OEDIPUS THE KING
Characters:
• Oedipus o King of Thebes who came his power by solving the riddle of the Sphinx and thus saving the city o Seems to anticipate his subjects’ needs o Ignorant of the truth; a little bit cocky o Was taken from the house of Laius as a young child and left in the mountains with his feet bound together o Killed his biological father accidentally and married his biological mother
• Jocasta o Oedipus’s wife (and mother) who tries to hide the truth of Oedipus’s past from him by attempt to dissuade him from believing Tiresias’s prophecy
• Creon o Oedipus’s brother-in-law o Somewhat power-hungry; seems to be content with separating Oedipus from his children at the end of the play
• Tiresias o The blind prophet who tells Oedipus that the murderer he is intent on finding is, in fact, himself
Plot:
• At the beginning we are made aware that a plague has stricken Thebes. According to Creon, who has just visited the Oracle at Delphi to make an inquiry, the plague will continue until the murderer of the last King of Thebes, is expelled from the city. Oedipus proceeds to call upon Tiresias, the blind prophet, who reveals that Oedipus is Laius’s murderer. Tiresias also gives Oedipus a riddle, which says that the murderer of Laius is both father and brother to his own children, and the son of his wife. Jocasta tries to convince Oedipus that the prophecy can’t be true and gives an example of a false prophecy made by the Delphic oracle, which proclaimed that Laius would be murdered by his own son. Upon hearing the story about how Laius actually died however (at a three-way crossroads), Oedipus realizes that he might have been the one who killed Laius. Oedipus then seeks out his father Polybus who he finds died of natural...
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...e, where he claims he has been his location ever since.
Conflicts:
• The narrator tries to act in a way that is in accordance with the values and expectations that the black community holds for him, but finds that he is frequently unable to marry his inherent role as a black man with his own sense of identity.
• The climax occurs when the narrator witnesses Clifton’s racially motivated murder and holds a funeral for him but is criticized by the Brotherhood for his independence.
• There resolution is that the narrator, unable to come to terms with his identity, takes refuge underground where is literally invisible to everybody.
Themes:
• The role of racism in individual identity
• The limitations of words and ideas
Other:
• Important motifs include blindness and invisibility.
• The story is understood to be told presently by the narrator looking back on his past.
Though calling Teiresias’ news as foolish deceit. Oedipus later learns that the murder of King Laios had been foretold. to be at the hands of his lost son, which he exiled and sentenced to. death when his son was still a baby. Knowing that the same prophecy was told to him by Apollo, Oedipus now knows that he is implicated in.
As a child growing up in the Jim Crow South, Richard is faced with constant pressure to conform to the white authority. However, even from an early age, Richard has a strong spirit of rebellion. The black community reacts to his rebellion disapprovingly, and Richard suffers intense isolation and loneliness during the early years of his life, feeling that he does not fit in or belong with his family or the black community. An example of Richard’s rebelliousness because of his attempts to gain respect and equality is shown when he is selected as the valedictorian of his graduating class and he is asked to deliver a speech. The principal calls him to his office and tells him to recite a speech that the principal wrote himself, saying that Richard needs to recite his speech because he is going to be speaking in front of white people and it is important to make a good impression. Richard, of course, refuses the principal’s speech and recites his own, despite the disapproving feelings of his peers and el...
In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is told that he will marry his mother and murder his father. He is told by the Delphic oracle this information but he wants to change his fate so he banishes himself from what he believes is place of birth. As he is wondering, he stumbles across a caravan. After some arguing, due to his hubris, he kills all the men in the caravan. One of the men in the caravan turned out to be his father, King Laios. Oedipus at the time did not know this. He then entered the city of Thebes and broke the plague of the sphinx by solving its riddle. Because of this he was awarded the recently widowed Queen Iocaste, who is actually his mother. He married Iocaste and had children with her.
Taking place in the mid-twentieth century, an African American begins his education at a southern college that would prove to not have his best intentions at heart. The president of the college, Dr. Bledsoe expels the narrator from the university and sends him blindly to New York, where he was given the task of finding a job. Consequently, the narrator was set up and found himself without his own home, money, or an occupation. However, in time the protagonist discovers an organization known as the Brotherhood where he became their African American spokesperson in the city of Harlem. Upon joining the Brotherhood, the narrator was now able to speak out and be heard by society, as well as attaining a stable source of income. Therefore, prior to unifying with the Brotherhood, the narrator was not able to provide for himself, nor was he able to have others listen to
When he does visit the prophet, Tiresias, he learned that he adopted. It comes out that Oedipus was the unknown man who killed Laius from the revelation that the old king was killed at the same crossroads Oedipus remembers from his fight. In addition, it is revealed that Oedipus was the child Jocas...
In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus learns things that make him realize that he is not who he thinks he is. His past is slowly unavailing throughout the play from where he came from to why it happened and he is determined to learn the truth. This play is based on tragedy and some say that Oedipus himself is to be held responsible for what happens to him towards the end. As Oedipus seeks out the truth behind the prophecy going on about killing his father and marrying his mother, Jocasta realizes the truth before Oedipus does and tries to prevent him from pursuing the knowledge.
