Tragedy of Sophocles "Tsar Oedipus": a brief summary. "King Oedipus": problems, heroes, a brief summary of the episodes

The theme of this article is the analysis of one of the ancient works and its brief content. "King Oedipus" is the tragedy of the author of Sophocles, the Athenian author, who is one of the few of his plays that have survived to this day. Today, twenty centuries after the death of the author, his work has not lost popularity. It is based on plays in the theater, and feature films. The whole point is that the fate of a person has never been so radically depicted as in this tragedy.

Angry Rock

Sophocles' contemporaries, and also Aristotle's wise man, believed that this play is the pinnacle of the mastery of its author. If only a brief summary is given, "Oedipus King" will become nothing more than a mythological plot. In full exposition, the creation of Sophocles is a deep philosophical work.

All life of the main character is haunted by misfortunes. He tries to escape from the evil fate, but in the end with him everything happens that is predetermined by the gods. One of the greatest philosophical works in world culture was written by Sophocles. "King Oedipus," a summary of which is presented in the article, is a classic of world drama. Thanks to the image of the protagonist, Sophocles entered the history of world literature. So, let's move on to the text.

Myth: Summary

King Oedipus is the hero of one of the Theban myths. From legends and legends in ancient times, the authors, as a rule, drew inspiration.

The myth of Oedipus tells of the bizarre interweaving of destinies. It begins with a story about a certain king Lae. He and his wife Jocasta for a long time were childless. According to Athenian traditions, for any reason, it was necessary to apply for help to the so-called Delphic oracle. The king did this. However, the esteemed prophet did not please the unfortunate father, notifying him that his son would be, but when he was older, he would surely kill him, and then, even worse, marry his own mother, that is, Lai's wife.

This narration is about how vain the attempts of ordinary mortals to change what is predetermined from above. A philosophical and religious basis can be felt even after reading a brief summary. King Oedipus is the protagonist of the legend, in which the outset is the prediction of the oracle. After the prophecy, the father orders to leave the newly born baby in the wild mountains. But the servant feels sorry for the child and hands it over to an unknown shepherd. He, in turn, to another king - Polyba, whom Oedipus will long consider his own father.

After many years, Oedipus hears a terrible prediction from the same oracle. It completely coincides with what Lai feared terribly: a young man would kill his father and become the husband of the widow of the murdered, that is his own mother. Not knowing the name of his real parent, the future offender leaves the house of the person who brought up. Several years, like a robber, our hero wanders. And in the end, Lai accidentally kills. Then everything happens exactly as the oracle promised.

Episodius first

The summary of the first episode is the ending of one of the most famous Athenian legends. King Oedipus is a mythological character. His story was borrowed by Sophocles and created a tragedy, in the first act of which viewers on stage see the main character already as ruler.

So, the main character of the play is the king. His name is Oedipus. One day a procession appears at the royal palace, the participants of which ask the master for help. In Thebes, a terrible epidemic is rampant. The plague has already claimed many lives, and since the inhabitants perceive their tsar only as a savior (he once helped them out, and then took the throne), they turn to him with entreaty to ward off a terrible misfortune.

The "Savior", as it turned out, had already taken appropriate measures: he sent messengers to the all-powerful oracle. After all, he has the power, which lies in the ability to learn from God himself Apollo about the reason for such a terrible scourge.

The answer comes very soon: the plague is sent to punishment for the fact that the Thebes lives with impunity in Thebes. And Oedipus, not suspecting that he is the same criminal, swears to find and punish the guilty.

The play and the legend

Creating a play, the sequence of events of the mythical plot was significantly changed by Sophocles.

What is the "Oedipus King" tragedy? The summary of this play is a story about a certain ruler who, in search of an intruder, learns the truth about his origins and about his own crimes.

What is the difference between the work of Sophocles and the legend? In the legend, we are talking about a young man who commits a crime, and then becomes a king by the will of fate. However, in the end it is overtaken by retribution. In the folk Athenian legend, everything is crystal clear. In tragedy, truth is revealed only in culmination.

Athenian viewers, this mythical story was familiar from childhood. The name of the killer was well known to them. The staging of Sophocles' play was, nevertheless, a huge success. The reason is the social and ethical problem of the tragic work. The first spectators of the immortal play were fascinated by the worthy and resolute behavior of the ruler, in whose hands the destiny of the whole people lies. The king can not do otherwise. He will certainly find the killer of his predecessor and punish him. The author of the play translated the folk myth into a theatrical language. The work touched on topics that are interesting not only for antique viewers.

