Analyzing Kurt Fosso's 'Oedipus The King'

The theme of sight and blindness is undoubtedly important to notice while reading Oedipus the King. The number of times the words “see” or “blind” are in the play make it make it undeniably obvious that they are significant. The theme is developed throughout the dialogue, through characters such as Tiresias and Oedipus, and also directly in the irony of the play. It is important in a play about the truth because almost every character was “blind” to the truth. All of the characters, except one, can physically see, but mentally cannot see the truth.

Throughout history philosophers and common men have wondered where they fit in the world. Ideas of divine guidance and self-made men are prevalent in many societies dating back to pre-biblical times. These ideas are explored in Sophocles' Oedipus The King as Oedipus runs from his destiny only to come full circle to the gods’ plans for him. The symbolic and literal struggle of Oedipus’ fate puts into perspective the limits of free will and how much is pre-determined.

Those who believe they can triumph over fate deserve to be crushed by the overwhelming weight of reality that will come crashing down on them. Ordinarily confidence yields benefit in moderation, however, it proves damaging when used excessively. Oedipus the King was written by Sophocles thousands of years ago as a cautionary tale about hubris. As a king, Oedipus rules over the city of Thebes with an arrogant attitude and believes that he can defy the gods. Through the events of the novella, Oedipus lost everything after uncovering that he killed his father and had children with his mother. Conversely the real downfall of Oedipus came from his pride and failure to handle the situation carefully. Oedipus fills the archetype of tragic

The Theme Of Courage “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are”(E.E Cummings). Courage is a crucial theme in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee indicates that real courage is the ability to stand up for what one believes in even in fear. Although courage is misinterpreted by the narrator Jean Louise Finch (Scout) and her older brother Jeremy Finch (Jem) near the beginning of the novel, they soon come to understand what real courage really is.

Oedipus’ disgustingly brutal fate makes us question whether or not he actually deserved it. Kennedy and Dana Gioia’s include this point in their criticism on Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King”. I completely agree with what they state. They bring up the interesting point how the tragedy makes us (the audience) feel somewhat sympathetic for Oedipus’ horrific inevitable fate. They mention how “we are not altogether sorry” for Oedipus downfall. We are led to believe this because he does show hubris and impiety a few times in the tragedy, but we also know that every person has flaws. This makes us feel like he possibly did not deserve the tragic fate that he received. They mention how “Oedipus does not curse God and die.” Instead of doing this he accepts

Oedipus is a man of unflagging determination and perseverance, but one who must learn through the working out of a terrible prophecy that there are forces beyond any man’s conceptualization or control. Oedipus’ actions were determined before his birth, yet Oedipus’ actions are entirely determined by the Gods who control him completely. In the beginning of this tragedy, Oedipus took many actions leading to his own downfall. He tried to escape Corinth when he learned of the prophecies that were supposed to take place in his life. Instead, he

Equally important to the role of fate in bringing about the downfall of Oedipus is the human flaw of arrogance that clouded Oedipus’ intellect to reason. One can ultimately see this human flaw in the beginning of the play as he says “Here I am myself – you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus” (p 262, line 7-9). One day Oedipus heard someone say that he wasn’t his father’s son in which bothered him greatly and triggered his curiosity in whether Polybus and Merope were his biological parents. So, as a way to figure out his identity and true origins, he left to Delphi to see the Oracle. However, instead of answering Oedipus’ answer of who his true parents were, the Oracle told him of his fate that “You are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see – you will kill your father the one who gave you life” (p. 297, lines 873-875). Hence, his arrogance is clearly showed as he disregards the prophecy, similar to the actions of Laius and Jocasta by escaping it, as he abandons Corinth and sets forth to a place where he “would never see the shame of all those oracles come true” (p. 297, lines 879-880). His flaw of

We’ve all heard how much teenagers LOVE texting; some may say teens think it's even more important than other tasks at hand. One of them being, driving. Well, driving is indeed an important aspect in many people's lives, they even dream of the day that they are going to drive. But some don't realize that driving comes with a ton of responsibilities. The most important of them is, staying safe.

