Alright,
now in an unrelated question, can someone please inform me as to what on Earth Rex is
for in Oedipus Rex? Wait...is he a dinosaur? Are they secretly ALL
dinosaurs?! Plot twist! Great idea for an essay! Ha... no but seriously what's
with the Rex part?
On To
the Actual story: in the end, I need to admit that I did enjoy this play. After
the dreadfully boring start things really started to pick up, thanks to
Oedipus' repressed memories, realizations of incest and apparently being the
one kid on the Earth who never asked the question "am I adopted?"
after learning what adoption was. It was a very interesting story with a heart
wrenching end. Seriously, imagine how he must have felt not being able to see
his daughters the last time he said goodbye to them, knowing that they were
also his sisters. It’s so creepy and disturbing and sad that I think he envies
them, as they're young and they don't understand what was happening. Still,
I didn’t enjoy this story anywhere near as much as I did King Lear, as this
story never really went anywhere: they were always in the same place, talking
to the same people and things just appeared to be strangely convenient. There’s
one thing I never understood: Oedipus had been ruling there for years, correct?
But how long had the citizens been getting sick? It made it seem as though they’d
just begun getting sick recently. It’s as if Thebes caught the gods napping and
when they woke up they said “Well lets go and check on Laius-HOLY CRAP WHAT
HAPPENED HERE?! OH THAT IS DISGUSTING! OH WE ARE GONNA HAVE TO CLEAN UP THAT TOWN
WITH SOME GOOD OLD FASHONED PLAUGES!” I’m
convinced this is exactly what they said.
On
another, still unrelated note: as I read this play, the whole time I kept
thinking of a song called “I’m My Own Grandpa.” Oedipus, of course, is more
disgusting and much less complicated. …But shall I link it here…? YES!!! Actually the very beginning sound a bit like Oedipus...but it all goes down from there...
Delia, I also believe that the plagues seem to happen more recently as the citizens are only just meeting at the palace to complain to Oedipus. In their complaints one gets the idea that the problem has been around for quite some time, but I do not believe it is anywhere near as long as Oedipus has been king. He states to Creon that his sons are almost men, which back then makes them almost teenagers. I believe if miscarriages and terminal illnesses were going on for thirteen years someone would have had the bright idea to maybe bring this up to the ruler of the country a little earlier. This lapse in time between the actual crime (patricide and mother-wifing) and the effects (pollutant) add to the mystery and suspense of Oedipus Rex. If all these bad things were to happen immediatley after Oedipus takes the throne, the people of Thebes might connect the dots a little easier and ask Oedipus to politely get the hell out of their city. As to your first question, the word Rex literally means King. So Oedipus Rex means King Oedipus. For example Christus Rex means Christ the king and Tyrannosaurus means king of the lizards. I very much enjoyed this play and although now almost everyone knows the story of Oedipus Rex, whether they read the story or not, I feel the play did a great job at building the suspense until the final revelation.
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