Meditation #5 Oedipus Rex -- Katie Marchant

Something that really stuck out to me was the character of Teiresias. I thought that is was really interesting for the clairvoyant who foresaw Oedipus’ fate was blind. To me this foreshadowed Oedipus gouging out his eyes and also showed that everyone was overlooking the situation. Even those who had their sight could not see what Teiresias could even though he was technically sightless. I also really liked all of Teiresias’ riddles and word play. They made that section of the play much easier to read and even to understand. It was also really interesting to read the play knowing what the ending was because I picked up on a lot more of the suggestions made by Teiresias, the Messenger and the Shepherd that Oedipus didn’t pick up on.

I am a little confused about the timeline for the story. How old was Oedipus when he was taken to the mountain to be left to die? How long has he been king before the point in time when this takes place? I also do not really understand why Iocaste married Oedipus. I know that he saved the city from the Sphinx by solving the riddle but was their some other condition that he got to marry the Queen? Is that story of the Sphinx taking control of Thebes told in another play? Or did the people attending the production of this play aware of that story?