There are various reasons as to why one might commit suicide. With regards to Sophocles’ play, Oedipus The King, Jocasta is a primary example of why one might commit suicide. She is both a wife and mother to Oedipus and, as it was iterated in the play, that it will be her son who is both the murderer of her husband and her sexual partner. At the beginning of the play, Jocasta is introduced as a skeptic individual who, in an attempt to thwart the Gods, abandons her child so as to avoid the prophecy. One reason why Jocasta kills herself is due to her pride, it constantly blinds her from the truth which influences her actions. Upon discovery of the prophecy’s fulfillment, Jocasta devolves and realizes the truth which leads to her tragic end. It …show more content…
In the play, after the messenger arrives with news of Polybus’ death, Oedipus is relieved that his adopted father died, thus unable to fulfill the prophecy; however, Jocasta responds with a boastful remark stating, “There. Didn’t I tell you from the start” (Sophocles 1064-1065). This contemptuous statement directed towards Oedipus showcases Jocasta’s high nose personality, as well as her inability to perceive the prophecy unfolding before her. This quote also exemplifies that Jocasta is oblivious to the truth about the prophecy. She is also portrayed as a skeptic individual and, this is especially evident in the scene wherein she questions the prophecy that Tiresias foretold, “A prophet? Well then, free yourself of every charge! Listen to me and learn some peace of mind: no skill in the world, nothing human can penetrate the future” (Sophocles 780-782). Aside from boasting about her opinion in such a manner, she also presents herself as a self-righteous individual who believes she can insult and defy the Gods. Jocasta blames the inaccuracy for the prophecy on the prophets, who were direct mediums from the god to man, and rather than Apollo: “An oracle came to Laius one fine day (I won’t say from Apollo himself but his underlings, his priests)” (Sophocles 784-785). Her arrogant nature in addition to her skepticism about the prophecy are what contribute to Jocasta’s suicide because she remains oblivious to the truth until the very end of the play. These key characteristics do not cause suicide by in itself however; she goes through a devolution when the truth about Oedipus is
The authority which Oedipus and Jocasta defy is the same. Both the king and his mother defy the authority of the gods by trying to evade their edict. The edict states that a son would be born to Jocasta who would marry his mother and kill his father, as Oedipus says, “How mating with my mother I must spawn a progeny...having been my father's murderer.” (OEDIPUS, Oedipus, 44). When Jocasta hears of this, she attempts to kill the baby Oedipus, thus trying to escape the prophesy. Similarly, when Oedipus, as an unmarried adult, hears that he would kill his father, he runs away from his home town, Corinth, never to return. Oedipus and Jocasta both defy the gods' authority, which in this case comes in the form of running away from a menacing prophesy. In the end, however, Jocasta dies and Oedipus is overthrown and ruined.
To this Jocasta remarks in unpleasant surprise, “What do you say? Is Polybus dead, old man?”(Scene III) At this, the messenger tries to get him to come back but he declares that he’ll never go back. Then the messenger goes on to say that his worries are in vain for Polybus wasn’t really his father. Jocasta calls for Oedipus and they both begin to think that maybe they have defeated fate after all. However, Oedipus still has doubts. “Know that he had received you as a gift from my hands long ago.”(Scene III) The messenger tells Oedipus that he saves him from the mountainside where he found him and gave him to the king of Corinth in hopes that the child would become a king. As Jocasta begins to catch on she begs Oedipus to leave things alone as they are better off that way. There is much admiration for Oedipus’ adamancy to find out the truth yet he does not know that such things have
Socrates could easily be viewed as suicidal due the portrayal put forth in Plato’s Five Dialogues. First, there is the Apology. Numerous times Socrates was given the opportunity to defend himself in a manner that would be persuading to the jury, but he seemed to have sullied each and every chance. A compelling argument for why his actions were not the crimes he was accused of committing was given, yet he did so with harsh logic and never with an appeal to emotions. He believes such appeals, for instance, bringing his family to court, would be beneath him while acknowledging it would have aided his case with, “you will more readily convict a man who preforms these pitiful dramatics in court… than a man who keeps quiet” (Plato 39). Socrates also
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.
