Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus is a story in which a city (Thebes) and its people
have a problem and ask their King (Oedipus) to solve the problems, which face
them, and get life back to normal. The people in Thebes (like many people when
they have problems they can't solve) go to outside sources of help to try to
correct their problems. These outside sources go from other cities, prophets,
messengers, and Shepard's, in this case. People Oedipus calls and sends for from
outside the city of Thebes help to piece together the facts to find the solution
to the cities problems and expose (to every ones surprise) the unexpected
answer. The outside influences, along with the knowledge of the people of
Thebes, are all important to finding the resolution to the problems that are
facing the city. The characters who live in the city of Thebes are the people
who have a problem that they cannot solve on their own. In solving those
problems, the characters within the city of Thebes play just as much of a roll
in solving them as do the characters from outside the city. Although the
characters such as Teiresias, the messenger, and the shepherd all brought
information to Oedipus and the city of Thebes, which was very crucial in finding
the truth, none of this information would have been brought to Thebes if it
wasn't for the actions of characters within the city. The characters have to
cooperate to come up with a solution. This situation is like having all the
money in the world but it is no good until you go and get it. In Sophocles'
Oedipus Tyrannus all the characters within the city of Thebes play some sort of
roll in the final outcome of the story whether large or small. In Oedipus
Tyrannus, Oedipus was the main character and was the King of the suppliants and
the one who had saved the people from such things as the Sphinx. Oedipus was
also favored greatly by the gods. Oedipus Tyrannus lived in the city of Thebes
in Greece about 450BC and ruled over the people that lived there. The truth,
throughout the story, was fought for by him and hinted it was to include him in
some way, but in which way we were not aware of until the end of our reading.
There are many small characters that have an impact on this story along with the
main ones. These characters are looked at as the common people in the Village of
Thebes, the messengers (even though the messengers bring important information),
and also the old men of Thebes. The old men of Thebes take part in the Writen
part of the story, by acting as a chorus and in that way voicing the opinion of
the common people. The roll the characters such as all the suppliants played was
one where they gathered outside the palace and in the story were unnamed, and
spoke no individual lines in the reading. These suppliants were called upon by
Oedipus to bring forth any information that could be of help in finding the
answer to the city of Thebes' problems. The Priest is the leader of the
suppliants and Oedipus communicates to the suppliants through him. In this way
Oedipus hears the problems and thoughts of the suppliants in a timely manner.
The relationship of the main characters that live within the city of Thebes is a
complicated one where some characters hold more than one relationship to
another. Also the main characters often have conflicts in which one may have
status over another, but the other may have knowledge, which gives him/her some
sort of power over their superior. Some of the relationships that the characters
have are family related and those relationships can sometimes conflict. Also
some of the relationships between some characters are ones where secrets are
kept and/or knowledge is known but not shared. Oedipus sent Creon, his
brother-in-law (and uncle unknown to Oedipus at this point), to Delphi to ask
the Oracle what Oedipus must do to save the city of Thebes from the plague.
Creon learned a lot from the Oracle, which was the first stepping-stone of the
path to the truth that the characters followed. After Creon went to the Oracle
Oedipus with the agreement of the chorus sought out Teiresias, the blind seer,
who was a knowledgeable man from outside the city. One example of how a family
based relationship can be conflicting is the relationship between Iocasta and
Oedipus. The relationship between Oedipus and Iocasta is one in which the two
main characters have more than one relationship to one another. Iocasta is
Oedipus' wife but later in the story we learn that Iocasta is also Oedipus'
mother. This relationship that Oedipus and Iocasta have will later add another
stepping stone to the truth and clear up some questions that have arose during
the previous duration of the play. The relationship that Oedipus and the
Shepherd had is one where the Shepard has information that Oedipus wants.
Oedipus demands this information using his power as King but for a brief time
the Shepard had the power of knowledge. The Shepherds power was destroyed when
Oedipus forced the Shepard to speak the truth he knew about his father. Oedipus
and the Shepherd had a former relationship where, when Oedipus was an infant the
Shepherd was assigned to dispose of Oedipus because of a prophecy that said
Oedipus would grow to kill his father, Laius (unknown to Oedipus that Laius was
his father until this point in the story (1109-1110)), and have sex with his
mother, Iocasta (also unknown until this point in the story). Some characters
never speak a word in the play but are still an important factor to the story.
One of these characters is Laius who is the real father of Oedipus, but Laius
was killed before the story began and because of that fact never spoke a word in
the play. Also Polybus, the father that Oedipus knew, died half way through the
story and never spoke a single line in the play. These characters, even though
they never are active in the story, can still have an effect on the story from
many angles because of the relationship that they had with an active character
in the play. The relationship that Oedipus and Polybus shared before the story
had an effect on the progression of the story. Their prior relationship had an
effect on the story because of things that Oedipus assumed about his and Polybus'
relationship. Oedipus assumed that Polybus was his real father and when news
came that Polybus had died, and of natural causes Oedipus assumed that the
Oracle was false. When Oedipus assumed that the Oracle was false he slowed the
story line down and added confusion because he eliminated possibilities that
weren't false. The relationships that the characters have with each other can
get confusing and complicated. Some characters such as Creon and Oedipus have a
love then hate relationship because of accusations and mistrust. After the
current problems of the city of Thebes are solved the relationships between all
the characters change and new relationships form between different people.