10th Grade Vacation Homework

10th Grade,
During your spring vacation, you must read pages 187-210 of Oedipus the King. In addition to this, you must also find the answers to these comprehension questions. Each answer should have a page and line reference. These will be due on Tuesday, May 12th.

1. How does Creon react when he hears that Oedipus believes that he and Tiresias are plotting treason? According to Creon, why wouldn’t he want to be in power?


2. What is the name of Oedipus’s wife? When Oedipus tells her about the accusation that he killed Laius, what story does Jocasta tell Oedipus about Laius’s journey to the Oracle to try and comfort him? What are some of the specific details that she gives him?





3. What is ironic about the effect that this story has on Oedipus?


4. What happened to the single witness to the attack on Laius?



5. While Jocasta tells Oedipus the story, what does he start to realize?

6. What is the story that Oedipus tells of his birth?


7. What motivated Oedipus to go to the Oracle and ask about his birth?


8. What does the Oracle tell Oedipus he will do?


9. When Oedipus hears this prophecy, what does he do?


10. Why did Oedipus fight and kill Laius and his men?


11. What does Oedipus say about himself once he realizes he is guilty?


12. What is Oedipus’s last hope for being innocent? What is the one difference in Oedipus’s story and Jocasta’s story about the death of Laius?


13. Why does Jocasta still believe that it is impossible for Oedipus to have killed Laius?



14. What are the two themes that the Chorus sings about on pages 209 and 210?


15. What does the Chorus say about the gods at the end of their song?