Sophocles and Oedipus Rex

Vocabulary and key identification terms for the study of Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus Rex, including character descriptions, literary definitions, and major symbols.

Sophocles

A playwright born in Colonus in $495$ B.C. who wrote over $120$ plays, including seven that exist today such as Ajax, Antigone, and Oedipus Rex.

Tragedy

A form of drama originating in $6^{th}$ century B.C. Athens where a protagonist with some quality of greatness comes to disaster through a flaw, bringing about an inevitable downfall.

Oedipus

The protagonist and King of Thebes renowned for his intelligence and ability to solve riddles, whose name literally translates to swollen foot.

Jocasta

The wife and mother of Oedipus and sister of Creon who advises Oedipus not to trust in the oracles.

Antigone

The child of Oedipus and Jocasta who leads and cares for her blind father during his exile.

Ismene

The child of Oedipus and Jocasta whose character underscores the grandeur and courage of her sister.

Polynices

The son and brother of Oedipus who seeks his father's blessing at Colonus for a battle against his brother, Eteocles, for power in Thebes.

Creon

Oedipus's brother-in-law who is described as bossy and bureaucratic, asserting his own authority when he gains power.

Tiresias

A blind prophet and servant of Apollo who reveals the reasons for the plague in Thebes and predicts Oedipus will become blind and poor.

Messenger from Corinth

The individual who informs Oedipus that King Polybos is dead and reveals that Polybos was not Oedipus's biological father.

Shepherd

A servant of Laius who admits to receiving an infant from Laius and Jocasta and giving it to the messenger from Corinth rather than leaving it to die.

Second Messenger

The individual who announces and describes the suicide of Jocasta and predicts future sorrows for the kings of her line.

Oracle of Delphi

The source that predicted King Laius was doomed to perish by the hands of his own son.

Sphinx

A unique demon of destruction in Greek mythology with a woman's head and a winged lion's body, whose name is derived from a word meaning to strangle.

Merope

The wife of King Polybus of Corinth whom Oedipus believed to be his biological mother.

Swollen foot

A symbol and the literal meaning of Oedipus's name, caused by his feet being tightly bound with a pin as an infant.

Three-way crossroads

A symbol representing the location where Oedipus encountered and killed his biological father, King Laius.

Sight and Blindness

A motif and imagery used in the play, such as when Tiresias tells Oedipus that despite having eyes, he is blind to the wretchedness of his life.