Oedipus the King- Journal #1

Literary Topics:
Prompt: Setting: This includes cultural as well as geographical and historical setting. What effect does the setting have on story, character, theme?


In Oedipus the King, the reader is introduced to the city of Thebes. When Sophocles wrote this play, he was living in Athens. At that time period, Thebes and Athens were major rivals. This has a profound effect on the location for the play. This play is tragedy, and the events that occur ed before Oedipus' reign were gruesome indeed. The Thebans' king was killed, the city was overcome by an evil Sphinx, and currently, the city was subject to a deadly plague. The reason Sophocles chose to place so many evil, horrible things in the city of Thebes is because of the rivalry between his city, Athens, and the setting of the play, Thebes. It also makes the story bleaker, because if he was determined to put the play in Thebes before he had a plot, and if he had no animosity towards Thebes, than the play would most likely had a different tone and ending. Because of the tone and story line created, the theme created is much harsher, and more dismal. By choosing to place the events of Oedipus the King in Thebes, it created a much more tragic tale.