Oedipus The King

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OEDIPUS REX

It begins in the city of Thebes in ancient Egypt. The king and queen of Thebes were expecting a child. One day one of the oracles delivered a prophecy to the king and informed him that his child would one day murder him. Thinking logically, the king gave his newborn child to one of his servants, drove spikes into his feet so he can never come home and ordered him to be tossed into the river. The servant, however, did not throw the baby into the river, but instead left the baby in the mountain to die. A shepherd was walking by and saw the baby all alone on the mountain. The shepherd was from Corinth and knew that the king and queen were unable to have children of their own, so as a gift, the shepherd gave the baby to the …show more content…
He arrived to the temple of Apollo to ask the oracle. She did not confirm or deny prophecy but delivered another familiar prophecy. He will kill his father. Of course, Oedipus believed his father was the king of Corinth, so he vowed never to return to Corinth to protect the man he believed was his father; he ended up on the road to Thebes.
While on the road to Thebes, he meets an old man with 5 servants. The old man, who turns out to be the king of Thebes, uses his goad to poke Oedipus. Oedipus gets so upset that he kills the old man and 4 of his servants. The last servant escapes and runs back to Thebes. The servant lies to the queen and says that King Laius was robbed and killed by a …show more content…
Turns out there was a vicious creature guarding the gateway to the city; eating everyone alive. The sphinx would go on to ask Oedipus a riddle that no man was able to answer: This creature walks on four legs in the morning, Two at noon and three in the evening. Oedipus answered her riddle, a man. The sphinx was so upset that he was able to answer correctly that she fell off of the mountain defeated. Oedipus was hailed as a hero in Thebes. Being without a king, Oedipus was immediately crowned as a ruler of the city and married the queen. Together they had four kids: Etoecles, Polynices, Antigone, and Ismene. As the years went by, it became apparent that a plague has settled over the land that left the plains, cattle, and women barren. Oedipus sent his brother in law, creon, to the temple at Apollo to investigate. Creion returned and told the king that the only way to get rid of the plague was to find out who killed the former king of Thebes. Oedipus decided he would have to investigate. He asked around and was told the same by all; he was to talk to the blind prophet, Teiresias, for he knew all. He approached the blind prophet and the prophet revealed that Oedipus killed the king. This made Oedipus angry and tells the prophet that he is no prophet and that Creion paid him to say that. As Oedipus is leaving, the prophet says, “I may be blind to the world Oedipus, but you are blind to the truth.” Teiresias
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