Ethical Values In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'
Ethical/Moral- In Sophocles’, Oedipus Rex, there are a plethora of ethical/moral interpretations. These illustrations give insight and meaning behind what the ancient Greeks’ moral/ethical values were. In Oedipus, Jocasta, both mother and wife of Oedipus, brings about the moral lesson that you simply cannot escape your destiny. For example, when the herdsman is being pressured by Oedipus to disclose the person who gave the baby to him. He tells Oedipus that “his wife would tell him best how all “this” was, in reference to Jocasta giving her baby (Oedipus) away. This results in Oedipus realizing that these prophecies which Jocasta attempted to avoid, have come true due to her trying to avoid her destiny. This reveals that ancient Greeks
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Oedipus solves the sphinx’s riddle and becomes the king of the land quickly ruling over everything. In the beginning he is a strong king searching for the cause of the plague, but by the end of the story we find out that he is a murderer and is incestuously involved with his mother. This great transformation from greatness to tragic downfall highlights one main idea-that man is ignorant and that the gods are all knowing beings from which we must gather all of our knowledge. For example, when the chorus exclaims that they “know what the lord Teiresias sees, as is most often what the lord Apollo sees”. This clearly explains that while Oedipus consults with Teiresias he is still indirectly consulting the gods as Teiresias sees what the god Apollo sees, thus proving that man has no true knowledge, only the gods do as the text reveals this is what the Greeks believed. Oedipus reveals that the Greeks strongly believed in predestination, in other words before you are born the gods prophesy who and what you will be and what you will ultimately become. For example, when Jocasta discusses the “short proof on an oracle that came to Laius,-’’. This oracle discusses how Laius would be killed by his son and this son would marry his own mother. Throughout the entirety of the story, she attempts to disprove everything that has happened but really she is what caused this destiny to occur. This goes to show that the Greeks
Oedipus solves the sphinx’s riddle and becomes the king of the land quickly ruling over everything. In the beginning he is a strong king searching for the cause of the plague, but by the end of the story we find out that he is a murderer and is incestuously involved with his mother. This great transformation from greatness to tragic downfall highlights one main idea-that man is ignorant and that the gods are all knowing beings from which we must gather all of our knowledge. For example, when the chorus exclaims that they “know what the lord Teiresias sees, as is most often what the lord Apollo sees”. This clearly explains that while Oedipus consults with Teiresias he is still indirectly consulting the gods as Teiresias sees what the god Apollo sees, thus proving that man has no true knowledge, only the gods do as the text reveals this is what the Greeks believed. Oedipus reveals that the Greeks strongly believed in predestination, in other words before you are born the gods prophesy who and what you will be and what you will ultimately become. For example, when Jocasta discusses the “short proof on an oracle that came to Laius,-’’. This oracle discusses how Laius would be killed by his son and this son would marry his own mother. Throughout the entirety of the story, she attempts to disprove everything that has happened but really she is what caused this destiny to occur. This goes to show that the Greeks