Oedipus

Oedipus Paper

Humans often come upon interactions in every day life causing conflict, which forces humans to make important decisions when put into different situations. A conflict is an interaction that can be made between two things causing good or bad scenarios. The interactions mentioned in this play are mainly causing bad situations. In this play Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus faces a painful truth that brings him through many different contradictions. Oedipus’ conflicts are shown in this play through human versus society, human versus nature, and human versus self. An example of human versus society conflict shown in the play occurs when the people of the city were relying on Oedipus to solve their problems as to who killed the king and how to cure the sickness in the city. This is a clear example of human versus society because the conflict is between Oedipus and the city. While showing compassion and concern for his city, Oedipus says, “My poor children, I know why you have come- I am not ignorant of what you yearn for. For I well know that you are ill, and yet, sick as you are, there is not one of you whose illness equals mine”(lines 67-71). This quote shows that as much as Oedipus cares for his city he cannot help them with their problem. Oedipus allows the readers to feel his empathy for the city by showing that the worst pain for him is watching the people after the death of their king and after the outbreak of the sickness, but being unable to help them recover. Human versus nature was a major concept and conflict that occurred in this play. The human versus nature conflict of the play occurs when Oedipus is born into the family and is cursed by the riddle of the Sphinx. Throughout the play Oedipus is unaware of the curse, but as he slowly uncovers himself he gets closer and closer to the answer. The curse said that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, however only Teresias the prophecy knew this truth. Teresias says:
“Without your knowledge you’ve become the enemy of your own kindred, those in the world below and those up here, and the dreadful feet of that two-edges curse for father and mother both will drive you from this land in exile” (lines 500-505).
When he is born his parents found out about the curse and abandoned their son hoping that the curse would break. However, as Oedipus grew older with his adopted family he traveled to Thebes and along his way got into a quarrel with which is unknowingly his birth father. He ends up killing his father who is the king of Thebes and after winning the throne ends up marrying the queen, his mother. It is then determined that the curse is never broken and Teresias is the only person aware of what had been happening throughout Oedipus’ life and all the way through the play. This human versus nature conflict between Oedipus and the curse placed upon him creates other conflicts down the road for Oedipus and ends up putting him in a terrible situation. Human versus self is probably the most important of the conflicts shown throughout the entire play because Oedipus’ has not yet been able to recognize that his worse enemy is actually himself. This conflict that occurs between Oedipus and himself is what generally created the story. The occurrence that happens between Oedipus and himself is when he has not yet realized that it is his father and the King that he has killed. When Teresias the prophet came along, he says:
“Then I would ask you to stand by the very words which you yourself proclaimed and from now on not speak to me or these men.
For the accursed polluter of this land is you” (lines 418- 421).
This quote shows that the one he is searching for is he himself. The conflict between Oedipus and himself puts Oedipus in a bad situation when he realizes that he is the murderer that he has been searching for all along. As humans come upon conflicts in life it is unpredictable how they will react. The reaction of the interaction is what causes this conflict. In the play Oedipus faces man versus society conflict as he searches for answers to the murderer of the king, when truthfully the evidence lies right in front of him. Also, Oedipus is conflicted with nature as he is cursed with the riddle of the Sphinx. Being born into a family where he is cursed and supposedly going to marry his mother and kill his father is something he himself could not control, but it is controlled through nature. Oedipus also contradicts himself as he determines that he is the murder of the king and his own father. This is the main conflict of the play, which finally comes together at the end as Oedipus realizes who he really is and what he has done. All of these are pure examples of the disputes that formed throughout the play. Oedipus the King has many different conflicts throughout the play and they are human versus society, human versus nature, and human versus self, which really show the true controversy that can be displayed throughout the life of a human.