The Greek myth of Oedipus is a story surrounding Oedipus, the king of Thebes in Ancient Egypt and his relationship with his family members, specifically his mother and father. There are many different versions of the myth written by Homer and other well-known writers from the Ancient world. Although Oedipus tried very hard not to, he ended up fulfilling a dangerous prophecy, that brought disaster to his family and the city. Laius and Jocasta were king and queen of Thebes, a city in Ancient Egypt. After suffering many years of being childless, Laius visited the Oracle of Apollo who prophesized that if he were to have children, the child would kill Laius. When Jocasta finally bore a son, Laius pierced the baby’s ankles and attached them together …show more content…
The oracle told him that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. In an attempt to escape that fate, Oedipus traveled to Thebes. On his way, Oedipus encountered a chariot driven by Laius. They began to argue when Laius tried to run Oedipus over, so Oedipus killed Laius. Continuing his journey, Oedipus encountered a Sphinx, who wouldn’t let anyone pass without answering a riddle. Oedipus was the first to ever answer this riddle correctly, and was then found by Creon, the brother of Queen Jocasta. He said that whoever is able to get rid of the Sphinx should become the king of Thebes, so he took his recently widowed mother’s hand in marriage. Although the myth goes on further, this is where the story ends in terms of the Oedipus complex (D’aulaire 158). The Oedipus complex is a theory which states that children have a desire of sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite gender, and continuously feud with the parent of the same gender. This is a crucial and normal stage of development. Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist from the mid-1890s to early-1900s introduced this concept in his book titled Interpretation of Dreams. It’s called the Oedipus complex because Oedipus had a desire for sexual involvement with his mother (he married his mother and had children with her) and had a rivalry with his father (he
Oedipus, outraged at the accusation, denounces it as a plot of Creon to gain the throne. Jocasta appears just in time to avoid a battle between the two men. Seers, she assures Oedipus, are not infallible. To prove her point she cites the old prophecy that her son should kill his father and have children by his mother. She prevented its fulfillment, she confesses, by abandoning their infant son in the mountains. As for Laius, he had been killed by robber’s years later at the junction of three roads on the route to Delphi.
Oedipus is the king of Thebes and unknown to him he is married to his mother Jocasta queen of Thebes. He does not realize that many years ago he had killed his real father without knowing it. Oedipus is seen as god like to the people of Thebes because it was him who solved the sphinxes riddles. In the play he is accused by Teiresias of killing the king and Oedipus blames his brother in law and kreon of trying to over throw him. Then his wife Jocasta comes into the scene and tells a story of how the king was killed. It is then that Oedipus learns of his childhood and becomes more suspicious then ever. He then calls a shepherd and a messenger to help answer questions. The people tell him to stop asking about the death because he may not like the answer but Oedipus makes the ultimate sacrifice and continues to
So, when Queen Jocasta and King Laius had a son, they left him on Mount Cithaeron to die, but a shepherd took and gave him to the king and queen of Corinth. Later in his life, Oedipus got a message from an oracle saying that he would kill his father and marry his mother and believing that the Corinthian king and queen were his parents, he left to Thebes, killed his true father in self-defense along the way, and married his real
Early on in the story, Oedipus is the proud and confident king of Thebes; he is a man that is not to be underestimated or degraded. This once undisputed fact becomes more debatable the longer the play continues, however. The conflict begins with Oedipus attempting to lift a curse that has been unleashed on the kingdom of Thebes. This curse was caused by the murder of the previous king, Laius, and the only way for it to be lifted is for the murderer to be exiled from Thebes. Oedipus works fervently to unravel the mystery behind who Laius’ killer was. However, each new discovery ends up incriminating Oedipus as the killer instead. Along the way Oedipus discovers that his supposed parents, the king and queen of Corinth, are not his true parents. This revelation pushes him to begin a new search for his biological parents, a search that eventually leads him to one of Lainus’ shepherds. It is this shepherd that reveals to King Oedipus that his mother is Jocasta, his current wife. Consequently, Oedipus falls into a fit of despair in which he stabs his own eyes out and confronts the consequences of his shameful existence. By the end of the play, Oedipus has not only lost his status as the king of Thebes, but has also been exiled from the kingdom and has become an outcast for all of society to hate. The transition Oedipus undergoes
When Oedipus was born, he was left on a mountainside to die. The reason his parents did this was, an oracle predicted that he will grow up to be the murderer of his father the King. Oedipus parents did not kill him like they told to, instead Oedipus was found by a Sheppard and taken to the nearby city of Corinth. This is where Oedipus was adopted as the son of the King and Queen. Many years later, Oedipus seeks counsel from the same oracle that predicted his fate. The oracle does not tell him the identity of his true parents, instead tells him that he will kill his biological father and marry his birth mother. To ovoid this prophecy, Oedipus ran away from Corinth back to Thebes. Oedipus reaches a place where three roads meet. He comes across a chariot that was carrying King Laius. At the time he did not know that this man was his father and the King of Thebes. They begin to fight over who has the right to go first, and in self defense Oedipus kills King Laius; unknowingly fulfilling part of the prophecy. After unknowingly killing the King, Oedipus continues on his journey toward Thebes. When he got to the there the city in great distress. He also learned that a monster called the Sphinx was terrorizing the Thebans by devouring them when they failed to answer its riddle correctly. Oedipus not only defeated the Sphinx, which killed itself in rage, but won the throne of the dead king and the hand in marriage of the
