Oedipus Rex Q&A

Oedipus tells Jocasta about the group of men that he encountered at an intersection while he had been returning from the shrine of Delphi. The herald had tried to run him off the road, and the passenger on the mule cart had whipped him on the head. Oedipus had killed all of these men for those simple and rather minute offenses and thereby demonstrated anger as a severe character flaw.

Oedipus accuses Creon of being a traitor as he believes that Creon and Tiresias are trying to take his throne. Creon faces these accusations without fear and swears to kill himself if he is ever proven to have betrayed the king. Oedipus spares Creon because of the Theban elders and Jocasta but he still disparages him. Creon does not let this affect his treatment of the defeated Oedipus at the end of the play. He is kind to him, allows him to meet his daughters, promises to care for them, and lets Oedipus select his punishment.

The Corinthian messenger comes to Thebes to take Oedipus back to Corinth as their king. He learns about the prophecy that Oedipus had received that said he would kill his father. The messenger believes that Oedipus will no longer have to remain exiled from Corinth since Polybus hadn't been his true father and Oedipus needn't worry about marrying his mother since Polybus's surviving wife cannot be Oedipus's mother.

Jocasta kills herself after she fails to deter Oedipus from learning about the truth of his sins. She would likely have continued to live if Oedipus hadn't learned the truth since her love for her children far outweighed the grief she felt upon learning of her true relationship with Oedipus. Jocasta calls out for Laius in death, and this may be because she hopes to see him in death, but it could also be a cry of grief that their terrible actions towards Oedipus had yet been unable to prevent the prophecy from coming true.