The play starts with the presentation of the main character: Oedipus, the king of Thebes. Sophocles presents Oedipus to the reader as a majestic figure who addresses his attention to the people of Thebes from his palace. The city had been hit by a devastating plague due to Laïos (the previous Theban king) murder and Oedipus was believed to be able to help them overcome that hardship. As the play develops, the reader is provided with the fact that Laïos, Oedipus' biological father, and Iocastê, his biological mother, learned through an oracle that Oedipus was fated to kill his father. Laïos decided to kill his son and Iocastê ties their child's feet together. Oedipus was given to a shepherd to be sent to death, however, the shepherd, pitied the baby and changed his mind, handling the infant to a servant of Polybos, the King of Corinth. Oedipus was raised as Polybos son and never knew, despite his suspicions, that he, in fact, was not Polybos' biological child. During this sincere search for his true identity, he asked to the Delphi Oracle about his real parents. The Oracle did not provide him with the answer Oedipus was searching for, but told him he was doomed to kill his father and mate his own mother instead. Later, Oedipus met Laïos and, ignoring that he was his biological father, ended up killing him over an argument on the road to Thebes. Because he solved the Sphinx's riddle, Oedipus was rewarded with Thebes' kingship and the hand of the Theban queen, Iocastê, his biological mother. At this point, he demanded that the shepherd was brought to him and his search for the truth has ended: he found out he was Laïos' and Iocastê's son. When she figured out she was Oedipus' biological mother, Iocastê committed suicide and Oedipus struck his eyes with…
Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King in the 5th century BCE, in contrast with the work of the Roman Ovid. The character of King Oedipus demonstrates his attitude of overconfidence from the beginning, as he speaks to the children outside his palace and introduces himself as, “I, Oedipus whom all men call the Great” (Oedipus the King 73). As a result of this hubris, he tries to defy the prophecies given by the gods, but he goes on to follow the prophecy as it was laid out and do exactly what he was most afraid of doing (Oedipus the King 83). The Oracle of Delphi gives him the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, but his overconfidence convinces him that he can overcome this; instead of taking the advice of the prophet Teiresias, he attacks Teiresias in anger over the prophecy (Oedipus the King 80-81, 86). He embarks on an adventure towards Thebes from Corinth, and on his way, he kills an old man and marries the queen of Thebes (Oedipus the King 105), completely unaware that in doing so, he is fulfilling the prophecy. Throughout the story, his pride shines through both his actions and his attitude, as he attempts to prove that he knows more and is more powerful than the prophet, stating, “it has no strength for you because you are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes…You life is one long night so that you cannot hurt me or any…
The people believed at the time of Sophocles that an individual achieves his destiny as a result of his own fate. This is true in the case of Oedipus the king, whose anger; pride and blindness towards the truth bring his tragic downfall. At the start of the play, Oedipus is depicted as a confident ruler, who saved Thebes from the curse of Sphinx, furthermore, he becomes the king overnight. He declares his name gladly just as it were itself a recuperating charm: “Here I am myself— / you all know me, the world knows my fame: / I am Oedipus” (7–9). At the end, this pride becomes the curse for him (Sophocles, 1882).…
The national government under the Articles of Confederation had very little power and most power was held by the individual states. Eventually, the weakness of the national government under the Articles led to their replacement with the current US Constitution. This goes to show the difference between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. There were many problems under the Articles and much was left out that it caused problems. The government under the Articles of Confederation had a Unicameral Legislature, they needed a unanimous vote to amend Articles, they also needed a 2/3 majority vote to pass legislation, and one vote per state. The weaknesses under the Articles were very easy to define they had no national executive and no national court system. Also the national government was very limited on what they could do. They could not collect taxes, they could not raise an army, and they could not regulate trade. As such, this caused many problems. States began to place tariffs on each of the other state’s goods. This led to a sharp decline in intrastate commerce. Most states deiced to print their own money and the national currency became pretty much worthless. Since the government could not regulate trade other countries placed tariffs and trade restrictions on US goods and the US was not able to respond. Since they did not have a strong navy, this left US merchant ships in danger of getting attacked by pirates. The powerlessness of the national government to raise an army left the US weak and in danger towards threats.…
In the study of Greek plays, one tries to recreate for an experience, to recapture something of what is meant to those for whom it was written. We know more about the life of Sophocles than we know do about the lives of any other Greek playwright, but this still is not a lot. Sophocles’ work has been said to be the pinnacle of Greek tragedy. Oedipus the King is something like the literary Mona Lisa of ancient Greece. It presents a nightmare vision of a world turned upside down; a decent man, Oedipus, becomes the king of Thebes, whilst in the process unknowingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. As scholars, we are bound to relate this story through history, to ask what the writer really meant, how…
