Reflection Of Oedipus The King

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is an Athenian tragedy written around 430 B.C. It was written during the transition from Athenian hegemony to its decline. This was a time and place where people mostly believed everything they were told. No one questioned anything, not only because of their lack of intellectual exploration but because they were forced to believe what their ruler wished. Fate in the Gods was one of these beliefs that was forced upon the people. These same truly believed that it was the will of the Gods that scripted the outcomes of all life’s events.

Around the time the tragedy was released, people in this changing culture started to see life differently and began to question just about everything. Democracy was just beginning to take over as traditional Athenian tradition slowly faded away. Philosophers began to emerge and began to educate anyone who would listen about the endless possibilities of what life is and could be. Just a few hundred years or so prior people who taught these ideas or who were privy to this information had to be discrete do to fear of hellacious punishments that included executions. Though still frowned upon and illegal, it was easier to get away with these sort of teachings as Democracy expanded. This was the begging of an enlightenment.

Oedipus the King is significant by the fact that it displays its countries changing culture and values. Oedipus the King underlines the fact that fate and character are intertwined and exemplifies that self-knowledge is essential to understanding one’s place in the universe. A person’s behavior is what determines their fate not the God’s intervention. However, Sophocles does have faith in higher power of some sort. He believes even with free wi...

... middle of paper ...

...a rebuttal to Jocasta’s disapproval of the prophecies. The chorus wanted to point out to Oedipus that his pride is the reason for his lack of faith in destiny. Sophocles highlights this to show the audience, Oedipus was starting to get full of himself. Oedipus has gone from ruler to Tyrant. He no longer see himself as human but more as a God by imaging himself as an exemption to fate. “Never again will I go reverent to Delphi, the inviolate heart of Earth or Apollo’s ancient oracle at Abae or Olympia of the fires unless these prophecies all come true for all mankind to point toward in wonder. (985-990). The author wants the audience to see the need of evidence for fate. Sophocles does give the chorus evidence later on that proves the prophecies on fate. This shows he thinks that one day people will gather the proper evidence to prove fate is real.