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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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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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