OEDIPUS REX:1.) Oedipus is the king of Thebes. He is the tragic hero in the drama. He is actually the ill-fated son of Laius and Jocasta who was predicted to kill Laius and marry Jocasta. Because of these prophecies, he ends up believing that Polybus and Meropé, the king and queen of Corinth, are his real parents. He leaves Corinth after an oracle makes a similar prophecy about him. He ends up killing a man at a place where three highways meet and answering the Sphinx’s riddle to become the king of Thebes and marry Jocasta as reward. In the drama, he is seeking the murderer of Laius to get rid of the plague in Thebes. He is a man admired by the Thebans because of his great intellect. But in the end, he falls from grace after his true identity is revealed. Oedipus is often described as the perfect example of a tragic hero whose hubris or pride and hammartia or error in judgment lead to his downfall.
2.) Jocasta is Laius’ widow and Oedipus’ mother. She later married Oedipus after Oedipus saved Thebes from the Sphinx. She believed in the prophecy that said her and Laius’ son would kill Laius. Thus, she gave her infant son to a herdsman to be left at the mountain of Cithaeron to die. Later on, she ceases to believe in human oracles after she is misled to believe that a band of foreign robbers killed Laius. As soon as she realizes Oedipus’ real identity, she discourages Oedipus to continue his inquiry. When Oedipus refuses to stop the search for Laius’ murderer, Jocasta hangs herself to death.
