Herbst Humanities Dr. Fredricksmeyer
Oedipus the King Discussion Questions
Please read Oedipus the King (OR) and prepare to discuss the following questions. As you prepare, make sure to write down the page numbers (and/or line numbers) where you find your answers.
1. What is a ship of state metaphor? Note all the occurrences you find of this type of metaphor in the play? At what point do these metaphors become negative?
2. Note all the occurrences you find of medical metaphors (in which Oedipus is analogous to a doctor or cure, or the opposites) in OR. At what point do these metaphors become negative?
3. Especially in the exchanges between Oedipus and Tiresias, identify language that concerns literal sight and blindness, and also figurative sight and blindness (i.e., knowledge and ignorance, respectively). Which of the two characters does Sophocles associate with which of these qualities? Also, while you’re considering this question, ask yourself whether it is light or darkness that we tend to associate with knowledge, and be prepared to offer some examples.
4. Are fate and the will of the gods synonymous in OR, or are they independent of each other? (Does Apollo merely prophecy the future, or does he intervene to ensure his own prophecy?) Explain. Also, what is the relation between fate and the will of G-d/God in Judeo-Christian cultures?
5. To what extent are persons in OR held responsible for their actions? Do such factors as lack of intent or the influence of fate or the gods seem to diminish human guilt?
6. Do you see OR as a story of fate, or free will, or a combination of the two? Please explain your answer with references to specific events in the play. What do you think determines your life, fate or free will?