Oedipus Tyrannus

Acts

• Prologue

  Thebes is ravaged by plague. Oedipus, the king who solved the Sphinx's riddle, promises his people he will find the cause. Creon returns from Delphi: the plague will end when the murderer of Laius is found.

  150 lines
• Parodos

  The chorus of Theban elders begs the gods for relief from the plague. They catalogue the horrors — the dead unburied, the crops failing, women dying in childbirth.

  52 lines
• First Episode

  Oedipus pronounces a curse on the unknown killer of Laius and summons the blind prophet Tiresias. Tiresias refuses to speak, then declares that Oedipus himself is the murderer.

  247 lines
• First Stasimon

  The chorus struggles with Tiresias's accusation. They trust Oedipus — he saved the city once — but the prophet has never been wrong.

  34 lines
• Second Episode

  Oedipus accuses Creon of conspiracy. Jocasta intervenes, dismissing prophecy: an oracle once said Laius would die at his son's hand, but Laius was killed at a crossroads by strangers.

  140 lines
• Second Stasimon

  The chorus reflects on hubris and the dangers of disbelieving the oracles. If prophecy fails, the gods themselves fail.

  44 lines
• Third Episode

  A messenger from Corinth brings news: Polybus, Oedipus's supposed father, is dead. Oedipus is relieved — the oracle seems wrong. But the messenger reveals Oedipus was adopted.

  163 lines
• Third Stasimon

  The chorus speculates wildly about Oedipus's true parents. Perhaps he is the child of a god? They imagine him born on Mount Cithaeron.

  40 lines
• Fourth Episode

  The old shepherd is brought forward and forced to confess: the baby he was told to expose was Laius and Jocasta's son. Oedipus was that baby. He killed his father and married his mother.

  175 lines
• Fourth Stasimon

  The chorus laments the fall of Oedipus — the man who was the model of human greatness, now the model of human misery.

  14 lines
• Fifth Episode

  A messenger describes the scene inside the palace: Jocasta has hanged herself. Oedipus has taken the brooches from her dress and blinded himself.

  80 lines
• Kommos

  Oedipus appears, blinded and bleeding. The chorus recoils. He cries out that he could not bear to see the world he has polluted.

  37 lines
• Fifth Stasimon

  The chorus mourns Oedipus and reflects on the instability of all human fortune. No one should be called happy until they are dead.

  90 lines
• Creon and the Children

  Creon takes control. Oedipus begs to hold his daughters one last time and asks to be exiled. Creon is measured where Oedipus was rash.

  44 lines
• Exodos

  Oedipus is led inside. The chorus delivers the final moral: count no man happy until he has crossed the boundary of life without suffering.

  171 lines