Sophocles’ Oedipus the King features a tragic storyline, conveyed through two of its main characters, Oedipus and Jocasta. Starting after their marriage, Sophocles begins writing of Oedipus’ journey to discover who murdered Laios, former king of Thebes. While ruthless in his attempt to discover the truth, Oedipus and Jocasta slowly panic upon discovering that the latter gave birth to current King Oedipus. Their misfortunate only worsens as they develop ways to cope, ultimately trying to forget and destroy their knowledge. Sophocles successfully shares Oedipus the King through utilizing characters Laios, Jocasta, and Oedipus to convey a recurring pattern which suggests ignorance is bliss.
While Laios dies prior to the first scene, those who outlive him suggest he lived happily, under the impression that his son already died. Since Laios does not appear in Oedipus the King, it becomes difficult to analyzing his opinions about his own life. Laios only survives in the whole plot, and does not appear in the actual play. Despite miniscule descriptions of Oedipus’ agony, there is no proof that Laios was unhappy (1-39). In fact, Laios believed that his son was killed by the Theban shepherd after hearing of Apollo’s prophecy. Sophocles keeps Laios from emotional despair, instead killing
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Laios escapes sorrow and dies early on to introduce the idea that ignorance is bliss, which Sophocles returns to throughout his writing. Jocasta avoids reality by killing herself before actually having proof that Oedipus is her son. While Oedipus relentlessly attempts to find Laios’ murderer, his reality ruins any attempt at a normal life, and he blinds himself to avoid excessive misery. Jocasta, and Oedipus take away their concepts of knowledge in order to allay their pain, even if that means taking violent measures to destroy their
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.
take the boy out and kill him when he was still a child. The kind old shepard
"Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race,” as quoted by William E. Gladstone, supports my thought that selfishness is what causes most of our problems in the modern world. Currently, we are living in an era that is filled with much gluttony and selfishness. However, selfishness is a trait that all of us possess, but the amount of selfishness that we have can determine the type of person we are. For instance, parents should always put their children’s needs before their own. Selfish parents would rather buy materialistic items for themselves than anything useful for their children. In Sophocles’s “Oedipus Rex,” the protagonist is literally blinded by his own arrogance. This attitude begins before he even travels to Thebes, and that is apparent due to the circumstances of his father’s death. Oedipus seals his own fate with his egotistical attitude and he cannot change his destiny after everything is set into motion. During his journey on the road to enlightenment, Oedipus’s selfishness causes him to transcend from being completely ignorant of his fate to holding on to the last shreds of denial to having an overwhelming sense of realization.
In fact, Oedipus’ determination towards solving the mystery behind Laius’ death ironically lead to the truth behind the oracle’s prophecy. His supercilious “energia” is present during his speech to the people of Thebes where he states, “As for the criminal, I pray to God -/ Whether it be lurking thief, or one of a number -/ I pray that that man’s life be consumed in evil and/ wretchedness,” (30). Furthermore, he explains that, “If any man knows by whose hand Laius, son of Labdacus,/ Met his death, I direct that man to tell me everything,/… Moreover: if anyone knows the murderer to be foreign,/ Let him not keep silent: he shall have his reward from me,” (30). When Oedipus seeks advice from Apollo in order to lift the curse casted upon Thebes, he lea...
A detective story is a genre of fiction in which a person attempts to solve a crime. The detective may be a professional or an amateur, and generally has nothing to gain from solving the crime. However in Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King”, the main character Oedipus is not only determined to solve a crime, but he is also in pursuit to find his own identity. This is similar to Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia” where Sherlock Holmes has been hired to work as a detective in return for monetary compensation. Both situations enable Oedipus and Sherlock to gain from unraveling the mysteries that sweep their towns hence making these stories different from most detective stories.
“I will do all that I can…” proclaims Oedipus (43). People can control the direction of their lives. In life, decisions are made, advice is given, but ultimately the one dealing with the issues makes the decision. Oedipus was born with a fate, as described by the oracle. His family took precaution to avoid the fate. Inevitably, the fate was fulfilled, but he made his own decisions throughout his life, as well as having decisions made for him. In Oedipus the King, we are able to see that certain things in life can be controlled: family, personality, and success.
