Oedipus the King – Reading Guide 2
Pages 272-275
1. Focus on the details in Oedipus’s speech that show he is trying to take control of a desperate situation. For what two things does Oedipus ask?
2. What is the punishment for the murderer going to be?
3. What curse does Oedipus put on the killer or killers of Laius? Who is included in the curse?
Pages 275-281
4. Why might Tiresias be able to help Oedipus?
5. What is unusual about the way Tiresias speaks?
6. How can Tiresias rescue the entire city?
7. Explain what Tiresias means in lines 359-361 on page 275.
8. What are the “dreadful secrets” about?
9. Is Oedipus logical in assuming Tiresias is involved in the murder? Why or why not?
10. Oedipus and Tiresias accuse each other of what? What words and phrases from this section of the play deal with the accusations they lodge against each other?
11. How can Oedipus be both a “brother and father” to his children?
12. Why is Oedipus described as both a “son and husband” to Jocasta?
13. How did Oedipus spill his father’s blood?
14. Whom does Tiresias name as the murderer?
Pages 282-283
15. How does the chorus imagine the murderer?
16. Does the chorus believe Oedipus is the murderer? Why?
17. Does the chorus believe Tiresias’s charges? Why or why not?
18. Why does the chorus doubt Tiresias’s prophetic powers?
19. How does the chorus feel about Oedipus at this point in the play?
Oedipus the King – Reading Guide 2
Pages 272-275
1. Focus on the details in Oedipus’s speech that show he is trying to take control of a desperate situation. For what two things does Oedipus ask?
2. What is the punishment for the murderer going to be?
3. What curse does Oedipus put on the killer or killers of Laius? Who is included in the curse?
Pages 275-281
4. Why might Tiresias be able to help Oedipus?
5. What is unusual about the way Tiresias speaks?
6. How can Tiresias rescue the entire city?
7. Explain what Tiresias means in lines 359-361 on page 275.
8. What are the “dreadful secrets” about?
9. Is Oedipus logical in assuming Tiresias is involved in the murder? Why or why not?
10. Oedipus and Tiresias accuse each other of what? What words and phrases from this section of the play deal with the accusations they lodge against each other?
11. How can Oedipus be both a “brother and father” to his children?
12. Why is Oedipus described as both a “son and husband” to Jocasta?
13. How did Oedipus spill his father’s blood?
14. Whom does Tiresias name as the murderer?
Pages 282-283
15. How does the chorus imagine the murderer?
16. Does the chorus believe Oedipus is the murderer? Why?
17. Does the chorus believe Tiresias’s charges? Why or why not?
18. Why does the chorus doubt Tiresias’s prophetic powers?
19. How does the chorus feel about Oedipus at this point in the play?