After answering the riddle correctly, the Sphinx was surprised and killed herself by going into the sea which now caused Thebes to be free. ... After being revealed this prophecy, Jacasta, mother of Oedipus, sends a shepherd to bring the baby to the mountains and to kill it. ... Oedipus, being persistent, demands that Tiresias tell him the truth. After being insulted by Oedipus, the blind seer finally tells him that he is looking the person that he is looking for. ... After enough pain the shepherd gives up and tells him that he is the child of his wife, and mother. ...

• Word Count: 805
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

As a baby, Oedipus' mother and father sent him away with a shepherd to put Oedipus in the mountains to die. ... But, little did he know he was going to encounter things to make the prophecy become true. ... Teiresias even stated, "Let me go home. ... This man also tried to dissuade Oedipus from the truth but Oedipus demanded the man to tell him everything. ... But Oedipus continues, he demands the shepherd to tell him and so the shepherd does. ...

• Word Count: 1080
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

King Laius then orders his servant to take the baby into the mountains and leave him to die. ... The servant takes Oedipus to the mountains, but he is not able to leave him alone to die. ... At a feast, a drunken man tells Oedipus that Polybus is not his real father. Oedipus tells Jocasta, "This: at a feast a man who"d drunk too much denied, at the wine, I was my father's son" (OR 783-784). ... (qtd. in Dodds 41) Choices made along the road are yours and yours alone, but the gods have already decided where you are going. ...

• Word Count: 1505
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Do we go through life making choices without purpose? ... Seconds after hearing Apollo's words, Oedipus tells Jocasta, "I heard all that and ran. ... She also tells Oedipus that her baby boy, "wasn't three days old and the boy's father fastened his ankles, had a henchman fling him away on a barren, trackless mountain." ... Oedipus tells Jocasta that if he killed Laius, then the prophets were right. ... A victim of circumstances beyond his control, and it goes to show that it is impossible for someone to escape their own fate. ...

• Word Count: 1473
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Creon, the queen's brother, tells Oedipus that Apollo has commanded, "To take revenge upon whoever killed Laius" (Fitts, p.8) and that will put an end to the plague. ... Oedipus immediately become defensive, denies the old man's accusations and goes so far as to accuse Teiresias of being a part of a conspiracy with Creon. ... He then tells Jocasta that he was told a story similar to that which Laius was told by the oracle. ... Oedipus is relieved at first, but then the messenger informs him that he was not Polybus's real son, that he was found, with his ankles pinned, on the ver...

• Word Count: 1053
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Jocasta and Laius attempted to challenge this prophecy by exposing their son on a mountain, but their attempt was in vain. ... His visit to Tiresias makes him aware that perhaps he should start to dig deeper into the riddle of Laius's death, even if it means going against his warnings. ... His impulsiveness causes him to ignore the warnings he gets from Tiresias and Jocasta as we can see when she says " In God's name - if you want to live, this Must not go on ." ... His last flaw, his temper, causes him to get angry whenever someone disagrees with him or tells him something he d...

• Word Count: 965
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

He is born to King Laios, the King of Corinth, who binds his feet together and leaves him on a mountain to die. ... In the judicial system, Justice is blind, as is Teiresias, representing that only the truth will prevail over evil; Teiresias tells only the truth and says no lies. ... He first goes through denial, because he does not want to believe he is the criminal. ...

• Word Count: 984
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School