An example of Oedipus’s firm decision to find the truth can be seen when he chose to ignore

Oedipus is the classic example of the man whose central problem is that he does not know himself; he is blinded by his pride. This vision of Oedipus is supported throughout the play, especially through his prideful characterization and argument with Tieresias.

Throughout the vast history of literature, various concepts have come and gone. The idea of fate or fatalism has been a concept that has survived the test of time. Numerous characters have succumbed to the power of fate and the character of Oedipus from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a prime example of the vast power of fate within literature. Sophocles effectively depicts the wrath of fate as he portrays how Oedipus fell victim to fate and his efforts to disregard fate were futile. Once again fate manages to triumph and displays no character whether king or slave can avoid its gaze.

Oedipus is a determined ruler, intuitive, and slightly impulsive. He is a tragic hero, considering his noble birth; as well as his tragic flaw. His stubbornness, uncontrolled outrage, or pride are all possible and credible flaws. In all respects Oedipus is determined, he shows this determination while solving the sphinx’s riddle, and when he persistently searches for King Laius’ murder; even though it leads to the discovery of his fate. Oedipus shows true leadership qualities of intuitiveness: “I wasn’t asleep, dreaming. You haven’t wakened me- I have wept through the nights....I acted at once. I sent Creon, my wife’s own brother...to learn what I might do or say to save our city” ( p. 265, line 77-84) when plague rips throughout his kingdom. Oedipus would be considered a good ruler, because he saved the city from destruction, and constantly knows what is the best for his kingdom. Regardless of his governing skills, he still manages to fulfill the prophecy made years before, and upset Apollo at the same time. Apollo then sets the plague in his city until the murderer is punished. Therefore, it's a never ending circle of Oedipus’s fate, that lead to more choices, and rash decisions. Oedipus acts impulsively when he kills a man on a crossroad, because he had a fit of road rage. One could argue, that if Oedipus wasn't so impetuous,he wouldn’t have killed his father, and there would be no need for a new king. Ultimately avoiding his fate of killing his father, and marrying his mother. Tiresias is an oracle, who delivers prophesies. He is calm, rational, and wise. He shows how calm he can be, even while Oedipus was ranting angrily “Nothing! You, you scum of the earth, you’d enrage a heart of stone! You won’t talk? Nothing moves you? Out with it, once and for all!” and Tiresias replies “You criticize my temper… unaware

What is the reason for Oedipus’s downfall? Is he putting himself in this tragic situation or is it his fate from the gods for his mighty downfall. Oedipus the king is a play that explores these questions as to whether an individual’s fate and destiny is determined by an outside force or if the individual determines it. Oedipus is the protagonist and fate or even himself is the antagonist. There are good reasons for both circumstances to be correct and that’s what I am going to explain today. Oedipus along his journey runs into a lot of problems. First he runs into a lot of obstacles such as hearing news form people about himself that he didn’t know. This is an example of fate because these people just happened to come about and know about these things at different parts on his journey. On the other hand Oedipus gets himself in this situation by thinking to highly of himself and going overboard when he makes difficult decisions and that’s why he could of put himself in this situation.

Sophocles states that “Fate has terrible power. You cannot escape it by wealth or war. No fort will keep it out, no ships outrun it.” Fate derives from a Latin word, fatum, meaning that one’s future is predetermined. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles unfolds the misfortune of a noble king who searches for knowledge. Evidently, Greek heroes like Oedipus are destined to rule, but are also bound to fall, therefore, he cannot alter his own fate. This tragic play proves that the power of fate is indeed stronger than one’s free will. Despite his attempts to fight his destiny, Oedipus can never outrun his fate. Regardless of his parents’ desperation to evade the predicted outcome, fate guides his journey for knowledge, leading to his destruction.

In Oedipus the King, the theme of fate vs free will appears all through the play. Oedipus throughout the play tries to avoid his inevitable fate, which ironically seems to make his fate come