Compare Oedipus Rex And The Kite Runner

In Aristotle’s Poetics, Aristotle gave definition of tragedy as well as a tragic hero. He defined the tragic hero as a man whose misfortunes were coming through his own mistakes, also known as hamartia, not through evils or external conflicts (Aristotle’s Tragic Terms). Ancient Greek tragic heroes were fated by the gods, and experienced their downfalls in different ways. Two classic tragic heroes are Oedipus and Achilles that both of them tied with Apollo’s oracles. Although Oedipus and Achilles have different backgrounds and identities, they both try to escape from their fates, but then prove the God’s

   Oedipus Rex and King Lear are, as their titles announce, both about kings. These two plays are similar in theme and in the questions they pose to the audience. The kings in each play both fall from the pinnacle of power to become the most loathed of all classes in society; Oedipus discovers that he is a murderer and committer of incest, and Lear becomes a mad beggar. Misjudgments occur in both plays, and the same questions about the gods, fate, and free will are posed. In spite of these similarities, however, the final effects of these two plays differ greatly.

“Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him.” In other words, the connotation of this anonymous quote states that despite whatever one chooses to decide, the outcome of their choices and decisions will still result to their predetermined fate. Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the King, demonstrates this statement throughout the play in the role of his tragic hero Oedipus. In the course of Oedipus’ actions of trying to escape his predestined fortune, his fate and flaws of being human played major roles to bring about his downfall.

It is amazing how two literary works from different time periods and different cultures can portray the same theme. A major theme in both The Kite Runner and Oedipus Rex is the limits of free will. The way Khaled Hosseini portrays the theme in The Kite runner is the way that the majority of Pashtuns treat the Hazaras, they are either treated as objects that people can do whatever they want with, they are treated as second class citizens or they are servants to the Pashtuns. In Oedipus Rex, the way that the theme is portrayed is that Oedipus is bound to a prophecy that he heard when he was a child.

Fate determines each person’s will that believe it is meant to happen. In the book, In the

In both Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, and Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, the themes of fate as well as death are explored in different ways and treated differently to accomplish the author’s purpose. The theme of fate is in Oedipus Rex when he finds out who his parents are and is present in The Kite Runner when Amir finds out how close Hassan and him really are. The theme of death is present in Oedipus Rex when he kills his parents and present in the Kite Runner when different members of his life die. Both of these themes have different significance to the authors and their works. Those are two themes present in Oedipus Rex and The Kite Runner.

“Who am I?” This has become the essential question asked in each literary work The Kite Runner and Oedipus Rex. Striving to find who they are the characters, Oedipus and Amir, try to figure out what they have become through their separate journeys. Most of their conclusions rely on the fact that both characters continue to look back into their past. The constant theme in both the novel and the tragedy is continuously looking into the past. Both characters constantly look at the past in ways such as their relationship with their father, the wrong choices they have made, and the secrets that lie in the family.

Many people believe that fate has planned out their lives and despite efforts on their part what was meant to happen, will eventually happen. This belief has been handed down over the centuries from some of the first civilizations, such as the Greeks. However, not all Greek citizens wanted destiny to take control of their lives. Some decided to choose freewill over the will of the gods. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles writes a cautionary tale meant to warn the doubters in Greek society that regardless of their beliefs in gods and prophecies, it is necessary to heed their warnings. Oedipus, Jocasta, and Laius are Sophocles’ characters that prove that escaping one’s fate is not possible, as each of their predicted fates is realized despite extensive efforts to thwart them.

Fate is defined as the development of events beyond a person’s control. In “Oedipus the King,” Sophocles, tells us about a tragic hero (Oedipus) in which his life is predetermined by fate, because he is deprived of free will. The first act of fate on Oedipus was him being saved by a shepherd when his parents (Queen Jocasta and King Laius) left him in the mountains to die, he then met and killed his father without knowing who he was, and last, he married Queen Jocasta, later realizing that she was his mother. Every action that Oedipus took to prevent his fate, would soon be the ultimate downfall, not only for himself, but for his family and the people of Thebes.

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

Starting off with The Kite Runner, there are more clues of fate than those in Oedipus Rex’s story. For example, the simple kites in the story represent fate and prophecy pointing out themes from the beginning. Amir and Hassan had always been best friends, like brothers. They played together they had

Fate and free will are two topics that are often questionable because they go hand in hand. Fate is a belief that a certain event is said to happen, then that person's choice and free will lead them to what has been predicted as inevitable. Knowing whether something is fate’s fault or the fault of the person who’s going to enact the said action, is one question that has never been fully answered. In Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Shakespeare's Macbeth, fate is determined by their own choices and free will, the character Macbeth knows of what lies ahead of him, making him alter the present to create his idealistic future, however instead he lives a life of ruins. As for Oedipus his entire actions are based on one prophecy he desperately

Oedipus’ fate is foretold by the gods and he tries quite desperately to escape said fate whereas Amir entirely determines his own fate. In Oedipus Rex, the author facilitates a sense of powerless in humankind via making Oedipus’ downfall inexorable. Despite Oedipus’ disempowerment he still attempts to redeem himself disregarding the fact that his fate was foretold by the higher powers that be. This makes Oedipus an immensely pitious character and quite frankly disempowers

No one can deny freewill of a person totally, so as fate. But as I m in favor of Oedipus, the protagonist of ancient Greek play “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles. I think here in it, fate is more responsible for Oedipus’ end.

When comparing Oedipus and Medea we see the battle of good versus evil, as there is in any story that has a heroic or non heroic figure in the, but this time it is a little bit different from a normal good versus evil story since they are of course both tragedies. The question, in these stories, is whether or not Oedipus or Medea display any heroic qualities during the tragic battles, and the answer is yes but also no. As we know, there are many differences between Medea and Oedipus, but they both end up destroying everything they love and cherish around them because of the choices that they have made with the poor judgment that they had while they were fueled by anger.