Oedipus Rex/Oedipus The King Scene 3 Summary
Oedipus Rex/Oedipus the King was written by Sophocles, and it is a Greek ancient tragedy or drama. The play is one of the most famous plays of Sophocles. Let's move on to learn about the summary of the play's third section.
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Scene 3 summary:
In Oedipus Rex/Oedipus the King scene 3, outside the palace, a messenger approached Jocasta and told her that the father of Oedipus, Polybus, was dead. Therefore, Corinth demanded Oedipus to return there and rule Corinth in his place. Jocasta became happy to have this news because she was convinced that as Polybus died because of some natural cause, the prophecy was false that Oedipus would kill his father. Oedipus arrived outside the palace at Jocasta's summon. Oedipus came outside, heard the news, and rejoiced with her after hearing the news. He felt more inclined to agree with his queen that prophecies are false, so he thought that the incidents happen by chance, and these chances govern the world. While Oedipus found some comfort in the news of his father's death, he still feared that he would sleep with his mother according to the second part of the prophecy.
Because of his fearful statement, the messenger remarked that Oedipus shouldn't worry about his mother as he was not the real son of his parents. The messenger who was a shepherd by profession knew that Oedipus came to Corinth as an orphan. A long time ago, when he was tending his sheep, another shepherd approached him who carried a baby. The baby's ankles were pinned together. The other shepherd gave the messenger that baby, and the baby was then brought in Corinth to the royal family who raised him as their baby. The baby was Oedipus. Oedipus then asked who the other shepherd was, and he was informed that the shepherd was the servant of Laius.
Oedipus ordered to bring the other shepherd in front of him for further investigation. But Jocasta begged him not to seek further information because of concluding the truth by herself. When Oedipus did not listen to her request, she moved into the palace in severe grief. The scene comes to an end afterwards.