Who is oedipus rex

Oedipus has sent Creon to Delphi to find out from the oracle there what to do. A priest and his followers ask Oedipus to find a way to save them from the plague. Creon returns and reports that they need to find the murderer of Laius, the former king. Oedipus swears he will find and punish the man. He summons Tiresias, the famous seer, to tell what he knows. At first Tiresias refuses to speak, but when pressed, he tells Oedipus that the murderer he seeks is Oedipus himself.

The king and the chorus refuse to believe the prophet, and Oedipus accuses Tiresias and Creon of plots and corruption. Jocasta intervenes and tells Oedipus not to worry. Jocasta realizes the truth—that Oedipus is her son as well as her husband—and tells Oedipus to stop the interrogations.

A Servant reports the suicide of Jocasta, and Oedipus emerges from the house having blinded himself. He seeks exile and mourns with his daughters. Oedipus finds out from a messenger that Polybus, king of Corinth, Oedipus' father, has died of old age.

Jocasta rejoices — surely this is proof that the prophecy Oedipus heard is worthless. Still, Oedipus worries about fulfilling the prophecy with his mother, Merope, a concern Jocasta dismisses.

Overhearing, the messenger offers what he believes will be cheering news. Polybus and Merope are not Oedipus' real parents. In fact, the messenger himself gave Oedipus to the royal couple when a shepherd offered him an abandoned baby from the house of Laius.

Oedipus becomes determined to track down the shepherd and learn the truth of his birth. Suddenly terrified, Jocasta begs him to stop, and then runs off to the palace, wild with grief. Confident that the worst he can hear is a tale of his lowly birth, Oedipus eagerly awaits the shepherd. At first the shepherd refuses to speak, but under threat of death he tells what he knows — Oedipus is actually the son of Laius and Jocasta.

And so, despite his precautions, the prophecy that Oedipus dreaded has actually come true. Realizing that he has killed his father and married his mother, Oedipus is agonized by his fate. Rushing into the palace, Oedipus finds that the queen has killed herself. Tortured, frenzied, Oedipus takes the pins from her gown and rakes out his eyes, so that he can no longer look upon the misery he has caused. Now blinded and disgraced, Oedipus begs Creon to kill him, but as the play concludes, he quietly submits to Creon's leadership, and humbly awaits the oracle that will determine whether he will stay in Thebes or be cast out forever.

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