In Oedipus Tyrannus, the cultural way of thinking has been challenged by Oedipus himself and also the queen of Thebes, Jocasta. Oedipus is a king of Thebes who claimed himself to be incredibly smart for solving the riddles and he has helped the city who happened to be falling apart from the missing of their king. While in searching for the murderer of Laius, Oedipus called upon the presence of Teresias – the blind prophet. Oedipus requested Teresias to inform him about the truth that he knew about the secrets of the heaven and the earth (Sophocles, 1970). As a king Oedipus looked at himself as the one who hold the power and Teresias is expected to give what he asked for. However, Teresias refused to answer Oedipus’ question. He describes this …show more content…
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 …show more content…
Crito points out if Socrates will not escape from the prison, the children of Socrates will be abandoned by his own father. Crito describes this as betrayal of a father, whom should raise and educate his children but he, the father, is going away and abandoning the children instead. (Plato, 45d). In here, Crito is trying to find out on what most appeals to Socrates, whether it is family. In fact, Socrates argues that his children are better off living with Crito rather than live with him in Thessaly which he describes the city as being full with plenty of disorder and disobedience. Thus will bring a negative effect on his children. (Plato,
As Socrates awaits his upcoming execution; he is visited before dawn by a close old friend Crito. Crito has made arrangements to help Socrates escape from prison. Socrates is grateful to his old friend for his willing to help aide him in the escape. However, Socrates is quite willing to await his execution. Crito tries to change Socrates mind about escaping by presenting him with several arguments. The first is that if Socrates choices to stay, his death will reflect poorly on Crito. The people will think that Crito did nothing to save his friend. If Socrates is worried about the risk or the financial cost to Crito; it’s an expense that he is willing to pay, and that he made arrangements for Socrates to live a life of exile in a pleasant manner. The next argument that Crito pleads to Socrates is that, if he stays, he would be helping his enemies in their injustices, and in turn would make Socrates act in an unjustly manner himself. Also, that Socrates would be abandoning his sons and leave them without a father.
In the play when Oedipus asks Teiresias to reveal the murderer of King Laois, Teiresias blames Oedipus as the murderer and Oedipus denies the blame and gets angry on Teiresias. The chorus even denies the blame on Oedipus and takes Oedipus’ side. The chorus says the following lines to protect Oedipus “This is the king who solved the famous riddle, and towered up, most powerful of men. No mortal eyes but looked on him with envy, Yet in the end ruin swept over him”(Freud 988). Oedipus on the other hand who is really mad at Teiresias blames him and Creon for plotting against him. As Oedipus was blind from the start he was unaware of his origins which will cause him to trigger the unavoidable chain of events that would lead to the fulfilment of the prophecy. But he didn’t knew the fate itself was unavoidable. The irony of theme sight and blindness is produced here when Oedipus is compared to Teiresias. Oedipus who is not blind and has the capability to see with both of his eyes doesn’t finds anything wrong in killing a man, who he later discovers was King Laois and his group. He even took over the throne of Thebes and was found to be lying with his mother thinking her as his wife and having babies with her. On the other hand is Teiresias who is really blind and unable to see than...
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.
As a young man in Corinth, Oedipus learns from the Oracle at Delphi that he is destined to “kill [his] father, the one who gave [him] life!” (Sophocles). No one informs Oedipus that he is adopted, so he believes that his adoptive father, Polybus, is his biological father. Consequently, he runs away from Corinth in an attempt to beat the prophecy. For years, Oedipus has “given Corinth a wide berth” and Polybus has remained alive (Sophocles). This illusory correlation between Polybus’ survival and Oedipus’ departure causes Oedipus to believe that he has defeated the prophecy. Oedipus ' arrogance swells further when he defeats the Sphinx that terrorizes the city of Thebes. As Oedipus ascends to Thebes’ throne, his hubris escalates. He begins to see himself as more than a mortal. In fact, Oedipus deems himself a god on Earth. When the Chorus prays to the gods to save the city of Thebes, Oedipus responds, “You pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers” (Sophocles). Oedipus’ arrogance is not challenged by the city of Thebes. On the contrary, Oedipus’ tyrannical rule only illuminates society’s lack of rebellion. The Theban citizens are completely subservient to Oedipus’ will. A priest refers to Oedipus not only as “first of men” but also says that “your country calls you a savior now” (Sophocles). The citizens of Thebes
In Plato’s dialogue Crito, you can find Crito offering escape from demise to Socrates. This would be enough to make most men succumb to their survival instinct and flea but Socrates takes a different path. Socrates reasons through the escape with Crito. He logically comes to the fact that one shouldn’t do wrong when wronged or do harm when harmed (49b-c). He then draws the conclusion that escaping prison would harm the citizens, laws, and whole city of Athens (50b). As Athens is his home, Socrates feels he owes everything to his city, he feels compelled to follow the laws and decisions of its courts. He likens a home city to a parent, saying that to bring violence against one’s city would be sacrilegious as it would be with a parent (51c). In Socrates’ mind he would not wrong Athens because it made him the man he stands to be. All the knowledge, wisdom, and high regard he holds is because of Athens, and so he refuses to
Conversely, the soothsayer Teiresias is blind from the beginning of the story, but has full use of his prophetic vision. He knows the truth of Oedipus and his family, but at first doesn’t want to tell him, as he knows what it will mean for Oedipus and the kingdom. When he does explain his knowledge, Oedipus doesn’t believe any of it, due to his own over confidence. Teirseias says “You have your eyes but see not where you are in sin, nor where you live, nor whom you live with.” He is telling Oedipus the truth, but Oedipus refuses acknowledge that he may, in fact, be living in darkness.