Oedipus at first finds the implications of killing his father and sleeping with his mother difficult to tolerate as a factual manifestation of his past. He disputes the fact that he had caused suc...
the play, Oedipus is faced with the truth and fails to acknowledge it. He is first told by the drunk at the party, but he dismisses it as just something said by an ignorant drunk. He then visits the oracle and is told his fate determined by the gods and believes he can escape it by fleeing to Thebes. On his way, he carries out the first part of the fate by killing his father. He then makes it to Thebes and marries Jocasta, unknowingly fulfilling the fate.
As a school teacher and with limited income from teaching and a family to take care, the narrator is still stuck with housing project in Harlem, he cannot make a bail or hire the best lawyer to defend his brother. The distress from losing his baby daughter; the feeling of guilt, desperation and failure to care and protect his younger brother from the deadly touch of drugs weight down the narrator’s life. Damaged while getting out of Harlem’s trap, and like his descended father, the narrator sees the darkness in every corner of
Born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta in the city of Thebes, Oedipus is surrounded with controversy after a prophecy shows that Oedipus will be destined to murder his father and marry his mother. Fearing the potential consequences of the prophecy, Oedipus’ parents made the decision to abandon their baby at the top of a mountain to die using one of their servants. The servant’s consciousness, however, causes him to instead deliver the baby to a shepherd, who in turn sends him to King Polybius and Queen Merope of the kingdom Corinth. After raising the child as their own, Oedipus becomes suspicious that these weren’t his biological parents and leaves Corinth upon hearing the prophecy by the oracle Delphi. As he unknowingly travels to his birth city, Thebes, Oedipus murdered a man along with his servants after a dispute between them. Before entering Thebes, Oedipus is confronted by the guardian of the city’s Gates, the Sphinx who presents him with a riddle. If he solves the riddle, he will be able to pass. If he doesn’t, he’ll die. Oedipus’s superior intelligence and cleverness allows him to easily solve the riddle, however unbeknownst to him will be a foreshadowing of his tragic downfall. The citizens of Thebes praise Oedipus and Queen Jocasta offers to marry him since her husband was mysteriously murdered. Upon marry Jocasta and becoming the King of Thebes, a powerful plague decimates the citizens of
The beginning of the play opens up with the dilemma of the plague as explained before. Creon, Oedipus's brother in-law (which turns out to be his uncle), comes from the oracle with the advice to end the plague. He explains the previous leader, Laius, had been murdered, and they haven't found the murderer. More importantly, was the way Oedipus handled the situation. He
Oedipus’ impulsive nature leads him to discovering the truth and reveals that he has indeed fulfilled the prophecy he was running from. After Oedipus becomes king of Thebes, the people of Thebes become plagued. Oedipus’ feels responsible for saving the people of Thebes. Oedipus’ pride to save the city later turns to pity after he divulges the sin he has committed.
Oedipus’ personality clearly reflects pride and determination throughout the play. When Oedipus heard the oracles’ prediction that he was to kill his father and marry his mother, he was determined to prevent the prophecy. Therefore he left his homeland of Corinth never to return. Then when he solved the Sphinx’s riddle, Oedipus’ pride rose to a new level. He was praised by the people of Thebes, resulting in his marriage to Jocasta, Queen of Thebes. Oedipus also shows his determination when in search of Laius’ murderer. He stated that he would avenge the King’s death as if Laius were his own father. He cursed the murderer, announcing “May he drag out an evil death-in-life in misery.” These characteristics of pride and determination, which Oedipus emanates throughout the play, may appear to be positive attributes to one’s personality. However, Oedipus’ actions, based on these characteristics, are what led him to his eventual downfall and suffrage.
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is depicted as a morally ambiguous character; neither purely evil or purely good. Oedipus runs from his fate initially to prevent himself from pursuing what he believed was his fate; however, he is lead straight towards his real fate. He kills his biological father as he is headed to Thebes, where he takes the throne. Once he has taken the throne, he begins to try and save his city from the plague by looking for the murder of king Laius. However, what he does not know is that the prophet has told him who has slew the king; therefore, he presents his ignorance as a leader. Not only does his ignorance create the flawed character inside himself, but it also causes him to run from his fate. The significance of Oedipus being a morally ambiguous character is that he cannot run from his fate
Oedipus goes on with his journey not knowing about what he is going to do next. Oedipus runs into some people at a crossing on this journey and quarrels with them to there death. After this, he goes along to a city named Thebes where he outsmarted a beast that was cursing the city. He received praise and joy. While gaining the trust of all that lived there he quickly became King of Thebes. The people loved him because he was such a great leader. He was such a great king because he had a lot of love for his people and would do anything in his power to make them happy. As a result of this, Oedipus finds out that the city is in trouble unless the killer of their late king is found and punished. Little does Oedipus know that he is the killer of their late King or that the King was actually his father. Oedipus will strive for awnsers even though he has been warned not to dig to deep, for he will regret it.