The Truth of the King's Prophecy

The Truth of The King's Prophecy

In Stasimon 3: lines 1195-1215, Oedipus is very persistent about finding about the truth of his identity after a messenger reveals to him very important news about his parents. The messenger from Corinth comes to Thebes let Oedipus know that his father, Polybus is dead. At first, Oedipus and Jocasta rejoice believing that the prophecy of Oedipus killing his father was false. But Oedipus still worries about the other part of the prophecy which was he was to also sleep with his mother. The messenger clears up the story by telling Oedipus that Polybus and Merope, from Corinth were not his real parents. He also tells them that when he was a shepherd, he had found a baby on a mountain top in Corinth. The baby had its knees and ankles bound so the shepherd cuts them away. This leaves Oedipus with nothing but questions since his identity is shrouded in mystery, so he is determined to get to the truth. The king realizes that he might have killed his father already when first traveling to Thebes. He is also unsure of if he slept with his mother already because Oedipus had always believed that his mother was Merope. Oedipus tells his council to bring the the shepherd who gave the baby to the messenger to his palace so that he could reveal the truth of how he came to be. Jocasta senses that the prophecy might be true and begs for Oedipus not to speak with the shepherd. However, Oedipus does not listen and the shepherd is brought to the palace.

While waiting for the shepherd to arrive, the chorus rejoices since Oedipus will finally find out who his parents are. In the stasimon they speculate about who the parents might be by naming some gods as potential possibilities. The chorus is also eager to find out the truth because the mystery of Oedipus's tragic prophecy is finally coming to an end. At this point the chorus has no idea who Oedipus's parents are and views the prophecy proclaimed to Oedipus as probably not being true.

The Chorus talks about the mountain where Oedipus was found by the shepherd in Corinth: "By the boundless skies of Olympus, At the full moon of tomorrow, Mount Cithaeron, You will know how Oedipus glories in you, You, his birthplace, nurse, his mountain-mother" (Sophocles 1197-1200). This quote is significant because the Chorus thinks that Oedipus might have been fathered by some god and then left at the peak of Mount Cithaeron, which was near Olympus. The boundless skies of Olympus refers to the Mount Cithaeron as having a very high elevation almost reaching to Olympus, the residence of the gods. The Chorus refers to Mount Cithaeron as the mother of Oedipus since that is where he was found. The mountain is also referred to as a nurse because it provided security and shelter for Oedipus when the shepherd left him there as a baby. Later in the stasimon, The chorus begins naming some gods as being prospects