Four moments from the play: Creon returns from Delphi, Oedipus curses Laius's killer, Tiresias accuses Oedipus, the Corinthian messenger arrives. Which comes first?

What causes Oedipus to send for Tiresias after Creon reports the oracle?

Which event most directly begins Oedipus's suspicion that he may have killed Laius?

The Corinthian messenger first seems to relieve Oedipus by announcing Polybus's death. What does his next revelation do?

Put these discoveries in order: Oedipus learns Polybus is dead, learns he was adopted, hears the Theban shepherd, sees Jocasta has hanged herself.

Why does Oedipus accuse Creon of plotting against him after Tiresias speaks?

Which choice names the correct cause-and-effect chain in Oedipus's past?

Which news makes Oedipus think one part of Apollo's prophecy has failed, even before the full truth is known?

Which action follows Oedipus's discovery of his true birth and marriage?

Tiresias is physically blind while Oedipus has sight. What does this foil relationship emphasize?

How does Jocasta's attitude toward prophecy shift during the play?

Why does the Theban shepherd resist answering Oedipus's final questions?

What motive best explains Oedipus's relentless questioning after Jocasta begs him to stop?

How does Creon function as a contrast to Oedipus in their quarrel?

The priest and suppliants appear before Oedipus in the prologue. What relationship to the city does that scene establish?

What does the Corinthian messenger want when he first arrives?

What is the Chorus's main role across the play?

Oedipus publicly curses Laius's unknown murderer. Why is the speech dramatically important?

When Tiresias says that the polluted man is in Thebes and is Oedipus himself, what does Oedipus do first?

After Jocasta's story alarms him, Oedipus pins his hope on one detail from the survivor's report of Laius's death. What is that detail?

Oedipus tells Jocasta he once fled Corinth because an oracle said he would kill his father and marry his mother. What irony does the audience see?

The messenger says he received the baby Oedipus from another shepherd. What is the significance of this statement?

When Jocasta cries out for Oedipus to stop investigating his birth, what has she likely understood?

The shepherd finally confirms that the baby came from Laius's house. What is the immediate effect on Oedipus?

Which statement best describes the prologue's dramatic purpose?

In Greek-tragedy terms, which event is the play's anagnorisis?

Which reversal best fits peripeteia in Oedipus Rex?

Why are Jocasta's death and Oedipus's blinding reported rather than shown?

What does the parodos do after the prologue?

How does dramatic irony shape the audience's experience of Oedipus's investigation?

Which pair of terms best describes the play's movement from ignorance to knowledge?

Oedipus saved Thebes by answering the Sphinx's riddle, yet he cannot identify himself. What theme does that contrast develop?

The plague in Thebes is tied to Laius's unpunished murder. What motif does this create?

Oedipus repeatedly trusts investigation, witnesses, and logic. What limit does the play place on that confidence?

What does Oedipus's swollen-foot name symbolize within the plot?

Which statement about fate and choice is most faithful to the play?

What idea about kingship is tested by Oedipus's fall?

Why does Oedipus blind himself instead of simply dying with Jocasta?

At the end, what does Oedipus ask Creon to do with him?

What is Creon's position in the final scene?