Act 2 Of Oedipus The King

A kingdom cursed by the gods, doomed to die by famine and plague, in Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King, the people of Thebes and their king desperately cry out to the divine and beg for mercy and a way to end their agony. Finally, a glimmer of hope, a riddle that a prophet can solve, and the damned nation call to him for help. A directed scene of what plays out in Oedipus’ confrontation of the truth of his fate with Tiresias is covered in this document. The scene is set in its traditional form of ancient Greece but contains the contemporary English language of Robert Fagles’ translation so that modern audiences can more thoroughly understand and enjoy the content of the play while preserving the cultural charms of the time period. The background

The Greek drama “Oedipus The King” evidently leads to the unveiling of a tragedy. Oedipus, the protagonist of the play uncovers his tragic birth story and the curse he had been baring his whole life. Oedipus is notorious for his personal insight that helped him defeat Sphinx, which lead him to becoming the king of Thebes. He is admired by the people of Thebes and is considered to be a mature, inelegant and a rational leader. From his birth, his story began with a prophecy that Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Through out the play numerous people, who tell him of his unknown past, visit Oedipus. Blind to the truth he casts them away until a blind man named Therisis gives a sight of truth to Oedipus. As Oedipus learns the truth he realizes the great evil his life carries. After finding his wife and also mother hung in her bedroom, Oedipus blinds himself with the gold pins that held Jocasta’s robe. Oedipus blind to the truth is finally able to see when the old blind man visits him and tells him the truth about his life. Both metaphorically and physically sight plays a significant role in understanding the irony of a blind man seeing the truth while Oedipus who isn’t blind doesn’t seem to the truth that’s right in front of him.

“You came and by your coming saved our city, freed us from the tribute which we paid of old to the Sphinx, cruel singer”(39-41), This tells us Oedipus’ pasts and how his insight helped him become king of Thebes. “Not twice you shall say calumnies like this and stay unpunished”(417-418), Here Oedipus claims that Teiresias accusing him of the murder is wrong and impossible. Due to his ignorance, Oedipus believes that Creon and Teiresias are plotting to overthrow him from the throne. Even later in the play there is a point when he absentmindedly remarks, "Strange, hearing you just now . . . my mind wandered, my thoughts racing back and forth”(800-802), where he is maybe considering that he may actually be the murderer. Yet Oedipus does not blame himself for the plague of the city, instead he tries to place the burden onto others as he continues his investigation, blindly trusting his own superior ability while ignoring the obvious evidence that surrounds him. Continuing the metaphor of sight and blindness, Sophocles uses it to shows how Oedipus is unwilling to accept his true fate and is blinded, and ignorant to his past actions. This also brings about irony due to the fact that Oedipus was made famous in Thebes for his keen insight, by solving the riddle of the Sphinx, but is unable to clearly see his current

The two go back and forth for a while which ultimately ends in Oedipus sentencing Creon to death for essentially treason. At this point in the play, it is clear that Oedipus is making some rash decisions in order to clear his consciousness. It appears he still wants to do the right thing, but nothing goes his way. As the play progresses, a messenger is sent to tell Jocasta of Polybus’, Oedipus’ believed father, death. Oedipus is told of this and is relieved, as this is a sure sign that the prophesy will not be true. The messenger then tells Oedipus that his father really was not his father, and Oedipus questions the messenger on how he knows this. The messenger explains that Oedipus was “A gift he took you from these hands of mine” (Sophocles 1553). The messenger saved Oedipus by bringing him to Polybus instead of leaving him to die. Oedipus tells Jocasta of this new information and how he plans to find out more, and Jocasta pleads with him to leave it alone. Finally, the herdsman is brought in to answer Oedipus’ questions. The herdsman is hesitant at first, but eventually tells Oedipus the truth. He was the one who gave a baby to the messenger, the baby who was left to die by Laius and Jocasta. It is now clear to Oedipus that this horrid oracle is true, and it is his life. Oedipus sets off to kill Jocasta, but is shocked to find that she has committed suicide. All of this information plus his mother’s suicide has caused Oedipus so much mental distress

When he talks you can feel a sense of trust as Michael Pennington presents Oedipus as such a loud fluent speaker, but the use of Sophocles puns add a tone of dramatic irony to the play for instance his last line ‘I see it all’ just before he plunges his own eyes out..