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...
The myth of Oedipus is one of a man brought down by forces aligning against him. Over the years, different playwrights have interpreted his character in various fashions. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus is a man who is blind to the path on which his questions take him and exemplifies the typical tyrannical leader in ancient times; in Senaca’s Oedipus, it is the fear of his questions that give Oedipus a greater depth of character, a depth he must overcome if he is to survive his ordeal.
After discovering that the person she was married to was her son, she felt guilty. Knowing that her son was alive and that he was seeking to find out the truth, she did not know what to do. Jocasta tries to persuade him not to investigate the case any further. Eventually, she gives up and takes her own life. Women of the Ancient Athens felt the same way. They had no future ahead of them since they were not educated, had no rights, and they were housewives. Unlike men, they had the ability to go to work, war, and have education. These women had no type of freedom, but to stay in their home all day long. Like Jocasta, today when people are extremely unhappy with their lives, they commit suicide. People of the Ancient Athens did not take this as a suicidal case, but to them was a hero fighting against overwhelming odds. Our society certainly does not believe in that, they believe the person is crazy and needs treatment to cure their mental
Kind Oedipus started life with a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. In an attempt to avoid this fate, his parents, Laius and Jocasta, sent him into the mountains to die. However, a shepherd saved Oedipus. This shepherd gave Oedipus to Polybus and Merope. When Oedipus learned of his prophecy, he fled his home, thinking these people were his real parents. On his flight, he met Laius. He ended up killing Laius. He continued on, answered a riddle of the evil Sphinx, and ended up king of Thebes. With this kingdom, Oedipus married Jocasta. He had lived out the prophecy without even knowing he had. Thebes fell onto bad times, and a prophet put the blame on a polluter of the lands. Oedipus called on Teiresias, and Teiresias informed him that the polluter was the King. As Oedipus searched further and further, he discovered that he was the polluter and that the prophecy had come true. When Oedipus finally discovered the truth, he was so distressed that he ran pins into his eyes, blinding himself. He had been blinded to the truth for so long.
Sincerely caring for his people, he desires to make Thebes lives better by revealing the death of Laius, meaning if he solves the problem, he will become a hero. He asks for the help of his brother in law – Creon, and he brings Tiresias, the blind prophet who can see from Apollo’s eyes, to answer Oedipus’ concern. Unfortunately, Oedipus has several weaknesses that lead to the outcomes. He fears of rebellion, subverts the laws when frightened, and refuses to listen to others when he is mad. He accuses Creon as a betrayer when Tiresias indicates that he is the killer and even wants Creon to die. He
Sophocles introduces a prophet, a seer, Teiresias, into the play. Teiresias is a wise, old man who has supernatural powers to interpret the past and predict the future. Ironically, Teiresias is physically blind, but can “see” the truth about Oedipus. Oedipus has trouble imagining that his father life was taken at his hands. It signifies that Oedipus as a man is ignorant to the true appearance of things - this blind man can "see" the truth about Oedipus, yet Oedipus, in all of his physical perfection, cannot.
In attempting to leave Corinth and prevent the prophecy to the best of his abilities Oedipus alleviates some of the guilt that he could carry. Oedipus’s true defense is his ignorance in not knowing that “Polybus was no kin. . .in blood” (1016), believing that he was doing the right thing to prevent the prophecy and leave Corinth, he hurt himself and unfortunately put into motion the elements needed for the prophecy to come true. One may also be tempted to blame Jocasta for her role in the prophecy coming true, however that is also unfair. Firstly it is important to remember that women had little to no power in ancient Greece, even if they were queens. It is a fair assumption to make that Jocasta had no choice in the matter of marrying Oedipus when he came to Thebes, he was the new king so she would marry him to maintain her power. In considering Jocasta’s innocence it is also important to remember that she did try to kill Oedipus as a baby, which, while morally is a grey zone, shows that she should not be held solely responsible for the prophecy coming true. Jocasta’s innocence could be
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 Tiresias, characters of Sophocles' play "Oedipus Tyrannus," are propelled to their individual destinies by their peculiar relationships with truth. Paranoid and quick to anger Oedipus, is markedly different from the confident and self-assured Tiresias. In the dialogue between the two men, Oedipus rapidly progresses from praise of Tiresias as a champion and protector of Thebes in line 304, to blatantly accusing the blind prophet of betraying the city in line 331, to angrily insulting him in line 334. Rather than be intimidated by the protagonist's title and temperament, Tiresias draws strength from what he knows is true and is able to stand his ground.