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

Oedipus sought the advice of Tiresias, a blind seer that could see the future, because he believed that Tiresias could use his powers to tell him who Laios' murderer was. Upon his arrival, Tiresias was hesitant to tell Oedipus the truth about the murder of Laios because he knew that Oedipus would not take the information well. ... Can you possibly think you have some way of going free after such insolence?... Jocasta then went on to tell Oedipus that Laios had been told by an oracle that his son would someday kill him, so he pierced his baby's ankles and sent one of his servants to l...

• Word Count: 1488
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

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

Oh, I could tell you things to make you sleepless! ... Theyre going to blow us all sky-high some night! ... You'll go up, up on a broomstick, over Blue Mountain with seventeen gentlemen callers!" ... A mother in the society of to-day, like certain insects, (ought to) go away and die when she has done her duty towards the continuance of the species. ... Once again, it is important not to interpret that as a weakness in Hwang's writing, but as another perspective on how to tell the reader about the secrets. ...

• Word Count: 2132
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Throughout the play, Oedipus tells Jocasta many events about his past, pieces that could be put together to form the mystery puzzle and answer all the questions Thebes is asking such as, who killed the King and why? ... She knows what Oedipus did to the King, she knows that Oedipus is her first son, she knows that she married the boy with the pinned up ankles that she left to die in the mountains. ... Though unfair, Oedipus' fate was that he was going to kill his father and marry his mother. ... As his life goes on, he becomes more and more powerful and his pride thrives. ...

• Word Count: 1469
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School