Sacrifice In Oedipus The King

“Heritage of values from ancient world”
Tragedy can either be the darkest part of life for one person or it can be a learning opportunity for the other person. Of all the tragedies written in the literate, “Oedipus the King” written by ‘Sophocles’ is one of the oldest and the most prominent tragedies written to date. It is the story of the king, who is left to die by his own parents, luckily survived, unknowingly killed his own father and married his mother. Although this story was written 2000 years ago, it still has a great significance in the modern world. Of the most powerful tragedies of the time, “Oedipus the king” discloses such values and situations as child abandonment,
In “Oedipus the King”, Sophocles portrays Oedipus as a very strong character. He was broke and frightened when he came to know that the old man he killed, “my stick had struck him backwards from the car/ and he rolled out of it. And I killed them/ all” (Sophocles, 713), was his own father and then he married his mother, Jocasta, after killing Sphinx. He was angry and frustrated realising that he was both father and brother to his own children, but unlike his mother-wife, Jacosta, he didn’t end his life but he faced the hard reality. Instead, he gouged out his eyes for not knowing the truth and left Thebes for the sake of everyone. Thebes was cursed with plague for not finding the killer of Laius. In the recent world, people are emotionally weak and think suicide is the easiest way to put a stop to their agony and remorse. A study on 1048 adolescents in Tyva Republic, Russia, shows 25% of them are victims of ill mental health and tend to end their lives to free themselves of all the torment they are enduring (Slobodskaya et al. 361-371).Therefore, each individual has a different approach to cope up with personal issues and handle the suffering. Also, “Oedipus the King” shows how a person deals with repentance and makes a selection either to live or
Oedipus unknowingly married his own mother as he gets her when he kills Sphinx. He ends up in his father’s bed and has four children with his own mother. According to the libido theory, when a girl or boy grows up and starts getting attracted toward the opposite sex, the first person they fall for is their own parents (Benedek). For instance while a boy is in his growing period, he gets attached to his mother intimately and feels jealous when his father spends more time with his mother. Consequently, he tries to win the sexual love of his mother. In some cases, such a desire can result in the death of a father at the hands of his own son but such chances are very rare. Although this feeling is temporary, the first amorous feeling that a child gets is either from his mother or father. “Oedipus the King” perfectly describes the sexual desire of a male for his