Line #9 YMMV/OedipusTheKing


1	* AlternateAesopInterpretation:
2	** It could also be said that the big lesson from the story is to simply ignore what the oracles say in the first place. As in each case, it was the people involved trying to AVOID the prophecy that caused it. Oedipus' parents sending him to die, where he is instead brought to a different kingdom far away. He hears about his destiny, and fearing that it might happen, leaves what he thinks is his birth home. Frankly, if anyone involved would have said, "This prophecy is silly", it probably wouldn't have happened. Of course, this only works in isolation, since in Greek mythology in general, PropheciesAreAlwaysRight, even when they logically shouldn't be. Remember Acrisius, who was accidentally killed by his grandson years after everyone forgot all about the prophecy that said his grandson would kill him?
3	** Alternatively, don't cut people off in traffic or kill people who cut you off in traffic.
4	-->Don't raise your hand\
5	Against that trucker\
6	You'll regret it\
7	Motherfucker\
8	[[Advertising/BurmaShave Corinth Shave]]
9	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
10	** Is Oedipus morally guilty or innocent? Are we supposed to view him as getting his comeuppance for trying to fight a divine prophecy, or is he a blameless victim of fate? Is his "hamartia" the FatalFlaw of pride (as the main page argues), or is it [[ATragedyOfImpulsiveness impulsiveness]], or is it just his lack of knowledge about his origins? Much scholarly ink has been spilled on this subject.
11	** It's entirely possible that Jocasta knew all along who Oedipus was and, for the sake of maintaining her lifestyle and the city's stability, married and had children with her own son. Her suicide was not caused by her realizing the truth but by her realizing that she couldn't stop the truth from coming out.
12	** You can also interpret Creon as suspecting the truth, but not wanting to pursue it because of the political implications.
13	* AwardSnub: This play is the most famous of all of Greek tragedy. When it was first performed, it got second place at the city Dionysia competition.
14	* CommonKnowledge: Oedipus kills his father, then marries and has children with his mother. Although most descriptions leave out the detail that he did these things ''unknowingly'', as well as the fact his mother hangs herself before he gouges out his eyes. All his other adventures, including how he became the King of Thebes in the first place, are generally forgotten. The only exception is the RiddlingSphinx.
15	* FridgeLogic: Exactly ''how'' did Jocasta not recognize Oedipus was her son? You'd think she'd recognize ''something'' different about him, if we think she didn't know the whole time. (Although it's probably explained by the fact that he was a newborn baby when she last saw him, and that she thought he was dead.) And why didn't the SoleSurvivor of Laius's entourage not tell Jocasta Oedipus had killed him ''before'' the Thebans made him king?
16	* ItWasHisSled: The play was based on an old story and written with the expectation that the audience knew the ending. Indeed, as pointed out by classicist Bernard Knox, that gave the play its suspense, since the audience was waiting for when Oedipus would discover the AwfulTruth. It also continues into the present day, thanks in large part to people's familiarity with the concept of the UsefulNotes/OedipusComplex.
17	* MoralEventHorizon: Laius crosses this prior to the trilogy when he rapes the titular character of ''Chrysippus''. This angers the gods, who curse his entire family and lead to the catastrophic events of the trilogy.
18	* NauseaFuel: When Oedipus finds out what he has done, he gouges his eyes out with his wife's brooches. Also, the fact that he had children with his mom.
19	* {{Narm}}: To a modern audience, a lot of Greek theatre comes off this way, because most modern Western actors lack the training to perform it in a way that doesn't just look like [[WorldOfHam stilted overacting]].
20	** Upon the revelation that Oedipus is her son, Jocasta immediately leaves the room. A servant walks in shortly afterward to report that the queen has committed suicide. You may or may not find the abruptness of all this hilarious.
21	** Guthrie's version gives us the over the top [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96umP9MVz5I I KILLED THEM AAAAALLLLL!!!!! AAAAAAAAARARARAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!! AAAAARRRRRRAAAAAAGGGGHH!!! RAAAAAAGH... aaah....]]
22	** An earlier scene also has Tiresias giving his signature warning to Oedipus while falling down and flopping around on the ground [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9sEzR1Abuc&t=4m0s as though spontaneously getting heart attacks]]. The Chorus has to regularly push him back up, almost to the point of playing catch with him, and the fact that he's been made to look like some tremendous ghostly bird does not help.
23	* NightmareFuel: The 1957 video adaptation by Tyrone Guthrie features every actor wearing a gigantic mask with terrifyingly huge, black eyes. Although Ancient Greek theatre was actually performed this way.
24	* NewerThanTheyThink: The play is OlderThanFeudalism but is actually a ''prequel'' to ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}''.
25	* RetroactiveRecognition: In the 1957 film version, one of the chorus members was played by Creator/WilliamShatner. You probably won't notice him since he's wearing a big, colorful mask over his face and blends in with the other elders.
26	* RonTheDeathEater: While Oedipus isn't exactly a nice person, a lot of people skip over the fact that he ''didn't know'' the identities of his father and mother before he killed the former and impregnated the latter. Some people, most notably UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud, turn him into an irredeemable pervert who deliberately had sex with his mother. Freud even went so far as to naming a psychological theory/phenomenon after him (the Oedipus Complex).
27	* TearJerker: It's already awfully sad seeing everything go to pot for Oedipus because of Fate, but perhaps the worst part is when he has to explain to his daughters how they will be viewed as disgusting aberrations all because of him.
28	* ValuesDissonance: Inevitable, given that the play is over two thousand years old.
29	** The main part of it is that to an ancient Greek watching this play, Oedipus would've deserved what was coming to him because of his pride. Nowadays, it just seems kinda mean spirited. There's also the fact that infanticide by exposure was actually common practice in ancient Greece.
30	** To an ancient Greek audience, even though Oedipus and Jocasta didn't know each other's identities, their unwitting incest and Oedipus's unwitting parricide were still viewed as carrying "pollution." This is why a plague strikes the city of Thebes and why Jocasta is DrivenToSuicide and Oedipus goes into exile when the truth is revealed.
31	** It's also hard for a modern audience to accept the original murder of his father. The only thing that made it a crime in the work is his eventual revealed identity. Oedipus killed a man for a traffic violation and even casually talked about it to others and nobody seemed to care... until they knew who it was.
32	* VindicatedByHistory: As noted under "Award Snub," this play took second place at the competition that served as its inaugural performance. While we know the name of the playwright who won the competition ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philocles Philocles]], nephew of the famous Aeschylus), the name and script of the winning play have been lost.

Context YMMV / OedipusTheKing