Sophocles' Oedipus Rex As the plot in Sophocles' famous play Oedipus Rex unfolds, many aspects of the relationship between ancient Greeks and their gods are revealed. It demonstrates that the people could call upon the gods in times of distress, how the gods could cause widespread disasters if a population displeased them, how arrogance and ignorance of the gods' powers would lead to disaster, and most importantly, how the gods were believed to control the individual destinies of each and every one of their mortal subjects. It is also important to note that what Sophocles implies about morality applies more within human relationships than it does in a religious context.
In the first scene of the play, it is very apparent that the city of Thebes is experiencing rough times. Oedipus, the city's ruler, leaves his palace and sees the priests and citizens troubled about the plague that has ravaged their community. It is obvious that many of them are appealing to the gods for mercy and help. They are carrying branches that have been covered with wool, a customary gift for the gods. The ancient Greeks believed the gods could be persuaded to assist with a cause through gifts and prayer. They also thought epidemics and disasters to be caused directly by displeased divine forces. One priest says, "A God that carries fire, a deadly pestilence, is on our town, strikes us and spares not." In lines 168 215, the chorus describes, in great ...
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... his shame is too much to bear. Society would never accept what he had done. He cut his own eyes to punish himself and asked the new king of Thebes (his brother) to banish him away from society. Sophocles certainly emphasized the weight of the morality of one's actions in determining acceptance within society.
In brief, the lesson that Oedipus Rex teaches is that the will of the gods controls the fate of man completely. The future, as predicted by oracles, cannot be changed by human means. It can only be altered through pleasing the gods and communicating with them. Communication can be achieved through prayer, while pleasing the Gods can be achieved through some sort of gift, offering, or festival, not through morality.
Outside Sources Used:
World History. Spielvogel, Jackson J., and William J. Duiker. 4th ed. Vol. 1.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2004. 107.
Oedipus the King conveys many lessons that are relevant to people living today despite the fact that it was written by Sophocles twenty four centuries ago. Oedipus is a child destined to kill his father and marry his mother. During his life, he makes many mistakes trying to avoid his fate. These mistakes teach us about the nature of humans under certain circumstances. Oedipus possesses personality traits which causes him to make wrong decisions. Attributes like arrogance and his inability to make calm decisions in certain scenarios due to his anger causes his downfall. Oedipus’ excessive pride, like many people today, was an important factor that brought him grief. Oedipus’ lack of patience caused him to make hasty decisions which lead him to his greatest agony. Oedipus’ massive ego turned into excessive vanity, this was the first step to his downfall. Oedipus talks to Creon about the murderer of Laius. He declares, “Then I’ll go back and drag that shadowed past to light… but by myself and for myself I’ll break this plague” (Sophocles, 11). Oedipus is saying that he will be the on...
In Sophocles’ Oedipus The King, King Oedipus of Thebes is confronted. and strangely obsessed with the mystery of who killed Laios. former king of Thebes, for a great plague has overtaken the city of. Thebes because of this murder. During his quest for the truth, he begins to discover that the answer to his query is also the answer to another disturbing mystery about himself, who am I?
In the play, Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, the protagonist Oedipus finds himself in many conflicts, most of which seem to be a result of a combination of the actions he took. The play addresses that Oedipus is his own worst enemy, who is too determined to find out who he is and too proud to listen to the Gods. He thinks he can get out of following through on his own fate. So, because of that he doomed himself.
Sophocles, a Greek author and philosopher, created a magnificent work of literature, Oedipus Rex. Oedipus Rex describes the legendary tales that King Oedipus of Thebes took in order to confirm that his biological parents were King Polybus of Corinth and his wife Merope. This tragedy of fate explores the depths of modern psychoanalysis as Oedipus unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother in an attempt to avoid the very prophecy he ultimately fulfills. The play was created by Sophocles, an intellectual philosopher that was born in 495 B.C. about a mile northwest of Athens. Sophocles has become one of the most prominent playwrights of the golden age. He was a son of a wealthy merchant, therefore, he enjoyed all the benefits of a thriving Greek empire. As an accomplished actor, Sophocles performed in many of his own plays, such as Oedipus Rex. The famous Sophocles is known as one of the greatest innovators of the theatre. The Theatre of Dionysus is where the greatest playwrights performed their infamous tales, it was a major open-air theatre build in Athens, the theatre was dedicated to the god of wine and fertility, it hosted the City Dionysia festival. The Theatre of Dionysus is where Oedipus Rex is first acknowledged to the world. Oedipus Rex embodies the nature of life and society in ancient Greece.
Tiresias, from “Oedipus the King” by the Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, is a blind prophet and whilst he is only on the stage for a little time he plays a major role by what he does and what he represents. Tiresias enters the play after being summoned by Oedipus to tell him of the murderer of Laius, the recent King. Tiresias for the sake of Oedipus does not tell him the truth at the start saying that “what will come will come. Even if I shroud it all in silence”. In is conversation, Sophocles, uses Tiresias as a turning point in the plot as it is the beginning of Oedipus’ downfall. As well as that Sophocles uses Tiresias to represent many of the key ideas in the play. Tiresias represents the idea of fate and how
Murray, Robert D. Jr. ?Sophocles? Moral Themes.? In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997.
