Tonight we come to the heart of the story, as Sophocles told it in the theatre of Athens. Years have passed. Oedipus is a good king, loved by his people. Then a plague falls on Thebes, and the oracle says it will end only when the murderer of King Laius is found.
Oedipus · Part 3 · The truth · B2–C1
Oedipus the King
Part 3 of the Oedipus series: Sophocles’ great tragedy. A plague falls on Thebes, and Oedipus swears to find the murderer of King Laius, not knowing that he is searching for himself. Dramatic irony, deduction with past modals (it must have been…, he can’t have known), reported questions in an investigation, and the third conditional of regret, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria. Note: this part of the story includes a death and a self-inflicted injury, described briefly.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
So Oedipus has to play detective.
SOPHIA
Exactly. And the audience knows the answer from the beginning, but Oedipus does not. Every time he promises to find and punish the killer, the audience shivers. This is called dramatic irony, and Sophocles was its master. I must warn you: the ending is very sad.
PHILO
A man searching for a murderer, who is himself. That is the most frightening detective story ever written.
Before you read
Athens, about 429 BCE, and the theatre of Dionysus
Sophocles (about 497–406 BCE) wrote more than 120 plays for the festival of Dionysus in Athens; only seven survive. Oedipus the King (Oedipus Tyrannus) was first performed around 429 BCE, when Athens itself was suffering from a terrible plague. A century later, the philosopher Aristotle, in his Poetics, used it as the model of a perfect tragedy: a good but imperfect man falls from happiness to misery through a terrible mistake, and the audience feels pity and fear.
In the play, Oedipus sends Creon to Delphi, swears to find the killer of Laius, and curses him. The blind prophet Tiresias tells him that he himself is the killer, and Oedipus angrily accuses him and Creon of a plot. Jocasta tries to calm him: oracles are not to be trusted, she says; Laius was killed by robbers at a place where three roads meet. Oedipus is suddenly afraid. A messenger arrives from Corinth to say that King Polybus has died, and Oedipus is relieved, until the messenger adds that Polybus was not his real father: he himself had received him as a baby from a shepherd of Laius.
The old shepherd is brought in and, under threat, tells the truth. Everything the oracles said has come true. Jocasta, who has understood first, has already gone into the palace, where she takes her own life. Oedipus blinds himself with the pins of her dress, so that he will never again see the world he has ruined, and asks to be sent into exile. The play ends with the chorus saying that no one should be called happy until he has reached the end of his life without suffering.
Seeking the truth takes courage, even when the truth is about ourselves.
The story
Retold for this lesson from Sophocles, Oedipus the King (about 429 BCE).
Many years after Oedipus became king, a plague fell on Thebes. The crops died in the fields, the cattle died in the pastures, and children died in their mothers’ arms. The people came to the palace, weeping. Oedipus had already sent Creon to Delphi, and now Creon returned with the god’s answer: the plague would not end until the murderer of King Laius was found and driven out of the city.
Oedipus stood before his people and made a solemn promise. “I will find the man who did this,” he said. “I will fight for Laius as if he were my own father. And whoever he is, let him be cursed: let no one give him shelter, let no one speak to him.” Then he sent for Tiresias, the old blind prophet. Tiresias did not want to come, and when he came, he did not want to speak. At last, in anger, he said: “You are the murderer you are looking for.” Oedipus was furious. He accused Tiresias of lying, and Creon of plotting to steal his throne.
Jocasta came out to calm them. “Don’t believe prophets,” she said. “An oracle once told Laius that he would be killed by his own son. But we left our baby on a mountain, and Laius was killed by robbers, at a place where three roads meet.” Oedipus turned pale. “Where three roads meet?” he asked. “When? What did Laius look like?” Every answer frightened him more. He sent for the one servant who had survived.
Before the servant arrived, a messenger came from Corinth with news: King Polybus had died of old age. Oedipus was almost happy: he had not killed his father after all! But he was still afraid of his mother. “You don’t need to fear,” said the messenger kindly. “Polybus and Merope were not your real parents. I was the one who carried you to them, as a baby with wounded feet. A shepherd of Laius gave you to me on Mount Cithaeron.” Jocasta turned white. She begged Oedipus to stop asking questions. He refused, and she ran into the palace.
