Table of Contents
What does Jocasta reveal to Oedipus?
Jocasta realizes the truth—that Oedipus is her son as well as her husband—and tells Oedipus to stop the interrogations. He doesn’t listen, and an eyewitness, the Herdsman who rescued him when he was an infant, confirms that he was Laius and Jocasta’s child, and that Oedipus killed Laius.
How did Jocasta realize the truth about Oedipus?
Oedipus takes two brooches from Jocasta’s dress and uses them to pierce his eyes and blind himself. One interpretation advanced by critics and readers is that Jocasta has been aware of the fact that Oedipus is her son from the beginning. There are many points during the play where Oedipus talks of his past.
How does Jocasta try to reassure Oedipus?
The detail in Jocasta’s story of Laius’s death Oedipus takes comfort in is that Laius was killed by a band of thieves. How does Jocasta try to reassure Oedipus? Jocasta tries to reassure Oedipus by saying Laius was destined to be killed by Jocasta’s son. The request Oedipus makes is that Jocasta sends for the peasant.
Why does Jocasta tell Oedipus not to worry?
In this section, Jocasta is both careless and maternal. She tells Oedipus that prophecies do not come true, and she uses the fact that an oracle incorrectly prophesied that Laius would be killed by his own son as evidence.
How does Jocasta react to the news about Oedipus?
Jocasta rejoices, convinced that since Polybus is dead from natural causes, the prophecy that Oedipus will murder his father is false. Oedipus arrives, hears the messenger’s news, and rejoices with Jocasta; king and queen concur that prophecies are worthless and the world is ruled by chance.
How are both Oedipus and Jocasta guilty of pride?
By attempting to escape the prophecy dictated by the gods, he ends up fulfilling it. In doing so, Oedipus becomes guilty of hubris as he tries to overcome his human limitations and rescind the prophecy. Like Oedipus, Jocasta is guilty of pride and hubris in her attempt to alter fate and later deny it at various points.
How do Oedipus and Jocasta react to the revelation of the truth?
When Jocasta realizes what the truth is, she begs Oedipus to look no further, “May you never learn who you are!” In her final speech she calls Oedipus “miserable and says she will have no other name for him.”
How does Jocasta react to this news that the messenger brings?
He is from Corinth. The Messenger brings the news that Polybus is dead and Oedipus is now the King of Corinth. Jocasta thinks that since Polybus died and Oedipus was with her, the prophecy wasn’t real.
Is Jocasta responsible for Oedipus’s tragic fall?
The character who bears the greatest responsibility for his tragic fall is Oedipus himself. His overweening pride, or hubris, kept him from taking the valuable advice that was offered to him. Two other key figures in the tragedy are Oedipus’s parents, Jocasta—who later becomes his wife—and Laius.