Literary Analysis of Oedipus
Oedipus the King is an ancient Greek play has themes that can be closely related to those used today. The idea of the Oedipus complex created by Sigmund Freud stems from this play. Sophocles uses a variety of themes to help teach the people of ancient Greece, some may be intended while others may be unintended. The setting of the play affects the ending of the story, and affects the characters changes throughout the play. One that could be construed as unintended is to enjoy the journey of life and do not fear its outcome which is ultimately death. However, the main themes that can be taken away from this play is the notions of you cannot control your fate, that ignorance is bliss, and there ironies.
The play of Oedipus the King is about a man who cannot escape fate, and lives out of all the prophecies. He was sent to be killed at birth, when his parents were told that one day Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. However, the servant who was in put in charge of killing Oedipus would not carry out the King Laius’s command to kill Oedipus, but instead sent him to Corinth to be prince. When he was older, the oracle of Delphi delivered him with the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, so he then fled from Corinth to not carry out the prophecy. At a crossroad he came felt threatened by another caravan, and his men killed them in self-defense. One of the men was Laius, and he was married to Jocasta who is now Oedipus’s wife and mother. A plague was ravishing the Theban population and to try to end the plague, he sent his brother in-law Creon to the oracle to figure out how to end the plague. Creon was told “Drive the corruption from the land, don’t harbor it any longer, past all cure, don’t nurse it in your soil-root it out” (576). Relaying the message to Oedipus, he needs to banish the man who killed Laius for the plague to end. On a quest to find out who it is, Oedipus finds out from a shepherd that he killed
The play of Oedipus the King is about a man who cannot escape fate, and lives out of all the prophecies. He was sent to be killed at birth, when his parents were told that one day Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. However, the servant who was in put in charge of killing Oedipus would not carry out the King Laius’s command to kill Oedipus, but instead sent him to Corinth to be prince. When he was older, the oracle of Delphi delivered him with the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, so he then fled from Corinth to not carry out the prophecy. At a crossroad he came felt threatened by another caravan, and his men killed them in self-defense. One of the men was Laius, and he was married to Jocasta who is now Oedipus’s wife and mother. A plague was ravishing the Theban population and to try to end the plague, he sent his brother in-law Creon to the oracle to figure out how to end the plague. Creon was told “Drive the corruption from the land, don’t harbor it any longer, past all cure, don’t nurse it in your soil-root it out” (576). Relaying the message to Oedipus, he needs to banish the man who killed Laius for the plague to end. On a quest to find out who it is, Oedipus finds out from a shepherd that he killed
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