{"product_id":"2940015128154","title":"Oedipus: King of Thebes (In Verse With Explanatory Notes)","description":"Oedipus the King, also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BC. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. Over the centuries, it has come to be regarded by many as the Greek tragedy par excellence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs is the case in most climactic drama, much of what constitutes the myth of Oedipus takes place before the opening scene of the play. In his youth, Laius was a guest of King Pelops of Elis, and became the tutor of Chrysippus, youngest of the king's sons, in chariot racing. He then violated the sacred laws of hospitality by abducting and raping Chrysippus, who according to some versions killed himself in shame. This cast a doom over Laius and his descendants.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe protagonist of the tragedy is the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. After Laius learns from an oracle that \"he is doomed\/To perish by the hand of his own son\", he tightly binds the feet of the infant Oedipus together with a pin and orders Jocasta to kill the infant. Hesitant to do so, she orders a servant to commit the act for her. Instead, the servant takes baby Oedipus to a mountain top to die from exposure. A shepherd rescues the infant and names him Oedipus (or \"swollen feet\"). The shepherd carries the baby with him to Corinth, where Oedipus is taken in and raised in the court of the childless King Polybus of Corinth as if he were his own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs a young man in Corinth, Oedipus hears a rumour that he is not the biological son of Polybus and his wife Merope. When Oedipus questions the King and Queen, they deny it, but, still suspicious, he asks the Delphic Oracle who his parents really are. The Oracle seems to ignore this question, telling him instead that he is destined to \"Mate with [his] own mother, and shed\/With [his] own hands the blood of [his] own sire\". Desperate to avoid his foretold fate, Oedipus leaves Corinth in the belief that Polybus and Merope are indeed his true parents and that, once away from them, he will never harm them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the road to Thebes, he meets Laius, his true father. Unaware of each other's identities, they quarrel over whose chariot has right-of-way. King Laius moves to strike the insolent youth with his sceptre, but Oedipus throws him down from the chariot and kills him, thus fulfilling part of the oracle's prophecy. He kills all but one of the other men.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShortly after, Oedipus solves the riddle of the Sphinx, which has baffled many a diviner: \"What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?\" To this Oedipus replies, \"Man\" (who crawls on all fours as an infant, walks upright later, and needs a walking stick in old age), and the distraught Sphinx throws herself off the cliffside. Oedipus' reward for freeing the kingdom of Thebes from her curse is the kingship and the hand of Queen Dowager Jocasta, his biological mother. The prophecy is thus fulfilled, although none of the main characters know it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe action then begins from here.","brand":"Balefire Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47121244979440,"sku":"2940015128154","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940015128154_p0.jpg?v=1763619641","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940015128154","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}