Oedipus the King

Roles

• Priest - Adult (36-50), Senior (>50), Male

About this piece

The priest seeks the help of King Oedipus

Summary

In the background story of Oedipus the King, King Laius, Oedipus' father, learns from an oracle that he will die by the hand of his son. As a consequence, Laius orders his wife Jocasta to kill their infant son. A servant saves the baby and abandons him in the fields where he is found by shepherds who later bring him to Corinth where he is adopted by King Polybus and raised as his own child. One day Oedipus learns from an oracle that he will be responsible for his father's death and that he will marry his own mother. Thinking that his father is King Polybus, he leaves Corinth and heads towards Thebes, the city where he was actually born. By chance he meets his real father and in a quarrel, he kills him. Later he also solves the riddle of the Sphinx, liberating the city of Thebes of her curse. As a reward he becomes king and is offered the hand of Jocasta, his real mother. The prophecy has been fulfilled. The play starts with a plague, sent by Apollo, hitting the city of Thebes. An oracle says that the plague has been sent by the gods because the murderer of the city's previous king, Laius, has never been caught. Oedipus doesn't know the person that he killed was Laius. In this monologue a priest, who has just arrived at Oedipus' palace, describes how the plague is afflicting the city and begs for the king's help.

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