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Transcript

Catastrophe

The final part of the play is the final catastrophe Oedipus endures before it ends. He says his final wishes before being banished from Thebes and holds his daughters for the last time. Oedipus asks all of this of Creon.

"You must send me into exile-away from Thebes... Then take me away from here at once." (Oedipus 106-107)

"Come then, but let go of the children." (Creon 107)

Exposition

The are many instances of exposition in Oedipus the King, but one of the most notable is when Tiresias says who the murderer of Laius is. Blatantly exposing Oedipus in front of the city but getting denied by him because of how preposterous the claim is. Tiresias says the truth many times, but to no avail Oedipus does not believe him and calls him mad.

"The man you are trying to find... that man is here in Thebes. He is apparently an immigrant of foreign birth, but he will be revealed as a native-born Theban. He will be revealed as brother and father of the children with whom he now lives, the son and husband of the woman who have him birth, the murderer and marriage-partner of his father." (Tiresias, 31)

Falling Action

Once Oedipus sees what has become of Jocasta, he suffers even more pain than he already has and even inflicts physical pain to himself, blinding himself so he can never see the light of day.

"When Oedipus saw her he gave a dreadful cry of sorrow and loosened the rope round her neck... He ripped out the golden pins with which her clothes were fastened... and speared the pupils of his eyes." (Messenger 93)

Peripeteia

The first major instance of peripeteia for Oedipus is when Jocasta is explaining to him why he shouldn't worry about a silly prophecy from a blind man.

Falling Action

"A prophecy came to Laius once... Laius was fated to die by the hand of his son... Well, Laius, so the story goes, was killed by foreign robbers at a place where three highways meet." (Jocasta 50)

The falling action of the story is when Oedipus has the ultimate realization he is the one he himself cursed, and he goes to confront Jocasta in a state of insanity and rage.

Oedipus realizing he once killed a man in a similar setting, pursues this idea that he killed his father by asking more questions. Upon finding out what Laius looked like, he reacts with terror as the idea becomes more and more of a reality.

Jocasta explains what Laius looks like and Oedipus says "O God! I think I have just called down on myself a dreadful curse-not knowing what I did." (Oedipus 53)

"Jocasta, our queen, is dead... For Oedipus came bursting in... there we saw Jocasta, hanging, her neck caught in a swinging noose of rope." (Messenger 92-93)

Peripeteia

Another piece of the puzzle of Oedipus' birth fall into place when he is told of where he was found as a baby, bound at the ankles left to die.

"I found you in the shady valleys of Mount Cithaeron" (Corinthian Messenger 73)

"You had your ankles pinned together, and I freed you." (Corinthian Messenger 74)

This is ironically how Jocasta had cast her baby away to die, and in Mount Cithaeron.

Peripeteia

Another big realization made by Oedipus is when he asks the shepherd who the baby he gave away is. This answer confirms what Oedipus fears so greatly.

Anagnorisis

"It was the son of Laius, so I was told..." (Shepherd 87)

Oedipus asks why Jocasta gave him the baby, and he says it was because she was afraid of prophecies.

The final moment of realization for Oedipus is when all the pieces of his story fall into place from the answers of the witnesses. Oedipus begins to fall into despair in horror of his actions.

"The child would kill its parents, that was the story." (Shepherd 88)

"O God! It has all come true. Light, let this be the last time I see you. I stand revealed-born in shame, married in shame, an unnatural murderer." (Oedipus 89)

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