Laius and Jocasta were king and queen of Thebes, a town in Greece. They were fu**ing around and Laius forgot to strap his sh**. One day, they had a baby boy. An oracle prophesied that the boy would grow up and kill his father and marry his mother. Laius was like fu** that sh**, that's gay. To thwart the prophecy, Laius and Jocasta decided to kill their baby. They fingered his butt hole and sent him on his way. In those days, it was usual to leave an unwanted or defective baby in the wilderness. Laius and Jocasta did this. To be extra sure, they pierced his little feet and tied them together. (Don't worry about this detail, which makes no sense. It must have been introduced to explain the hero's name.) A kindly shepard found the baby in a pool skimmer. He gave the baby to a friend, who took it to Corinth, another town. (Corinth reappears in the New Testament. Under the category of DVDA, versus 63) The king and queen of Corinth couldn't have a baby of their own. The king had a bad case of the limp dick. So they adopted the foundling. Nobody ever told little Oedipus that his mother was never pregnant. She aborted a kitten in a toilet in the back of a Denver Denny's. One day, after he had grown up, a drunk mentioned his being adopted. Oedipus killed the bum. Oedipus questioned his parents, but they denied it. Oedipus visited various oracles to find out whether he was really adopted. All the oracles told him instead he would kill father and marry his mother. He told them that they were dissin' him so he grabbed his 12 sided double dildo and left town. (None of this makes much sense. Again, don't worry
1. An oracle prophesied that a son born to Laius would kill him and marry his wife.
Oedipus the King is Sophocles’ Greek tragedy about a hero’s demise. Unknowingly born to King Laius and his wife Jocasta, the play entails a self-fulfilling prophecy and the unravelling of the male protagonist. Originally a murder mystery, Oedipus the King gradually develops into a journey of self-discovery. The play Oedipus the King has a major reoccurring theme of the Divine and fate, and this is evident through the worship of the Greek gods, particularly Apollo, as well as the importance of the oracle’s prophecies.
Can we assure ourselves that we know what fate really is? The question of whether fate was predetermined by the Greek gods when one was born, or could the individual choose their fate, is debateable. In both tragedy plays, Agamemnon and Oedipus the King, the oracles indicated that the fate of Agamemnon and Oedipus was ordained. However, we cannot put all liability on the gods. The path that they have decided to take with the decisions that they made, partially led to their downfall. Therefore, they should’ve personally taken responsibility for fulfilling their prophecy.
Having already solved the riddle of the Sphinx, Oedipus, the king of Thebes, is struck with yet another formidably difficult riddle. A plague has struck Thebes and is devastating the entire city. Various oracles and bird entrails suggest that it is because the murderer of the previous king, Laius, still lives unpunished. In attempt to save his kingdom, Oedipus decided to investigate the murder only to discover that he is the one who killed Laius and married his queen, Jocasta. While solving the mystery, he also figures out that Laius was actually his father and Jocasta, whom he had wedded and raised four children with, is his mother, fulfilling an earlier prophecy. Aghast at the truth, Jocasta hangs herself to death and Oedipus gouges his
Prior to Oedipus’s birth, it was prophesied that Oedipus would end up killing his father and marrying his mother. Due to this, Oedipus was abandoned at birth and raised by the King and Queen of Corinth. As he eventually discovered, via a drunken man, that he was not a birth son of theirs, he sought the guidance of the Delphi Oracle to confirm this discovery. In frustration of this prophecy manifesting itself, Oedipus ends up killing an old man, who happened to be his father, King Laius. The death of his father led to the imposition of a plague in Thebes delivered by Apollo, and in attempts to follow proper leadership, Oedipus is determined to apprehend the murderer and remove the plague from Thebes. After Teiresias blamed Oedipus for the
When observing the play “Oedipus The King”, there is no doubt that it is a tragedy. However, it is quite hard for one to tell exactly what kind of tragedy it favors. I am stuck between two that I think could be fitting for this play. “Oedipus The King” could either be a medium or low tragedy. It is obvious that Oedipus is the hero and he fall, but which tragedy does the play fit? To answer this question one needs to weigh the options.
"Know thyself" is a theme that resonates throughout the play "Oedipus the King" by Shakespeare. The main character, Oedipus, experiences and inevitable self-discovering journey that forever changed him internally and life as he knew it. Eventually, his downfall occurred due to his lack of knowledge about those around him, and most of all, himself.
Oedipus is a man whose fate lies in the hands of the gods, who prophesize him to kill his father and lay with his mother. His parents, King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes, are the first to know of this horrendous truth, and take it upon themselves to
Oedipus is a boy who was left on the mountains to die by his own parents, the King and Queen of Thebes, due to a tragic prophecy told by the Oracles of Delphi. The prophecy declares that the boy would be destined to murder his father, king Louis of Thebes and then incest with Louis’s wife, Jocasta, Oedipus mother. After being abandoned on the mountain by his wicked parents, a shepherd found this little child and takes him to the King and Queen. King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth decided that since they don't have a child of their own, it would