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What is the structure of Oedipus the king?

The play begins with a bit of exposition and the incentive moment: Thebes is beset by plagues, and Oedipus vows to find out the cause and to do something about it.  Almost everything that follows is a carefully ordered chain of cause and effect (except for the arrival of the messenger from Corinth): this is the rising action.  The plagues have already caused Oedipus to send his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle for guidance.  When Creon returns, he reports that they must find the murderer of Laius, the former king of Thebes, and Oedipus's father (though he doesn't realize this yet).  This causes Oedipus to put a curse on Laius's murderer and to call the blind prophet, Teiresias, for advice. 


When he arrives, Teiresias accuses Oedipus of being the murderer, and this angers Oedipus greatly, causing him to suspect a conspiracy between Teiresias and Creon, who he assumes must have committed the murder himself.  Oedipus and Creon argue.  When Jocasta tells the story of Laius's murder, her mention of the specific location at which he was killed makes Oedipus suspicious that he might have been the killer after all, so they send for the herdsman, who tells his story.  Then the messenger from Corinth arrives to tell of the death of the man Oedipus believes to be his father, Polybus.  When the herdsman's and the messenger's stories are combined, the truth comes to light: that Oedipus is the son of Laius and Jocasta, not Polybus and Merope -- this is the climax (or the moment of the most tension in the story). 


After the climax comes the falling action: Jocasta's off-stage suicide is reported, as is Oedipus's self-blinding with the brooches from her robes.  Oedipus briefly speaks with his daughters, lamenting their fates as a result of his own.  Finally, in the resolution, Oedipus is exiled, per his request (and his own initial curse).  This ends the plague.

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