If prophecy were to be real, one could expect what is bound to happen in the future. This is true; at least in “Oedipus the King” in which the protagonist, Oedipus calls forth his doom unwillingly. Fate is defined as something that unavoidably befalls a person. The author of “Oedipus the King,” Sophocles, writes a tragic fate that Oedipus was born to experience. Fate is what is meant to happen and cannot be avoided or unchanged. Furthermore, events that lead to other events could be the result for one to meet their fate. In “Oedipus the King,” Sophocles expresses the nature of fate to be determined upon choices made.
Oedipus Rex, also known as Oedipus the King, is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times. The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would slay him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, bore a son, he exposed the baby on Mt. Cithaeron, first pinning his ankles together (hence the name Oedipus, meaning Swell-Foot). A shepherd took pity on the infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife and was brought up as their son. In early manhood Oedipus visited Delphi and upon learning that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother, he resolved never to return to Corinth. Travelling toward Thebes, he encountered Laius, who provoked a quarrel in which Oedipus killed him.
When Jocasta became pregnant and gave birth, the baby’s ankles were cut and he was sent away to die. After that, she does not know what became of him, though Oedipus is ailed with club foot – a result of the damage done to him as a newborn. When Jocasta tells him of this, Oedipus begins asking questions about Laius. He was killed at a crossroads and had graying hair, she says, and Oedipus begins to recall a man that he once killed at a crossroads, years before. “I have a deadly fear,” he says to Jocasta, “that the old seer had eyes” (lines 811-813). Indeed, Teresias could clearly see what Oedipus and Jocasta did not want
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.
Oedipus finds out that he is the killer of King Laius and will become the archetypal sacrificial scapegoat for the city of Thebes. Throughout this passage from the play, Oedipus is continually gathering incriminating evidence against himself from the source of his own wife and mother, Jocasta. He discovers through her attempted reassurance that his quest from Corinth set his fate to be the killer of his biological father and the sacrificial scapegoat for the welfare of the people and land of Thebes.
Here is a story where Oedipus the King, who has accomplished great things in his life, discovers that the gods were only playing with him. He has everything a man of that time could want; he is king of Thebes, he has a wonderful wife and children, and great fame through out the lands. He has lived a good life, but in the end everything is taken from him.
Sophocles demonstrates in the play Oedipus the King that a human being, not a God, ultimately determines destiny. That is, people get what they deserve. In this play, one poorly-made judgment results in tragic and inescapable density. Oedipus fights and kills Laius without knowing Laius is his father. Then, Oedipus's pitiless murdering causes several subsequent tragedies such as the incestuous marriage of Oedipus gets into the flight with Laius. However, Oedipus's characteristics after Laius's death imply that Oedipus could avoid the fight as well as the murder of his father, but did not. Ultimately, Oedipus gets what he deserves due to his own characteristics that lead him to murder Laius: impatience, delusion, and arrogance.
Greek Drama had three main categories The Comedy, Satyr Plays, and The Tragedy. The most popular of the three is The Tragedy, its themes are often such as loss of love, complex relationships between men and the gods, and corruption of power. These dramas taught the people of the city the difference between good and bad behavior and the ramifications of going against the gods. According to Aristotle, the perfect tragedy consisted of the downfall of the hero through a great misunderstanding, causing suffering and awareness for the protagonist meanwhile making the audience feel pity and fear. The prominent writer who Aristotle based his perfect tragedy theory was Sophocles, his drama Oedipus the King had all the elements of a perfect tragedy.
Oedipus, when Jocasta re-tells the details of how Laios was murdered, begins his approach to denial. At first, he searches for more and more information that might prove he didn’t really kill his father. This shows the reader that Oedipus seems to know subconsciously that he is the slayer of his father. Everyman, in the first scene, quarrels with Death about going on the long journey. He pleads for even a few more days before making him take this voyage. Both characters argue “Not me…it can’t be!…'; Both also look for a person or reason to displace their burden in order to avoid facing their strife.