Critical Analysis: Oedipus The King By Sophocles

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Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King is a popular Greek play also known by its Latin title Oedipus Rex. Oedipus was written by Sophocles and was first performed in 429 BC. Over the thousands of years since its publication, Oedipus the King has been reviewed and analyzed by several renowned scholars who have all conceded that it is one of the best tragic drama pieces that draw their descent from ancient Greece (Rao, Wolf and Sophocles). This paper is a critical review of the ideas that the author of this drama had in mind as he was writing it. Also analyzed in this paper is the issues on how the major themes and other literary devices are used in Oedipus the King relate to modern events as experienced in the modern world. This play emphasizes …show more content…

In Oedipus the King, Oedipus represents the power of the authorities while the chorus and all other characters, including the prophets and messengers represent the subjects that ruled over by the authorities. Oedipus uses his power to threaten, misrule and he even has the power to kill other humans who he dims guilty just because he thinks they are not truthful. Oedipus, depicted as the authorities who exercise power over subjects, is shown as a character who misconstrues the truth for personal gain. He avoids conceding to the truth and he actually decrees the execution of those he believes might not be telling what the majority of his subjects want to …show more content…

For instance, irony is used to insist on the importance of the themes and motifs that are outlined in the play. Irony plays out mostly regarding sight and blindness (Haque and KabirChowdhury). In the early sections of the play, Oedipus mocks a blind man but in the end it is Oedipus also ends up being blind. In addition, this blind man who Oedipus mocks as being unable to see ends up seeing the truth earlier than Oedipus, who has sight, is unable to see it as clearly as it is presented to him. As though he laments mocking the blind person, Oedipus literary pierces his own eyes with a pin and ends up being

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