Examples Of Justice In Oedipus The King

In the story of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is the protagonist and he demonstrates a very amazing character. When it comes to justice or injustice to Oedipus he seems to lean towards justice. The king of Thebes, Oedipus, portrays his justice in different manners.

murder. He tells Creon "you will find me a firm ally, and together we shall exact vengeance for our land and for the god?And with the help of God, we shall find success ? or ruin" (5) He knew what his duty was and that was what he wanted to follow. He needed to save thousands of people and Oedipus would go to any means to save them. This is an innocent person and a trustworthy King. "My words are uttered as a stranger to the act, a stranger to its tale"(7). He tells us that he cannot solve the "riddle the very skill that proved him great" (11). He cannot do it alone. Why is this? If he is so guilty of this crime and he is the "murderer that he seeks" then why does he go on with the search? (10). The reason is that he does not know that he has caused the grief for his people. He does not know that he is the murderer. "Ask what you wish. I am not the murderer.", is what he uttered to Creon because he believed that he was not the murderer (14). The fault behind Oedipus? fate lies partly on Apollo and on the prophecy that he was told. Had he been blind to that prophecy he would have remained in Corinth and ruled as a true ruler. He would not have wed his mother nor murdered his father. But why do these things happen to Oedipus? Why when he tries to be the best does he get the worst? His fate led him there. He was doomed to follow the prophecy at

As the play proceeds and Oedipus is passed from hand to hand, he eventually ends up in the home of King Polybus and Queen Merope were he grows into a young man being fed the lie that they were his true parents. When Oedipus is told the prophecy that he will kill his father he flees in an attempt to avoid the murder. However, as fate would have it he ran to a crossroad where he fulfilled the prophecy killing King Laius, his true father. While Oedipus continues to run he meets Jocasta, his birth mother, whom he eventually marries and has children with. If Jocasta had kept Oedipus as a baby and raised him or just killed him herself there would have been no chance of the prophecy coming true.

Although he is clever man, he is blind to the truth. Even though he did not know that Laius and Jocasta are his parents, He still kills a man old enough to be his father and marry a woman old enough to be his mother. One would think that a man with a disturbing prophesy over his head as Oedipus should be very careful about whom he marries or kills. The fact that a tragic hero is not perfect evokes both pity and fear. Oedipus although being a good father, husband, and son, he unwillingly destroys his parents, wife and children. Oedipus is human, regardless of his pride, his intelligence or his stubbornness and the audience recognize his humanity in his agonizing reaction to his sin. Watching this, the audience certainly moved to both pity and fear, pity for this broken man and fear that his tragedy can be their own.

“Oedipus Rex” is a play written by Sophocles. At the start of the play, the people of Thebes were asking Oedipus, their King, for help because the city was suffering; the crops were wilting, children were conceived stillborn, and women died from giving birth. Oedipus sent Creon, his brother-in-law, to Delphi to ask the oracle of Apollo about what can save their city. Creon came back and told Oedipus that, in order to save the city, Apollo orders the death or banishment of the person who murdered the former ruler of Thebes, Laius. A close reading of the text shows that justice does not choose who to hurt, so long as it can prevail.

Throughout the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is faced with many problems. From the start of the play we are aware that Oedipus comes from a very messed up family line. As Lauren Silberman says, “Oedipus suffers the most grotesquely perverted family relationships imaginable”(Silberman 2). Oedipus has married his own mother after killing his father. Making Oedipus a husband and a son to Jocasta. Not only that, Oedipus also had four kids with his mother, making him a father and and a brother. When Oedipus found out what his prophecy was in the beginning of the play, he tried to avoid his fate by leaving Corinth and never returning because, he thought his parents were the king and queen. Ironically when he was leaving Corinth for good he

Finding out who his true father is seems important for someone who has just been told he will kill his father. Nor is Oedipus particularly intelligent about the way he conducts himself. Even though he did not know that Laius and Jocasta were his parents, he still does kill a man old enough to be his father and marry a woman old enough to be his mother. One would think that a man with as disturbing a prophesy over his head as Oedipus would be very careful about who he married or killed. Blindly he pursues the truth when others warn him not to; although he has already fulfilled the prophesy, he does not know it, and if he left well enough alone, he could continue to live in blissful ignorance. But instead he stubbornly and foolishly rummages through his past until he discovers the awful truth. In this way, Jocasta 's death and his blindness are his own fault.

Once Oedipus finds out the truth regarding his birth and parents he has to come to realization that the course he so desperately tried to avoid came to pass. He killed his father and married his mother the fate the gods had in store for him ultimately came true. Although he tried to change the outcome by fleeing the parents he thought was his parents. Oedipus lacked the insight as well

Fate is the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. It is a very common theme used in literature. We’ve seen examples from stories such as: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Iliad. We’ve been reading Oedipus the King written by Sophocles. My main thesis that I would be talking about is if: Oedipus was actually a victim of fate, or did he deserve what he got.