“Show me the man whose happiness was anything more than illusion.” (59) In the ancient Greek drama of Oedipus the King, prophecy plays a major role in the play. Prophecy is considered to be something that comes from the gods, something divine that is the truth and cannot be changed. Prophecy doesn’t seem to permit concept of free-will, a highly popular and controversial topic in today’s modern world. Free-will, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention” [1]. Prophecy, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “the inspired declaration of divine will and purpose” [2]. The two oppose each other quite clearly and in Oedipus the King, it is prophecy that takes…
The concept of fate is a controversial theme in literature, but the dilemma faced by Vulcan and Cryos shows that human destiny is inevitable and should be embraced instead. Inevitable is often defined as an unavoidable situation, one that is associated with impending doom. One such example is found in the tale of Oedipus Rex, the tragic hero of Thebes who is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus learns that in attempting to run away from the prophecy, he fulfills it instead. After blinding himself in shame, Oedipus bemoans to his friends that “my measure of ills fills my measure of woe; Author was none, but I” (Sophocles 47). Oedipus laments the fact that he was the one who authored his fate as he tried to run away from it.…
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (rpt. in James P. Place, Literature: A reader for Freshman Composition II, 1st ed. [Boston: Pearson, 2011] 122-168), the oracles had prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and beget children by his mother. Oedipus does not want to do the things that Apollo predicted; he is no puppet, but indeed the controller of his own fate. Oedipus was unwilling to have his fate come true; he was frightened that he would kill his adopted parents. He believes they were his real parents, therefore he left to Thebes. The decision he made was based on the stories he heard. This led to Oedipus’s own downfall.…
Sophocles' Oedipus Rex revolves around the story of Oedipus, who now is King of Thebes, searching for the murderer of the past king. The tragedy is not so much that Oedipus is the murderer and committing incest with his mother. After all, he was fated to do so, and Oedipus commits these crimes unknowingly. The real tragedy of Oedipus is his trying to defy his destiny and compounding the troubles with his pride. Oedipus has the chance to stop the search for the murderer before the investigation starts. Even blind Teiresias, who tells Oedipus that he is the guilty party, wants Oedipus to stop although Teiresias can see the outcome and knows Oedipus' destiny. It is Oedipus' pride that, in telling the members of his court that he will search for the murderer, leads him down the ever narrowing path to the truth and his pride that will not allow him to stop the search.…
Any great story has its critics ready to critique every great detail of a story. Sophocles’s Oedipus the King is no exemption. Oedipus the King was written around 430 B.C. so this play has had plenty of time to be critiqued. Not only has this Greek tragedy been around for so long, but it is considered a masterpiece; it only makes sense for something very famous to be criticized even more.…
“Oedipus the King” is a drama that portrays misfortune that dwells among mankind. The tragic sequence of events first starts with the birth of Oedipus. His biological parents are stricken with grief when they discover a secret that causes them to banish their son from the city of Thebes. Little did they know that, despite their actions, fate would still play out which would, in turn, cause the society of Thebes to be stricken by the plague. Although many people suffered from the unfortunate destiny of Oedipus, perhaps the person that suffered the most was Oedipus himself. Oedipus endured an unforgiving reality check after being blindsided by the current state of his life.…
More and more citizens travel the streets armed and ready incase of a confrontation with a crook. Many would say this is wrong and needs to stop. In retrospect, what could possibly be done to stop occurrences such as an encounter with someone dangerous without a tool to fray the danger off? Some feel that the government should guarantee safety to all but these people rarely present a possible solution to the problem. With that being said, gun laws should not be tightened on law abiding citizens because it would cause the United States to be a more thriving environment for criminals. It would also cause the government to have a control over the people like never before, going against what our forefathers tried to prevent. A government that controls the people with no way for the people to fight back.…
As the play begins, Thebes is wrought with a plague, and its future is placed in the hands of fate. Oedipus himself claims the people of Thebes “shall be saved [with the help of God], or else indeed [they] are lost” (Sophocles 10). No action a man takes can relieve Thebes from its situation. The unavoidability of predetermined events of the future develops a fear for the mystery of what is to come in the audience. The only thing they can surely grasp is that fate will follow its path. The sole question is if “[God] will send doom like a sudden cloud, or weave it like nightfall of the past” (Sophocles 10). This simile emits a negative…
An Uncertain Destiny to the King Oedipus. While fate still ranks high nowadays, in the first half of the decade 430-420 BC, when Sophocles was writing his play Oedipus Rex it was even more intense the legitimacy of the prophecies, oracles, and gods. Brilliantly written, Oedipus Rex is a tragic drama, where ironically the destiny of Oedipus (the main character) is hinging on two prophecies: he would kill his father; he would marry his own mother. That raises an interesting question: could he avoid doing these things or his fate was already determined? Both, fate and free will decide the outcome of Oedipus’s life in this play.…
Oedipus Rex, is a compelling play, with a main character story line that is very complicated. Oedipus, who was adopted into a royal family, but never told he was adopted, obtains a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He runs away from his family, to escape the prophecy, but finds them to come true in the end, when he is reconnected with his birth family. An ongoing, popular question readers have at the end of the play, is if Oedipus’ outcome was due to fate or free will. Could he have had the power to stop the prophecies from coming true, or were they destined to happen?…