She suggested “…it is better to live as you will, live as you can.” (Sophocles, 1970, p.22). She is going outside of her role as a queen, where she is expected to be supportive, encouraging and guiding but instead she is going outside the way people conducted themselves. Jocasta is hiding the truth about the existence of Oedipus. Her self-autonomy further been emphasised in her dialogue where she mentioned it does not really matter who Oedipus is and “what difference does it make?” (Sophocles, 1970, p.24). Consequently, in regard to her action, Jocasta was found dead by her own hand because of the horrible suffering that she carried with her (Sophocles, 1970, p.28). Again, this suggests the idea of individual freedom in Greek democratic culture does not exist in the 5th century
When it came to suicide, ancient Greeks often regarded male suicide as honorable and female suicide as disgraceful. The ancient Greek culture regarded war as one of the most important aspects of the society and could not stand dishonor. As a result, most ancient Greek warriors committed suicide out of valor. If all other fellow warriors were killed in battle and one warrior returned home, that warrior would be viewed as pusillanimous and ignominious for not dying in battle or fighting to the death with his fellow warriors.3 Such was the case in the suicides of Orthydas and Pantities. “Fearing the charge of cowardice, the Spartan Orthrydas committed suicide out of shame at being the lone survivor among three hundred of his fellow warriors in a battle against the Argives.”3 Like Orthydas, “Pantites, a Spartan survivor of the battle of Thermopylae, took his life when he returned home.”3 Honorable suicides like these could also be seen throughout the entirety of the Peloponnesian War. Honorable death by suicide was so significant that there were consequences if the warriors did not
Jocasta, a woman that seemingly disregards and has no faith in prophecies, prays to Apollo and asks him to “cleanse us, set us free of defilement” because she knows that Oedipus is her son (1009). She prays for him to free her from her sins of incest, and she continues to manipulate Oedipus into thinking that he is not her son through the use of vague phrases such as “far from yours,” because she knows he will soon see the truth. Still, Jocasta is not ready to let go of a chance to have power, so she continues to try and convince Oedipus to stop seeking the truth of Laius’s death. When Oedipus finds out his adoptive father had died, Jocasta takes advantage and tries to sway him into believing that now the prophecy has been fulfilled. Oedipus recalls that part of the prophecy in which he would sleep with his mother and Jocasta responded that “Many a man before you in his dreams, has shared his mother’s bed. Take such things for shadows, nothing at all” (1075). Jocasta makes an absurd assertion that all men dream of sleeping with their mothers in the hope that if Oedipus does find out, he can come to accept the marriage to his
Jocasta’s blindness to the truth ruins her relationship with Oedipus unlike Gertrude’s blindness which merely taints her relationship with Hamlet. Primarily, as Oedipus comes closer to discovering the truth, Jocasta begs him to stop searching. She pleads with him yelling “No! In God’s name – if you want to live, this/ must not go on. Have I not suffered enough?/... I know I am right. I’m warning you for your own good.” (Sophocles 55). It is clear that Jocasta knows the truth and all along yet she refuses to tell Oedipus .She tries very hard to ignore the fact that Oedipus is her son because she knows once he discovers the truth, he will not even be able to look her in the eyes. It terrifies Jocasta to know that once Oedipus realizes that she is aware of the truth all along he will loathe her. Nothing hurts her more than knowing that the one she loves despises her. Jocasta can evade these unfortunate events if she did not ignore the obvious truth before her. Moreover, Jocasta desperately hopes that Oedipus dies before he u...