Oedipus did not know that his mother was going to be his wife. He was told from when he was only the prince of Corinth that he will end up sleeping with his mother. During the investigation of King Laius, the blind prophet is providing a detailed crime scene and interviewing the only eyewitness to his murder. In curiosity, Oedipus asks about who his biological parents are so he can finally know the truth and settle the rumors. The Theban Shepherd confirms that his parents are in fact Laius and Jocasta. Oedipus and Jocasta have not seen each other since the day he was born. Many years ago, she gave her three-day-old infant to her servant to be killed because she knew about the prophecy. Behind her back, the servant gives Oedipus to a childless royal couple living their separate lives without knowing each other. Jocasta tried to change their destiny, but their fate was already chosen for them. Regardless of Oedipus knowing that his wife was his mother, he still committed incest. “But now all god-deserted, born in sins, in incest joined with her who gave

Oedipus was informed by an oracle that he would be the one to murder his father and marry his mother. It is important to know that Oedipus is a descendant of the first King of Thebes and because of this several of his relatives have met tragic deaths by taking unwarranted actions into their own hands. Before Oedipus was born his father Laius was told by the same oracle not to have any children by his wife Jocasta which he did anyway. This was not a situation that originated with Oedipus; it seems that this type of fate is destined to be intertwined in this family’s bloodline.

A plague has stricken Thebes. The citizens gather outside the palace of their king, Oedipus, asking him to take action. Oedipus replies that he already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle at Delphi to learn how to help the city. Creon returns with a message from the oracle: the plague will end when the murderer of Laius, former king of Thebes, is caught and expelled; the murderer is within the city. Oedipus questions Creon about the murder of Laius, who was killed by thieves on his way to consult an oracle. Only one of his fellow travelers escaped alive. Oedipus promises to solve the mystery of Laius’s death, vowing to curse and drive out the murderer.

The pursuit of justice is an endeavor that many find to be challenging and a quest itself, as one will come across various trials and complications that may stop them in their pursuit or may mislead them. As humans, we find moral correctness and righteousness a very appealing state to be in, as justice will act as a platform to satisfy the desire for this correctness. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, we meet our miserable anti-hero, Oedipus, in his pursuit for truth and righting the wrong of the plague that is affecting his people of Thebes. As he makes efforts to solve this problem, he comes to find out that he is the source of the issue, thus exposing the tragic flaw of Oedipus and effectively making this play a very effective Greek tragedy. This pursuit of righteousness ends up being the downfall of Oedipus. In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, Oedipus pursues justice through his realization of his past, his interactions with various characters in the play, and comes to understand more of justice in his situation through his reactions to adversity in this play, in order to portray a questionably successful pursuit of justice.

Oedipus is ashamed of himself and unsatisfied with his situation, even though it is not his fault. The gods wouldn’t have made the prophecies come true without the help of the oracle, which delivered the prophecies to Oedipus’ parents. It is obvious that the gods were planning to this fate before Oedipus’ birth, because through the oracle, they announced the two prophecies while Jocasta was pregnant. Above that, the gods didn’t mention Oedipus’ blindness in their prophecies; but instead, they mentioned only Oedipus’ shameful crimes that involved both the father and the mother. The purpose of this was to make both parents agree to kill their child, for Laius didn’t want to be murdered by his son, and Jocasta didn’t want to marry her son. This fear of terrible destiny led the parents to kill their child. On the other hand, if Laius and Jocasta hadn’t known about the prophecies, they would’ve kept the child, and thus he would know his parents, which makes it impossible for the prophecies to come true.

Sometimes humans are incapable of making the right judgment or judge before we have our fact’s. This kind of judgment can do the damage we cannot reverse. In the play, Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, is one of the prime examples of judging them without knowing facts. Oedipus Rex is a tragedy. A tragedy is a play that portrays a conflict between human beings and some superior, overwhelming force. It ends sorrowfully and disastrously, and the outcome seems inevitable. Oedipus the king, seem to be very quick to react and rage. Thebes is suffering a plague which leaves its fields and women barren. The king of Thebes has sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the house of Apollo to find how to end this plague. Creon returns, bearing good news: once the killer of the previous king, Laius, is found, Thebes will be cured of the plague. After hearing that Oedipus swears he will find the murderer and banish him. At the beginning of the play, Kreon inform’s Oedipus that they need to kill the man who had killed the king Laios in order to get rid of the deadly disease. Laios death will open so many facts that Oedipus isn’t expecting.