- supplicantsnounChapter 1 →
People who kneel or bow before someone powerful to beg for help or mercy, especially in a religious or royal setting.
- oraclenounChapter 1 →
A sacred place or priest through whom a god was believed to speak and deliver divine answers or prophecies to those who asked questions.
- pollutionnounChapter 1 →
In ancient Greek belief, a spiritual stain or curse brought on a community by an unpunished crime, especially murder, that angers the gods and causes disaster.
“The god commands us to drive out the pollution which has been harboured in this land, and not to let it grow past cure.”
- harbouredverbChapter 1 →
Sheltered or allowed something harmful to remain hidden and protected within a place, rather than driving it out.
“The god commands us to drive out the pollution which has been harboured in this land, and not to let it grow past cure.”
- past curephraseChapter 1 →
Beyond the point where it can be fixed or healed; so far gone that no remedy is possible.
“not to let it grow past cure.”
- afreshadverbChapter 1 →
Starting over again from the beginning, as if for the first time, with a clean slate.
“I will start afresh, and bring everything to light.”
- ParodosnounChapter 2 →
The first song sung by the Chorus as it enters the performance area at the start of a Greek play, often setting the emotional tone of the drama.
- pyresnounChapter 2 →
Large piles of wood built outdoors on which dead bodies are placed and burned as part of funeral rites.
- crypticallyadverbChapter 2 →
In a way that is deliberately mysterious and hard to understand, using hints rather than plain statements.
- conspiracynounChapter 2 →
A secret plot made by two or more people working together to deceive or harm someone, here used by Oedipus to accuse Creon and Tiresias of scheming against him.
- untroubledadjectiveChapter 2 →
Free from worry, fear, or disturbance; living in calm and peace without anxiety.
“Think, first, whether you think anyone would choose to rule amid fears rather than sleep untroubled—if the same power were his.”
- amidadverbChapter 2 →
Surrounded by or in the middle of something, especially a difficult or dangerous situation.
“whether you think anyone would choose to rule amid fears rather than sleep untroubled”
- prophesyverbChapter 3 →
To declare what will happen in the future, especially by claiming to speak on behalf of a god or divine power.
“I will never prophesy again.”
- crossroadsnounChapter 3 →
A place where two or more roads cross each other; in this play, the specific spot where Oedipus unknowingly killed his father Laius.
- entouragenounChapter 3 →
A group of attendants or servants who travel with and accompany an important person.
- pinsnounChapter 3 →
Metal spikes or skewers driven through the infant Oedipus's ankles to bind them together and cripple him, explaining his name which means 'swollen foot.'
“It was I who freed you, child, with the pins through your ankles.”
- anklesnounChapter 3 →
The joints connecting the foot to the leg; Oedipus's were pierced and bound as an infant in an attempt to ensure he would die and never fulfill the prophecy.
“It was I who freed you, child, with the pins through your ankles.”
- broochesnounChapter 4 →
Decorative pins or clasps, usually made of metal, used to fasten clothing; here the golden pins from Jocasta's robe that Oedipus uses to blind himself.
“He tore from her garment the golden brooches which she was wearing; he lifted them and struck at his own eyeballs.”
- garmentnounChapter 4 →
A piece of clothing, here referring to the robe or gown worn by Jocasta at the time of her death.
“He tore from her garment the golden brooches which she was wearing.”
- eyeballsnounChapter 4 →
The round organs of sight in their sockets; Oedipus drives the brooches into them to blind himself as punishment for what he has seen and done.
“he lifted them and struck at his own eyeballs.”
- exodosnounChapter 4 →
The final scene of a Greek play in which the actors leave the stage and the Chorus exits, bringing the drama to its close.
- banishverbChapter 4 →
To officially expel someone from their homeland or city as a punishment, forbidding them ever to return.
- mortalnounChapter 4 →
A human being, as opposed to a god; someone who will inevitably die, subject to fate and suffering.
“Count no mortal happy till he has passed the final limit of his life secure from pain.”
- secure from painphraseChapter 4 →
Safe and free from suffering; having reached the end of life without being struck down by disaster or grief.
“Count no mortal happy till he has passed the final limit of his life secure from pain.”
Oedipus RexPlay by Sophocles