So in conclusion Oedipus the King ends up knowing who and what he is. He ends up knowing where he came from, all to end up losing in the end because he had married his mother and killed his father.It is easy to lead a life of luxury and heroic actions, but to live one thats is a lie and not realize that a person has ended up exactly where they didn't want to be is

It was at this point in the play that the true story begins to unfold and Oedipus begins to

The Greeks must have cared very deeply about understanding and receiving knowledge. It seem like the truth was a terrifying concept they used to examine tragedy in a human being. I think Oedipus comes to realize that he is in realization of tragedy that couldn’t possibility be true. This play highlight a heroic king that end up a humbled man by tragedy. Tiresias appears to hold all the answer and doesn’t hesitate to let Oedipus know it.

In Leviticus chapter 18, God is instructing Moses regarding His law and giving certain ordinances against unlawful sexual conduct. There are several deviances that the Lord forbade in His instructions to Moses, all of which are outlined specifically in Leviticus 18. Some of these ungodly sexual practices were things such as incest, adultery, homosexuality, and fornication. Unfortunately, these things are increasingly present in this modern age, a time in which sin is becoming more and more ramped by the day. Homosexuality is being promoted as a trend among the media, things such as pre-marital sex and fornication is on the rise and even promoted, and committing adultery is seen as acceptable in certain circumstances. To begin His rules against such practices, God calls

When we look at the Denouement of the play I would say that it occurs when Oedipus completely realizes what he has done and proceeds to gouge out his eyes with the brooch from the dress of his lifeless mother. Oedipus decides that he thinks it would be better to never be able to see again that to commit suicide. In the end and the last moments of the play Oedipus is ultimately banished from his home.

As the story continues on, it is as if Oedipus life is unraveling to him and to the audience. Throughout the remainder of the story, bits and pieces of Oedipus life are revealed to him, in some cases by

This point of the story is the climax, when the action reaches a final crisis, because it is clear that Oedipus’ prophecy came true after so many years and after the attempts of avoiding it failed. The falling action, event leading to the resolution, consists of Oedipus stabbing his eyes out and then being banished. The plot goes from having Oedipus having a good status among the townspeople and audience to him look like the murderer, back to him not looking so much like the murderer, to finally having him be the murderer. This plot keeps the audience entertained and engaged into the play, and this allows the audience to immediately understand the theme behind the play. The plot is also based heavily on the idea of having an inescapable fate

"Oedipus the King" is a tragic play showing a shift from the belief of fate to freedom of choice. Therefore, Oedipus the king is a great example of those who run from fate ends up fulfilling their fate

However a person had commented that he was adopted, so he decided to go home and ask. Of course King Polybus and Queen Merope denied it, so he decided to go to Thebes to discover the truth about his parents. On the way there he meets Oracles and she informs him that he will murder his father and marry his mother and have intimate moments with her. In that moment Oedipus got terrorized and decided to never go back to Corinth. On his way to Thebes he comes to presence with an old man and five servants, but he old man made Oedipus furious and assassinated him and four of the servants. The only servant alive lies to Queen Jocasta about her husband’s death by stating that he was eliminated by a gang. Oedipus then meets Sphinx and has a riddle, if Oedipus answers accurate, it will cause Sphinx to fall off the mountain and pass away because of that all the citizens of Thebes then saw Oedipus as a hero. “Then he married the widowed queen, seized the reins of government and generously did his best to bring peace and prosperity back to the troubled land.” (Barstow 1912)

The messenger enters telling the king that “They’re dead” meaning Haemon is dead. The Chorus leader asks the messenger who the killer was but, the messenger responds that Haemon took his own life. Haemon was impelled to kill himself because of his father, Creon. When the messenger announces the news the chorus leader asks, “And who is the killer, who the killed? Speak! Haemon has fallen, bloodied’ by no stranger’s hand. Whose hand? His father’s, or his own? His own, driven by the death his father caused...Look, now, I see poor Eurydice, Creon’s wife on her way here out from the palace: has she heard about her son or has she come by chance?” (318) Eurydice enters the palace learning about the deaths of Antigone and Haemon. We can see how once again learning and gaining wisdom leads to suffering. After learning of the deaths of Antigone and Haemon Eurydice becomes suicidal and kills herself. Just like in Antigone how learning and gaining wisdom leads to suffering it can also be seen in Sophocles Oedipus the King.