First off, Teiresias is hinting at the fact that Oedipus’ relationship with Jocasta is a “sinful union” (Sophocles 36). Oedipus is unable to make the connection between what Teiresias is saying and his own prophecy. Oedipus does not want to acknowledge the fact that he has committed a sin and he avoids learning the truth by remaining ignorant of his true parentage. On top of this, when Teiresias outright tells Oedipus that “the killer [he is] seeking is [himself]” (Sophocles 36). Oedipus refuses to believe this and instead accuses Teiresias of lying and plotting against him. Oedipus, as a known intelligent character, should have listened to Teiresias, who is known for being a wise man; instead, Oedipus puts the blame on Teiresias. Teiresias then goes on to foreshadow that the “taunts” (Sophocles 36) Oedipus is throwing at him will “someday [be] cast at [him]” (Sophocles 36). Oedipus does not take the warning of Teiresias seriously instead he continues to insult Teiresias. Oedipus’ inability to face the truth will result in him being banned and blinding himself for his ignorance. Similarly, Jocasta attempts to prevent Oedipus from gaining knowledge by explaining that “[i]t makes no difference now” (Sophocles 55) and to “[f]orget” (Sophocles 55) what has been told to him. Jocasta not only tries to stop Oedipus from learning the truth, she also tries to stop herself from verifying the truth, this later results in her unfortunate suicide. Also, Jocasta’s ignorance and inability to discover Oedipus’ true past causes her to commit incest, a major sin. Jocasta and Oedipus committing this sin then result in the God’s punishing Thebes. Showing that, ignorance leads to
Jocasta’s compliance to the demands of the men around her is revealed through her constant role as a nurturing mother, one who provides emotional connections, but cannot make decisions. This role spans throughout the entire prophecy, throughout her entire life, and throughout her roles as Oedipus’ mother and then his wife. With the arrival of the prophecy that her and Laios’ son is destined to kill his own father and marry his own mother, Jocasta had to leave her child to essentially die in order to evade the prophecy. A mother’s first instinct is typically to protect her child at all costs; however, Jocasta goes against this by actually putting her child in danger in order to protect her husband. This instance proves that the husband seems to be the main focus. Every action seems to be to p...
Oedipus and Jocasta both share a bondage of love and partnership that soon gets taken away because of Oedipus’s blindness to Jocasta’s warning. Jocasta warns Oedipus to let his past be and not to keep digging for he may get more than he bargained for. When Oedipus ignores this and continues, he soon finds out about his past, killing his father and soon realizing that Jocasta is his mother as well as his lover. When she finds out that Oedipus knows his past, she commits suicide because of her sinful acts of incest. This is another prime act of blindness that has resulted in a death. Oedipus continues to ignore the advice from his elders and because of that he is responsible for both his parents death at his hand. Though he may not be physically blind, his ignorance has caused his actions to have a negative out come. Oedipus’s goal is to not be blinded by his ignorance and to actually “see” the importance and relevance of every situation rather than on
In the play Oedipus the King, Sophocles affirms that the gods ultimately have the final say to control one’s destiny; however, an individual is solely responsible for the decisions he makes. Approaching near the climax, Sophocles sets up a fundamental conflict of the play, the need for Oedipus and Jocasta to perceive the immutable state of prophecy through the consequences that deliver itself when the gods fulfill their plans for one’s destiny. The messenger even describes the omnipotent power of the gods, and witnesses the augury of death proposed by the supernatural, finally stating:
It seems that Jocasta suffers many tragedies, possibly more than Oedipus himself. Using our definition of a tragic hero, Jocasta’s fearful deed is that of giving up her son to death. That turns out to be her downfall and destroys her. However, she does not fit the criteria as a tragic hero. Jocasta did not do a good deed turning her into a hero. She goes through many tragedies, but this only categorizes her as a victim of tragedy. While Oedipus is still the “tragic hero,” he is no longer the main victim in the play.
Oedipus was a victime of fate, his futur was foretold by an Oracle, he had no way of knowing that his wife was his mother nor that the stranger he killed was his father. Oedipus could not prevent his own downfall. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, he became king when he cured the city of a deadly plague. He cured the plague by solving the riddle of the mythical creature, the Sphinkx. Now the city is suffering from another plague and as king Oedipus must solve the riddle of this one.
The National Library of Medicine’s website states that most people who commit suicide do so because they are “trying to get away from a life situation that seems impossible to deal with” (“Suicide”). This idea is prevalent in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The main characters, Romeo and Juliet, fall deeply in love at their first meeting. Unfortunately, it is not meant to be, due to the fact that they are from feuding families. They disregard the feud, however, and secretly marry just two days after meeting one another. After the wedding, Romeo runs into Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, who hates him. They engage in a duel and Romeo kills Tybalt. He flees the scene of the crime. Later, he discovers from Friar Lawrence that rather than executing him for murder, the Prince of Verona has declared that he be banished forever. Instead of being relieved and grateful, Romeo laments his fate and claims that he would rather be dead than be separated from his dear Juliet. “There is no world without Verona walls but purgatory, torture, and hell itself” (3.3.17-18).