The founder of the tragedy was Sophocles. "King Oedipus," a summary of which is set forth in this article, is a work about the misadventures of a person whose fate was ruled by all-powerful gods.

On the stage of the ancient Greek theater, the production included a beginning, a denouement and an emotionally strong climax. This scheme was created by Sophocles, for which he is called the father of the tragedy. Another feature that he introduced into the theatrical art was the appearance in the culmination of a new character.

Tiresias

In the tragedy, all attention is focused on the main character. In each chapter, he is present and is an important participant in the action. Thus, almost all the theatrical works that Sophocles created were built. "King Oedipus," whose summary is reduced to the dialogue of the character with other heroes, and mainly with oracles, in the next episode contains the conversation of the king with Tiresias. This man is a fortuneteller who knows the truth, but out of pity he does not immediately decide to open it to his interlocutor. And yet, with the help of cries and threats, the king seeks recognition from him. Tiresias calls the name of the murderer. This name is Oedipus.

Creon

"Oedipus King", whose brief content gives an idea of the riddles and intrigues present in the tragedy, is a classic of the theatrical genre. The motives for revenge, death and the struggle for power were borrowed from this work by Shakespeare himself.

After the terrible words of Tiresias, the royal family comes to the fore. Creon is the brother of Jocasta. And it was he who, according to ancient traditions, had to take the throne after the death of the king. But suddenly a foreigner appeared, rescued the Theban people from a bloodthirsty monster and, as a token of popular gratitude, received what was rightfully due to a relative. The king became an unknown to anyone Oedipus. Perhaps, the brother of Jocasta harbored resentment against the newly-made ruler, arranged everything and persuaded Tiresias to give the wrong information? Such thoughts tormented Oedipus, until the unfortunate participant in the incestuous relationship appeared-the queen herself.

Jocasta

A native mother took to wife Oedipus. The summary of the myth says only that this woman did not of her own will commit the sin of incest. At the great playwright this image possesses characteristic features. Jocasta is a strong and strong-willed woman. Having learned about the reason of the quarrel between men, she ridicules them. In an effort to prove how foolish to believe the predictions, she talks about her youth. Her stories are listened to by King Oedipus.

A summary of the episodes is the actions and reflections of the protagonist. In full, this work is a poetic dialogue, where the background is the choir. Without it, not one antique drama could do. And here, when Jocasta starts to tell her young husband his painfully familiar story, choral singing becomes more and more alarming and sad.

The story of the queen

Jocasta talks about how she lost her first child, and her husband was killed by robbers. The death of Lai reminds Oedipus of the events that occurred during his wanderings. And the oracle predictions, on the basis of which the king ordered to get rid of the baby, are extremely similar to those for which the new husband of Jocasta once left his home. Memories of a woman is betrayed solely in order to convince the disputants that they are mistaken.

The oracle's predictions do not have any ground. They can only push a person to make irreparable mistakes. So Jocasta argues. The tragic hero, meanwhile, is seized with terrible suspicions.

Culmination

The story of a life enveloped in terrible secrets, which should be solved by the end of the play, is the essence of this. King Oedipus believes that only one person can help him find out the truth. The old servant, who once took the newborn to the mountains, will answer the only, but the most important, question. But in Thebes this man is no more. An order was given to find a slave. Meanwhile, a new face appears on the stage.

A messenger arrives from his native land and reports the death of Polyb. Oedipus should take the place of the deceased king. But the oracle's predictions say that after he marries his mother ... A man coming from afar, wishing to reassure Oedipus, reveals the whole truth. Now it is known that Polyb is not his own father. And in order to achieve the whole truth, Oedipus turns to Jocasta. After some disputes and a comparison of the facts, he realizes that all the predictions given to him and Laius have come true.

The queen commits suicide. Oedipus blinds himself, thereby fulfilling his promise to punish the criminal.

The tragedy of Sophocles "King Oedipus", the summary of which is set forth in our article, is an immortal work of world drama. The hero of the ancient author, though in the power of the gods, but with all his might aspires to become the master of his own destiny. However, the only thing that he manages to do is punish. But still Sophocles Oedipus is one of the greatest literary heroes.