Oedipus Rex- Scene 1/ Ode 1

Summary: Scene 1 opens up with Oedipus asking the citizens of Thebes to come forward if they know who killed Laios. He says that the murderer will be exiled. If the murderer does not come forward, then Oedipus will curse him. He tells the citizens to never receive the murderer in their home or speak to him. He also says that he hopes the murderer's life is filled with evil. He also curses the people who don't help him find the murderer. The leader of the chorus says then that he does not know the murderer. Teiresias is then sent for. Oedipus then asks Teirsias to help him find out who the murderer is. Teiresias does not want to say who it is. Oedipus then gets angry and says that Teiresias must have helped commit the murder. Teiresais then tells Oedipus that he is the murderer of Laios. Oedipus gets really angry after this. Teirsais says that Oedipus also lives in shame with the ones he loves. Oedipus then accuses Teirsais of plotting with Kreon to take him down. Oedipus then says that they can not destroy him because he was able to solve the riddle of the Sphinx. Teirsais tells Oedipus to curse him of he wants, but Oedipus is one of the worst men who has walked earth. Oedipus then orders Terisais away. The chorus then does not know what to think about Teirsais accusations. They are confused, but they still stand behind their king because they do not know if they can believe Teirsais.

Response: Even though Teirsais is blind, he is the only one that is truly able to see. He knows the truth while Oedipus is denying it. Teirsais does not want to tell the truth, but Oedipus demands he does. Teirsais did not want to cause turmoil or despair because he knew that is what the truth would cause. Oedipus sort of led to his own downfall. He was so determined to find the murderer that he threatened Terisais if he did not tell Oedipus. Oedipus is very angry when Teirsais accuses him of killing Laios which is understandable, but he should also realize that it would have been stupid of Teirsias to make it up. Oedipus feels like people are jealous of him because of his position and intelligence. He thinks that the only reason they would want to bring him down is because he is king. It seems like he thinks that Kreon also doesn't like him because he wasn't able to solve the riddle of the Sphinx and Oedipus was. It is ironic how Oedipus was able to solve the riddle of the Sphinx, but he is not able to solve the riddle of his life. He looks past things. You would think that he would maybe think he killed Laios after Teirsais accused him because he had killed someone is his past, but he wasn't able to. Why would Oedipus question the prophet? Wasn't Teirsais sort of like a spiritual leader? You would think that someone wouldn't be so rude to their spiritual leader, but Oedipus was. This could reflect Oedipus' arrogance and ignorance to the truth.