LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Oedipus: King Oedipus
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Mark Rimer as Oedipus is a rather extraordinary presence. The actor's size alone sets a tone, at first of his character's earnest naiveté, and then of his bullying pomposity. His is a Greek Falstaff, at once soft and vulnerable, and then large and imposing. Mr. Rimer never disappoints, revealing in each scene a new dimension of his character's psyche. He is especially touching with Jocasta (Elise Stone) his Queen, who knows instinctively how to reduce her King with his man-handling physique to a jolly, babbling giant.
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Oedipus was the son of the King Laius and the Queen Jocasta of Thebes. A curse on the Laius fortold that any son born of Jocasta would kill him. When Jocasta did bear a son, the child's feet were pierced and he was left do bleed to death. However, a shepherd found Oedipus and took him to King Polybus of Corinth, who adopted Oedipus. He named the child Oedipus, which means "swelled foot".
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At the opening to Oedipus Tyrannus, a plague has besieged Thebes. This plague sets the tragic action in motion. Apollo was the bringer of plague, its victims seen as falling from Apollo’s arrows. Since Apollo must have sent the plague, Oedipus sends Creon, his brother-in-law, to get word from the god. From the Delphic Oracle, Oedipus learns that a murderer, the murderer of the previous king Laius, is on the loose in Thebes. Delphi has said that bringing the murderer to justice will end the plague.
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Oedipus and Jocasta lived happily for a time and had two sons and two daughters. Then a dreadful plague came upon Thebes. A prophet declared that the plague would not end until the Thebans drove out the murderer of Laius, who was within the city. A messenger then arrived from Corinth, announcing the death of King Polybus and asking Oedipus to return and rule the Corinthians. Oedipus told Jocasta what the oracle had predicted for him and expressed relief that the danger of his murdering Polybus was past. Jocasta told him not to fear oracles, for the oracle had said that her first husband would be killed by his own son, and instead he had been murdered by a stranger on the road to Delphi.
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As Sophocles' Oedipus the King begins, the people of Thebes are begging the king for help, begging him to discover the cause of the plague. Oedipus stands before them and swears to find the root of their suffering and to end it. Just then, Creon returns to Thebes from a visit to the oracle. Apollo has made it known that Thebes is harboring a terrible abomination and that the plague will only be lifted when the true murderer of old King Laius is discovered and punished for his crime. Oedipus swears to do this, not realizing of course that he himself is the abomination that he has sworn to exorcise. The stark truth emerges slowly over the course of the play, as Oedipus clashes with the blind seer Tiresias, who senses the truth. Oedipus remains in strict denial, though, becoming convinced that Tiresias is somehow plotting with Creon to usurp the throne.
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In Sophocles' play, Oedipus is exposed as a baby boy by his father, the king of Thebes. The king did this to prevent the unfolding of a prophecy that he would die at the hands of his son. Oedipus' feet were pieced by a piece of wood and he was hung in a tree and left to die, but was rescued and bought up by shepherds. Picasso already identified with Crucifixion and so the Crucifixion aspect of the story reinforced his identification with Oedipus. Picasso's identification with Oedipus was strengthened still further because as soon as Oedipus realises that he has unwittingly killed his father and married his mother, he blinds himself and goes into self imposed exile. Blindness was an important theme for Picasso, he once stated that painting was a 'blind man's profession'. Themes of blindness emerged early in his pictures and recurred many times.
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King Oedipus