavior is what is important about Oedipus' father in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Laius learns from a prophetic, but non-oracular, source that he will be killed by his own son. He likes his life with his wife, Queen Jocasta, and does not want to lose it. He therefore decides that the solution is to disrespect divinely expressed will, escape a miserable fate and an early death, and have his three-day-old infant son Oedipus abandoned to the ravaging weather and wildlife on the mountains outside Thebes. But Laius never checks to see that the dreadful deed really is carried out. That same arrogance and carelessness are passed on to Oedipus, who indeed survives and grows up to kill his father in an ignominious street brawl over a right-of-way at the Delphi-Daucis crossroads in Phocis.


Why does Creon want Oedipus brought back to Thebes?

Creon wants Oedipus back because he want to use Oedipus as a talisman to save the people of Thebes from any curse..... boateng Qwasi


Should you kill?

No if you don't want to be a wanted person or you don't want to be a murderer.


Who do you think is the better leader Oedipus or Creon?

I personally think that Oedipus is a better leader because he was willing to exile himself to protect Thebes from the plague. Also, in Oedipus Rex, Creon discusses with Oedipus that he does not want to be king because he didn't want that responsibility; as long as Oedipus was king, he had all the privileges of royalty without having to worry about the politics of it.