This is the directions for a poster project assignment directions intended for use after reading the PBS reader's theater version of Oedipus Rex. Students choose a topic related to Oedipus (there are 6 listed) and create a highly artistic and creative poster that enables them to research, analyze and explore different themes in the play Oedipus.

1. Name ________________________
Carol McKee Marque ©2015
Oedipus Rex Poster Topic Choices
Oedipus Motif of Blindness
Blindness and vision motifs abound in the play
Oedipus Rex. In what ways do blindness,
eyesight, prophecy (seeing into the future)
present themselves and how does they all
relate to the each other? Your poster should
highlight all of the ways that vision, eyesight,
blindness, etc. come into play. Use cut out
pictures, symbols, design and lots of creativity.
Make it colorful; make it interesting; make it art!
Oedipus and the riddle of sphinx
How does Oedipus come to embody the riddle of the Sphinx? How
does Oedipus reenact the three stages of man like the riddle he
answers? Why does the sphinx kill herself? Who else in the play kill
and/or destroy themselves? Make connections. Research this part of
the play and design your poster in a way that visually helps connect
the ideas of the play with the riddle of the sphinx. Use cut out
pictures, symbols, design and lots of creativity. Make it colorful;
make it interesting; make it art!
The original Oedipus complex
Oedipus had a “mommy” thing long before Sigmund
Freud theorized the
“Oedipus Complex”
in the 19th Century.
According to
Freudian theory, it
is a group of
repressed feelings
and desires. Based
upon psychological
research and
various studies,
Freud conceived the
Oedipus complex.
In your poster, you
should find a way
to demonstrate
creatively the ideas
of Freud and how they are derived from the story of
Oedipus, through pictures, symbols, text and quotes.
Where three roads intersect
Oedipus killed his father, Laius, at a ‘crossroads’ or a place
where three roads meet.What is the significance of three in
the play? Where else does it occur? What would have
happened differently in the play had he not come to that
crossroad on that day? Research the idea of crossroads, fate,
the # 3, and the killing of Lauis and design a poster that
expresses your findings through pictures, design, text and art.

2. Name ________________________
Carol McKee Marque ©2015
OEDIPUS Rex POSTER PROJECT
We have just finished reading Oedipus, studying and writing an essay about the antagonist as a tragic hero. Now it is time to
research the play’s motif, themes, and ideas and communicate them creatively. Your job is to make a poster using one of the four
topic ideas on the reverse page. Make a first draft and show me. You may work alone or with one other person.
Below are pictures of various student made literature posters, to use as suggestions and for inspiration.