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'Jealousy In Sophocles Oedipus The King'

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'Jealousy In Sophocles Oedipus The King'
Oedipus the King
Oedipus the King is a tragedy play written by Sophocles and translated by Robert Fagles. It takes place mostly in the royal house of Thebes during a mythical time period. This play is based on a Greek myth and it was written as well as produced in Athens, Greece in around 400 BC. It is about a king who demands his son, Oedipus to be killed after knowing that his son would be responsible for his death in the future. Eventually, he gets adopted by Polybus, king of Corinth and his wife, Merope. Upon realization that he was predicted to kill his father, he runs away from the kingdom of Corinth and in order to avoid killing his father. However, he ends up doing it anyways. Furthermore, he also commits the crime of incest by …show more content…
The people in the chorus of the play predict his downfall. “…he rose to power…Now what a black sea of error has overwhelmed him. Now as we keep our watch and wait…” (1678-1684) These people claim that Oedipus rose too high and that was the reason behind his fall. His power attracted jealousy, which led to his misery. We also see his downfall as a result of his own …show more content…
Yet, because he commits them unknowingly, we hesitate to put the blame on him. This play consists of two themes, which are patricide and incest that appeared to be really interesting for me. They rarely appear in plays in the modern times and are very unique compared to the themes of other plays. These two words appear to have strong significance with the ability to grasp the audience’s attention straightaway, just like it did to mine. They are a major part of the play because represent why Oedipus experienced the tragedy. Patricide means to kill one’s father and incest refers to the crime of having sexual intercourse with a family member such as a mother, father or sibling. In the play, we perceive Oedipus is portrayed as the ideal king who is very responsible regarding his kingdom however; we soon realize that we were mistaken. Oedipus commits both patricide and incest without knowing that he did. When he leaves Polybus, he encounters his biological father and eventually kills him. After killing his father, he took over the Kingdom of Thebes and marries Iocasta, the Queen of Thebes. After he asks his wife “But surely I must fear my mother’s bed?” (576) After receiving the news of his
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