Chapter 1

Chapter 5

Chapter 9

Chapter 2

Chapter 6

Chapter 10

Chapter 3

Chapter 7

Chapter 4

Chapter 8

Now knowing the cause of the plague, Oedipus pompously announces that he will solve the mystery of Laius' death.  Now you have me to fight for you, you'll see: I am the land's avenger by all rights, and Apollo's champion too.  But not to assist some distant kinsman, no, for my own sake I'll rid us of this corruption, he proclaims.  He then instructs the priests to remove their branches from the altar, signaling an answer to their request for deliverance from the gods' curse.

Next, the Chorus, which represents the city as a whole, enters the scene and, like the priests, laments its burden, praying to the gods for assistance.  Soon Oedipus enters, arrogantly telling the Chorus, You pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers. He goes on to tell them to be wary of the murderer, who is probably somewhere in the city.

Later, Oedipus, fully convinced of his own innocence, proclaims, I curse myself as well . . . if by any chance he proves to be an intimate of our house, here at my hearth, with my full knowledge, may the curse I just called down on him strike me. When the leader of the Chorus suggests that Tiresias, the blind prophet, be called to help find the murderer, Oedipus explains that he has already taken this action, having called the seer previously.  Soon Tiresias enters, led by a small boy.