The old shepherd was brought in. He was the same man who had saved the baby long ago, and the same servant who had escaped from the crossroads. He did not want to speak, but Oedipus threatened him, and at last the truth came out: the baby had been the son of Laius and Jocasta. Everything the oracles had said had come true. Inside the palace, Jocasta had already taken her own life. When Oedipus found her, he took the golden pins from her dress and blinded himself, so that he would never again see the world he had ruined. Then he asked to be sent away from Thebes for ever, to carry his sorrow alone.
Read: the investigation
PHILO
Read the story. What does the oracle demand? What does Tiresias say? What makes Oedipus afraid when Jocasta speaks? Who finally tells the truth?
SOPHIA
Notice every moment when the audience knows more than Oedipus. Then answer Section A.
Dramatic irony
MARCOS
Oedipus says: “I will find the killer, as if Laius were my own father.” The audience gasps, because he was his father.
SOPHIA
Dramatic irony: the audience knows something the character does not, so his words mean more than he thinks. Other kinds: verbal irony (saying the opposite of what you mean) and situational irony (the opposite of what is expected happens).
Deduction with past modals
DEMETRIA
The killer must have been at the crossroads. The robbers can’t have been many: only one man fought. The shepherd might have lied to protect the king.
SOPHIA
must have + past participle (almost certain), might / may / could have (possible), can’t / couldn’t have (almost certainly not). The language of detectives.
Reported questions in an investigation
PHILO
He asked the shepherd where the baby had come from. He wanted to know whether Laius had been alone. Jocasta begged him not to ask any more.
SOPHIA
Reported questions use statement order: asked where it had come (not “where had it come”). Yes / no questions: if / whether. Tenses move back: “Who are you?” → He asked who I was.
The third conditional of regret
MARCOS
If the shepherd had left the baby on the mountain, none of this would have happened. If Oedipus had stayed in Corinth, he might have escaped.
SOPHIA
If + past perfect, would / might / could have + past participle for imaginary pasts. Tragedy is built on these “ifs”. Notice that every kind act, the shepherd’s pity, Polybus’s love, led to disaster.
Philo’s comparison: Nathan and David, and the Greek view of fate
PHILO
When King David took another man’s wife and had her husband killed, the prophet Nathan told him a story about a rich man who stole a poor man’s only lamb. David was furious: “That man deserves to die!” And Nathan said: “You are the man.” Like Oedipus, David condemned himself without knowing it. But David was guilty by choice; Oedipus did not know what he was doing.
SOPHIA
That is the great difference, Philo. In your scriptures, people choose and are judged for their choices. In our tragedies, the gods’ plan falls on people who did not choose it. And yet Oedipus is great because he chose to find the truth, even when everyone begged him to stop.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| dramatic irony | the audience knows more | “I will find the killer.” |
| must / might / can’t have + past participle | deduction about the past | He must have been at the crossroads. |
| asked where… / wanted to know whether… | reported questions | He asked where the baby had come from. |
| If + past perfect, would have + past participle | third conditional: regret | If he had stayed, none of this would have happened. |
| tragedy, catharsis, pity and fear | Aristotle’s terms | The audience feels pity and fear. |
Practice
Read the story for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · The story
Read the story and choose the best answer.
1. Why does Oedipus start the investigation?
2. Who tells Oedipus that he is the killer?
3. What makes Oedipus afraid when Jocasta speaks?
4. What news does the messenger from Corinth bring?
5. What is dramatic irony?
6. Who called the play a model tragedy?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. The killer must been at the crossroads.
8. The robbers can’t have many.
9. He asked the shepherd where the baby come from.
10. He wanted to know Laius had been alone.
11. If he had stayed in Corinth, he might escaped.
12. When the audience knows more than the character, it is dramatic .
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “He asked where had the baby come from.”
14. “The killer must have been at the crossroads.”
15. “If he would have stayed, he would have escaped.”
16. “He wanted to know whether Laius had been alone.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
The interrogation. In groups, act out Oedipus questioning the old shepherd. Then report the questions and answers, using reported speech.
Discuss. 1. Is Oedipus guilty? He did not know what he was doing. 2. Should he have stopped searching when Jocasta begged him to? 3. Is it better to know a terrible truth or to live in happy ignorance?
Write (180–220 words). A review of Oedipus the King. Write a theatre review explaining the plot, the dramatic irony and why the play still moves audiences, using past modals and the third conditional.
Now play the gamebook: a fire in the granary, a magistrate who swears to find the culprit, and a truth no one wants to hear.Play the gamebook →