The ancient Greeks were fond believers of Fate. Fate, defined according to Webster’s, is “the principle or determining cause or will by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as the do.” The Greeks take on Fate was slightly modified. They believed that the gods determined Fate: “…fate, to which in a mysterious way the gods themselves were subject, was an impersonal force decreeing ultimate things only, and unconcerned with day by day affairs.” It was thought that these gods worked in subtle ways; this accounts for character flaws (called harmatia in Greek). Ancient Greeks thought the gods would alter a person’s character, in order for that person to suffer (or gain from) the appropriate outcome. Such was the case in Oedipus’s story.
Sophocles is perhaps one of the greatest tragedians ever. Sophocles said that a man should never consider himself fortunate unless he can look back on his life and remember that life without pain. For Oedipus Rex, looking back is impossible to do without pain. This pain stems from his prideful life. Oedipus is aware that he alone is responsible for his actions. Oedipus freely chooses to pursue and accept his own life's destruction. Even though fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his fidelity to the truth ruin him.
Professor Goodell says: “Given an old myth to be dramatized, Sophocles’ primary question was, ‘Just what sort of people were they, must they have been, who naturally did and suffered what the tales say they did and suffered?” That was his method of analysis (38).
The play starts at the doors of the king’s palace with some beggars at the door steps and the priest gathering branches of olives for wreath. Oedipus, who is the king of the place, asks them why they are grieving and praying all the time. People who had come to the palace wanted to have a word with the king concerning the things that were happening in the palace (Foster 35). The king, on the other hand, promises them that he will help them in whatever they want. In addition, citizens of this land had found themselves in a number of calamities; the reasons as to why the land had plunged into plagues was as a result of Oedipus having killed his father and ended up marrying his mother. This play is taken as an indication of human blindness; this is shown by Oedipus’ not taking into consideration the fact that what he has done could be the reasons as to why there is a plague in the land.
For example Oedipus says, “you pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers” (line 245). By Oedipus making this statement, it is apparent that he feels as if he is on the same level as the gods. This explains that Oedipus thinks that he has the power to do godly things because he doubts the gods’ power and authority by questioning the people’s faith. Again, Sophocles illustrates in a chronological demonstration of the happenings of Oedipus’ downfalls. Portraying to be an equal to the gods is his first mistake that leads to a tragic ending. His pride is blinding him from seeing the truth and holding him back from what he really needs to know. Saving the city heightened his pride but also made him stubborn towards certain situations. For instance Oedipus says, “not if I saved the city- what do I care?” (line 503). Oedipus is referring to the defeat of the Sphinx and relating
As a reader that is using the Reader-Response Criticism, the production of different responses of the text of Oedipus Rex is always different for each reader. The reader needs to examine the words thoroughly in their mind to come to an arguable conclusion. Oedipus has no fault in the actions that he did because he did not know at the moment, but how he tried to resolve things was not the way to go. The feeling I felt while reading the play is pure shock and hatred because of his actions, but he wouldn’t have done those things if he had known the truth. Although Oedipus was trying with all his power to find the culprit of his father, but while doing so, he showed weakness by his attributes, that led to his destiny.
In Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, the age-old confusion of the impact of the free will of man on their seemingly unchanging destiny manifests itself in the scattered emotional war zone that is our protagonist. Oedipus is directly responsible for the fiery mass of rubble that his once joyous life became because he allowed his excessive ego and self worth lead him to a reckless lifestyle of impulsivity and arrogance.
Sophocles’ tragic play, “Oedipus the King”, or “Oedipus Rex” as it’s known by its Latin name, is the Athenian drama that revolves around the events which lead to the demise of Oedipus Rex. The King Oedipus is forced down a preordained path that throws his entire world into a spiral of tragic providence, in this trilogy of a Theban play. Sophocles assigns the tragic hero to a downfall with the impossibility of changing the written fate; perhaps the views of today’s society would feel sympathy for the predicament that Oedipus is forced into, however, the publics of ancient Greece would accept that the path laid before them was a creation of the Gods. “Oedipus the King” reflects the ancient Greek credence in the belief that a person can do nothing to avoid their destiny, an idea that contrasts with what society believes today.
Oedipus Rex is considered to be one of the greatest tragedies. It has all the hallmarks of Greek tragedies. This includes the downfall of the character of high status or power, the hero’s suffering because of hamartia, and his hubris that causes the error. Oedipus, the tragic hero, was prideful. It could be argued that because of this trait; he makes the mistake of trying to escape his fate; thus making sure it would come true. Although Oedipus was flawed, this is not the complete reason for his downfall. The gods, not surprisingly, had a hand in Oedipus’ horrible fate. Apollo engineered the events that would ultimately end in Oedipus’ catastrophe.