Who is the delphic oracle in oedipus rex

Hearing this news, Jocasta hanged herself. But in the version told by Euripides, Jocasta endured the burden of disgrace and continued to live in Thebes, only committing suicide after her sons killed one another in a fight for the crown see Seven Against Thebes. Why did Oedipus marry his mother? In the legend, Laius, king of Thebes, was warned by an oracle that he would be killed by his son, Oedipus, who would then marry Jocasta, his mother.

What does the chorus suggest to Oedipus? Oedipus reappears with his eyes mutilated, and he and the chorus sing in lamentation; Oedipus blames Apollo; the chorus suggests that he would be better off dead Oedipus counters that blindness is appropriate, since he cannot see the results of his actions, which he recounts in agony.

Who told Oedipus his fate? Why did Oedipus kill Laius? Oedipus refused to defer to the king, although Laius' attendants ordered him to.

Being angered, Laius either rolled a chariot wheel over his foot or hit him with his whip, and Oedipus killed Laius and all but one of his attendants, who claims it was a gang of men.

Who did Oedipus kill? Why did Oedipus kill his father at the crossroads? Oedipus learned from the oracle at Delphi of the prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother but, unaware of his true parentage, believed he was fated to murder Polybus and marry Merope, so left for Thebes. On his way he met an older man and killed him in a quarrel.

What was the purpose of oracles? According to Herodotus, Croesus, the king of Lydia, asked the oracle if he should go to war with Persia. Croesus felt threatened by the Persian expansion, so he wanted to know if he should attack Persia before Persia attacked him. Croesus interpreted this to mean that he would destroy Persia, and so he gathered his forces and attacked. But Croesus lost the war, and in the end, he was forced to admit that he had destroyed his own, great empire Herodotus 1.

There are many examples of people misinterpreting oracles usually because, like Croesus, they interpret it according to what they want to hear , but there are a few examples of people who interpret their oracles correctly, and benefit greatly as a result. The Greeks believed that Delphi was located at the center of the earth. In art, Apollo is sometimes shown using this as his seat, implying that his oracle was in some sense the epicenter of everything that occurred on earth. According to Hesiod Theogony , this was originally the stone that Rhea had given to Cronus to swallow instead of Zeus.

Zeus placed it at Delphi after Cronus had vomited it up with the other Olympians and Zeus had won the battle with Titan to gain control over the cosmos see Origins. The Temple of Apollo at Delphi The Consultation Procedure There were many other oracles in Greece, but the Oracle at Delphi was the most famous, and everyone who could afford to consult the Oracle at Delphi preferred to do so. The Pythia on her tripod giving an oracle on a kylix in the Altes Museum in Berlin After the person consulting the Oracle asked his question, the Pythia would go into a trance; it was believed that Apollo himself possessed her.

The Omphalos The Omphalos, or the navel stone of the earth, in the Archaeological Museum of Delphi The Greeks believed that Delphi was located at the center of the earth.

Earlier, King Lalus, was told by the oracle that a son born to Jocasta would kill his father and marry his mother. In order to avoid fulfilment of this prophecy, whenOedipus was born, Laius riveted his ankles, and handed him over to a servant whom he instructed to leave the child on a mountain to die there from exposure.

The servant, out of compassion, handed the child over to a Corinthian shepherd who gave the child to King Polybus of Corinth who was childless. Oedipus again consulted the oracle which repeated the same prophecy. So, Oedipus left Corinth in order to avoid killing his supposed father Polybus, but all in vain.

Through an intricate process the prophecies of the oracle that Laius would be killed by his own son, that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother, and beget brother sons and daughters. The Delphic oracle thus plays a very vital role in King Oedipus. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Write a critical note on the function of the Delphic oracle in King Oedipus. Or, What do you know about the Delphic Oracle? What function does it do in King Oedipus?