OEDIPUS REX REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Genre - Answers :Tragic Play
Place Setting - Answers :City-State of Thebes
Plot - Answers :Thebes is being punished with a plague by the God __. He is
demanding the murder of King Lauis to be avenged in order for it to stop.
Oedipus Rex - Answers :Son of Laius and Jocasta, Husband of Jocasta, Savior & King
of Thebes
(Character traits: Supercillious, Intelligent, Tenacious)
Oedipus means 'swollen-feet' and Rex means 'king'
Epitome of the Tragic Hero
Jocasta - Answers :Queen of Thebes, Wife of Laius, Wife and mother of Oedipus
(Character traits: Motherly, Intuitive, Skeptical)
Her suicide-- symbolic of her despair over her incestuous actions.
Jocasta commits most of her "sins" in ignorance.
Teiresias - Answers :Blind prophet led by a small boy, Apollo's oracle
(Character Traits: Wise, Attentive)
Paradox: Although he's blind, he can see better than any of those around him.
Creon - Answers :Jocasta's brother, Shares one third of Thebes's riches with Oedipus
and Jocasta. Devout follower of the oracle of Apollo
(Character Traits: Loyal, Forgiving, Believer)
Loyal friend to Oedipus, and remains forgiving and kind to Oedipus even when Oedipus
turns on him and suggests he is conspiring against him.
Takes over Thebes after Oedipus' exile.
Ismene and Antigone - Answers :Oedipus's young daughters, led out at the end of the
play.
Oedipus laments the fact that they will never find husbands with such a cursed lineage
Begs Creon to take care of them.
Chorus of Theban Elders - Answers :A group of men who serve as an emotional
sounding board and expositional device in the play, reflecting on the plot developments
while asking important philosophical questions.
(Comment on the play's action and foreshadow future events, larger impact of the
characters' actions and expound play's central themes.)
Give choral odes on everything from tyranny to the dangers of blasphemy.
Herdsman - Answers :Gives Laius' and Jocasta's baby to the messenger upon their
orders - and is also the same man who witnessed Laius's death.
Genre - Answers :Tragic Play
Place Setting - Answers :City-State of Thebes
Plot - Answers :Thebes is being punished with a plague by the God __. He is
demanding the murder of King Lauis to be avenged in order for it to stop.
Oedipus Rex - Answers :Son of Laius and Jocasta, Husband of Jocasta, Savior & King
of Thebes
(Character traits: Supercillious, Intelligent, Tenacious)
Oedipus means 'swollen-feet' and Rex means 'king'
Epitome of the Tragic Hero
Jocasta - Answers :Queen of Thebes, Wife of Laius, Wife and mother of Oedipus
(Character traits: Motherly, Intuitive, Skeptical)
Her suicide-- symbolic of her despair over her incestuous actions.
Jocasta commits most of her "sins" in ignorance.
Teiresias - Answers :Blind prophet led by a small boy, Apollo's oracle
(Character Traits: Wise, Attentive)
Paradox: Although he's blind, he can see better than any of those around him.
Creon - Answers :Jocasta's brother, Shares one third of Thebes's riches with Oedipus
and Jocasta. Devout follower of the oracle of Apollo
(Character Traits: Loyal, Forgiving, Believer)
Loyal friend to Oedipus, and remains forgiving and kind to Oedipus even when Oedipus
turns on him and suggests he is conspiring against him.
Takes over Thebes after Oedipus' exile.
Ismene and Antigone - Answers :Oedipus's young daughters, led out at the end of the
play.
Oedipus laments the fact that they will never find husbands with such a cursed lineage
Begs Creon to take care of them.
Chorus of Theban Elders - Answers :A group of men who serve as an emotional
sounding board and expositional device in the play, reflecting on the plot developments
while asking important philosophical questions.
(Comment on the play's action and foreshadow future events, larger impact of the
characters' actions and expound play's central themes.)
Give choral odes on everything from tyranny to the dangers of blasphemy.
Herdsman - Answers :Gives Laius' and Jocasta's baby to the messenger upon their
orders - and is also the same man who witnessed Laius's death.
