What you are about to witness is the entire timeline of the play Oedipus Rex written nearly 2500 years ago by renowned philosopher Sophocles. This timeline would include both the story and the plot. The plots were the things that happened on stage and the audience were able to witness and see. The story were things that were talked or referred about, people weren't able to witness these.
Now please enjoy my summary of the entire Oedipus Rex timeline.
*Numbers in front refers to the page number it was taken from*
Story
122, Laius rules the land of Thebes.
856, Laius and Jocasta went to Delphi to receive their prophecy about their first child. The prophecy said that Laius’s death would be caused by this unborn child.
863, Laius ordered his men to fuse the ankle of his first child together and throw the child down a rocky mountain where no one knows or goes to.
1407, When the child was born, Jocasta gave the child to the servant, so he would follow Laius’s order and kill it.
1411, The servant didn’t kill the boy because he pitied it and gave it to the messenger so he would take the boy to a foreign land and save him.
1214, The messenger gave Oedipus (the child) to Polybus as a gift.
930, Oedipus soon finds out that he was adopted when a drunk man shouted at him.
945, Oedipus heads off to Delphi secretly to get a prophecy. The prophet told him that he would be marrying his mother and killing his father.
970, Oedipus killed Laius and everyone who was with him in the place where 3 roads meet, because Laius told him to move away from the road.
477, The sphinx took control of Thebes, the people were eaten. Oedipus came and saved the people from the sphinx and became the king of Thebes.
20, a pestilence attacked the city, pregnant women lost their children and plants stopped growing.
81, Oedipus sent away Creon to the temple of Delphi to seek the cause of the pestilence.
340, Teiresias was called by the chorus leader to help find the murderer.
1477, Jocasta killed herself; she ran into her marriage bed and shut the doors behind her. She hangs herself in there and sways with twisted cords roped round her neck.
1515, Oedipus ripped the golden brooches Jocasta wore as ornaments, raised them high, and drove them deep into his eyeballs.
1810, Oedipus is taken to the mountain in Cithaeron and would live there alone until he dies.
Plot
4, People gathered around Oedipus’s palace telling him about the pestilence that is going on in the city and the effects of it.
112, Creon comes back from Delphi and tells Oedipus how the to get rid of the pestilence. The way being is to punish the person who killed Laius.
330, The chorus leader suggests Oedipus to talk to Teiresias. Oedipus confirms of bringing Teiresias into the palace.
356, Teiresias comes into the palace to talk to Oedipus.
399, Oedipus gets mad at Teiresias because he will not tell him what he wants to know.
435- 456 , Teiresias reveals that Oedipus is the man he’s looking for, the man who killed Laius. Oedipus got extremely mad and thought that Teiresias and Creon is working together to overtake his throne.
612, Creon comes to the palace to talk about the situation with Oedipus. This made him very angry.
770, Jocasta stops the argument between Oedipus and Creon.
824, Oedipus and Jocasta continued talking about the prophecy about Laius’s and Jocasta’s first child.
880, Oedipus and Jocasta go over the story of Laius’ death, the only survivor of the incident was called.
924 – 999, Oedipus goes over all the incidents that happened through his life and the prophecy he got.
1100, A messenger comes to the palace of Oedipus and asked if he could meet him. Jocasta was there, so she talked to him.
1114, the messenger tells Jocasta that Oedipus’s father, Polybus, is dead. He then talks about Oedipus being the next king of the land beside Isthmus.
1240, The messenger reveals that he got Oedipus from another shepherd. He also revealed details about how Polybus isn’t Oedipus’s real father and how he gave him to Polybus.
1340, The servant comes and talks to Oedipus about the story of the first child of Laius; how it started and ended. He didn’t want to speak at first, but was threatened by Oedipus, so he would speak.
1418, Oedipus now understands everything about his life and how cursed his life is. He then enters the palace.
1478, The second messenger reveals how Jocasta killed herself, and Oedipus turned himself blind.
1547, Oedipus comes out of the palace and described how he feels right now being blind. He gave information about the cause of his action.
1657, Oedipus told the Chorus leader that he wanted the servant to die; to die in cause of bringing him into this mess and pain.
1660, Oedipus described how miserable his family tree is, how he was born from the same wound as his children.
1680, Creon comes to talk with Oedipus about what will happen to him.
1697, Oedipus asked Creon to take him away from Thebes, to the place where no one will go and interfere him.
1710, Oedipus told Creon to burry Jocasta the way he wants and give her a funeral, he also told Creon to not let Thebes down.
1730, Oedipus told Creon to take care of his daughter. In that moment his two daughters walk in and hug Oedipus. He recognizes them and thanks Creon for bringing them in.
1785, Creon orders the two daughters to leave their father. Oedipus is now taken away, crying because he is leaving his daughters.
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