Oedipus The King Justice Essay

1134 Words3 Pages

What makes justice be fair? Can justice be define by having hands covered in blood or doing the unimaginable to be fair? Ancient Greek had value of what justice is, and it is not pretty how fairness was. Oligarchy and Tyranny can be those whom are the beyond rule and carve the rules. Ancient Greek literature depicts the flaws of justice be served brutally and cruel. Oedipus the king was destined to kill his father and marry his own mother, but a specific god seeks for justice be served. One of characters of on Oedipus Rex the priest pleads the king of the sufferings in Thebes, and the messenger brings down the blind prophet Tiresias to answer the king what Apollo has responded. "Relief from the plague can only come one way...[Uncover] the murderers of Laius, put them to death or drive them into exile." (Oedipus 621). Since Oedipus escaped his town in order to not make the prophecy true, what fault did he have that the prophecy had his future written down. He had no intentions of making that prophecy come true, but him killing the people in the carriage without even acknowledging it is the king is reasonable. He didn’t want them to know who he was, his parents have the fault of what happened to him, especially the king for sending him to be killed as a newborn. In the middle of the story Oedipus finds out that his father Polybus is fine, but he meets the sheep herder, Jocasta has already figured out who pleading the king to stop. …show more content…

It hides the fact that Greek society type of justice is wrongly served by those who have no power. Odysseus is a king, he never got questioned of his actions. May this be because he is a king. Or Socrates being accused of corrupting the young? May this be because of his poverty. There is and unbalance in injustice especially what social class Greeks came from that maybe these stories depicted, but hide it from what these stories

Open Document