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Oedipus the King Summary 130101 Views

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Did you hear the one about the guy who killed his dad and married his mom? Yeah, that’s not a joke, it’s Oedipus’ life. This video summarizes the Greek tragedy Oedipus the King as Oedipus investigates who murdered the old king (spoiler alert: he did). The moral of the story? Don’t investigate something you don’t want to know the answer to and believe the blind fortune teller Teiresias—he’s probably right.

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Author / Sophocles - Sophocles

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English Language

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Transcript

00:04
Oedipus <EED-uh-pus> the King, by Sophocles <SAWF-uh-kleez>.
00:08
I'm the King, baby.
00:10
But of Thebes <Theebs>, not rock and roll...
00:12
Still, it's a pretty cushy gig for the most part. Except for that pesky curse that's
00:16
making everything wither and die.

00:19
It's really a drag when there are no cows for the royal burger, and your servant drops
00:24
dead in your plate of wilted asparagus.
00:27
I sent my brother in law, Creon, <KREE-on> to the oracle, to find out what the deal was.
00:31
He got the answer, right from Apollo's mouth...
00:36
We needed to launch a full scale investigation to find out who killed Thebes' previous king,
00:41
Laius <<LAY-iss>>.
00:42
I was on the case, and was using proven crime solving techniques....
00:47
...but my focus was pulled when that incredibly annoying chorus had to butt in.
00:58
All right, all right. So I got the old coot to make an appearance, and you know what his
01:02
helpful hint was? Apparently I'm the murderer.
01:05
Uh, I think I'd remember something like that. And then he told me I was going to die blind
01:11
and alone, and went on some cockamamie tangent about me being married to my mother.
01:17
Okay, all right guys. Where's the camera? I'm being Punk'd, right?
01:25
But I knew what was really going on. Creon and Teiresias <Tie-REE-zee-us> were plotting
01:30
to take over the kingdom. This wasn't the first time somebody had been after my crown.
01:35
It was lucky for those backstabbers that my lady Jocasta <Joe-CAST-uh> showed up to calm me down.
01:41
She told me all about how unreliable predictions can be. Like, once someone told Laius that
01:46
Jocasta and Laius' son would kill him and marry her. Isn't that wild?
01:50
But they got rid of that creepy kid.
01:52
And, I mean, yeah, I did kill a few guys in a fight a while ago.
01:56
But that's ancient history. Totally unrelated. Then, a messenger showed up and dropped the
02:01
bombshell that my dad was dead. But he really wasn't my dad, because apparently I was
02:06
adopted. A lonely king and queen were shopping around for a kid, and got one off a local shepherd.
02:13
I decided to investigate about this shepherd, even though Jo didn't want me to.
02:18
I probably should have listened to her, because then I wouldn't have learned... that I was
02:22
Laius and Jocasta's kid. Which means...which means...
02:28
BLECCHHH! A servant came in at this dramatic moment
02:33
and told me that Jocasta had killed herself. I couldn't believe my wife...I mean,
02:38
my mom was dead! I mean...BLECCHHH!
02:43
I was feeling a little emotionally fragile at this moment. You could say I was
02:46
a sight for sore eyes...
02:48
But I guess hindsight is always 20/20, right?
02:51
At least I'm not being kept in the dark anymore...
02:54
I'm sorry, these puns are getting cornea and cornea...
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