Oedipus Rex Downfall

Sophocles wrote “Oedipus Rex” on C. 430 B.C.E as part of a trilogy, Oedipus the King was later translated by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald which still conveyed the dramatic twist of fate in this historic play. The introduction of this play begins with Oedipus’s father Laïos, King of Thebes, being warned through a prophecy that his son will kill him and marry his wife Iocaste, Queen of Thebes. Knowing that this could be his future Laïos try his best to change his fate, not knowing his fate was already doomed. Unable to kill his own son, Laïos orders one of his herdsmen to his three day old son. The herdsman could not find it in himself to commit such as heinous crime, he maims the baby by stabbing him in his foot (this where Oedipus name originates from, which means swollen foot) and gives him to another herdsman so he can Oedipus. Instead of killing Oedipus the second herdsman gives the baby to his king who does not have children and raises baby Oedipus as his own. Oedipus grows up and hears of the prophecy, frightened of his destiny flees from his adopted kingdom of Corinth and winds up back where he is conceived. Since he believes his adopted parents are his biological parents, because he was never told he was adopted, he unknowingly kills his biological father and then saves Thebes from the Sphinx. The people of Thebes rewards Oedipus by making him the King of Thebes and made Iocates his bride. By doing this the prophecy is fulfilled. You have to know where you

Imagine you were told that you killed your own father, and married and had children with your mother; the thought of that is just sickening, but this catastrophe is exactly what happened to Oedipus in “Oedipus the King”. This Greek tragedy shows how unfavorable irony can be, and how it can lead to your own demise. Oedipus has one tragic flaw that leads to his ultimate downfall, and it is his reckless anger. His anger causes his downfall by leading him to kill his father, which leads to the other events that occur in the story. His anger also causes his downfall because it led to his prophecy to come true; the one that his parents wanted to avoid in the first place.

Everyone has, and plays a part, in their destiny. Your destiny could be a part of the average destiny, where you live an average life and so average things. Your destiny could be something great, where you live a great life and do great things. Or your destiny could be much like Oedipus’s destiny and be full of tragedy. Oedipus destiny ends with him killing his father and marrying, and having kids with, his mother. Oedipus’s destiny ends it tragedy, it ends in his downfall, his demise. Many people played a part in making this fate, this demise, come true. Many people did not know they were doing it either. In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’s demise is ultimately caused by himself, his biological parents (King Laius and Queen Jocasta) and the Shepherd.

Oedipus the King was very hubris, and he was very arrogant. He only cared about himself, he thought that he was better than everybody and that he was on a God level. He married and slept with his mother, then had kids with her. He did not know that it was his mother at the time. But after he did realize it was, he knew that his family was cursed. Oedipus stabbed out his eyes hoping he would never have to see their faces again because he knew that it was wrong. But that didn't stop anything, the gods didn't stop there. Years later, and after Oedipus moved away from Thebes, both of his sons died in war and Antigone hung herself. His life had become worse than it already was, and nobody thought that it could. Oedipus and his selfish ways led

The Greek drama Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is a play about the king of Thebes who eventually falls from his pedestal after unconsciously destroying his own reputation. Oedipus was a powerful man who was envied by many people. However, they did not know of his personal situations and problems yet glorified him anyway. But after all was revealed, the townspeople realized that “The greatest grieves are those we cause ourselves.” Many obstacles we face in our lives are because of our own doing. Oedipus is a good example of this because the actions he takes in the play bring about his own downfall.

Oedipus starts as a popular King, one that people thought of as intelligent and smart but we soon learn that his fall from grace will be hard and painful. Oedipus' fall will not be by accident but a horrible act of fate. Oedipus is the only one that can be blamed for his failings. His strengths and weaknesses are shown during his downfall from a well-respected King to a man that is exiled from his

Oedipus a man who’s fate was out to get him, the great king of Thebes formerly prince of Corinth. He had to face many struggles in his life that he had well caused, and even though Oedipus tried to escape his fate by leaving Corinth. His true fate lied in Thebes while Corinth was just an obstacle. Oedipus is a man who in a way caused his own fate to be brought out into the light revealing everything. It was all because of Oedipus determination to figure out who killed the great king before him Laios which had turned out to be his father. Oedipus kept on going and going on how important it was to find out whom truly did it, and even though he couldn’t connect the dots. His wife and soon figured out mother did, Jocasta realized that Oedipus was her son and she wanted him to stop searching everywhere so that the truth would not be revealed. It was not come to the light and life could continue to be great. However Oedipus was a man who cared about the people so since he knew what Apollo had said to get rid of the disastrous Plague in Thebes Oedipus went on and on. Not stopping until the truth was revealed and when it was, the despair Oedipus felt was unbelievable. Some people might say that Oedipus could have just been a man who fell into his fate as it was already written for him, however Oedipus can actually be classified as a man who brought out his own fate because of his determination to find Laios killer and find out the truth of who he truly was.

Carved into the entrance of the Oracle at Delphi are two phrases, words of advice and caution for “Know yourself” and “Nothing too much”. Delphi plays an important part in the story of Oedipus, the oracle is where the all-important prophecy is twice delivered and where the kings of Thebes seek solutions for the people’s torments. Oedipus’s fatal flaw is that by seeking to fulfill his duty as king and his own natural curiosity he has learned too much about himself.

Oedipus has had a continuous downfall since the beginning of his life. It is not until the Messenger from Corinth visits, the Shepherd that gave Oedipus to his adoptive parents is questioned, and the acknowledgment of who he is that Oedipus’s downfall really begins. Oedipus fell from a King that everyone respected and loved to a murderer of his father and a husband to his mother (Scene 4.1118-1123). His downfall was not just his reputation being ruined amongst his people, but his mental and physical well-being ruined as well. Oedipus is described as not being himself and “Hunting the wife who was not his wife, the mother/Whose womb had carried his own children and himself/I do not know: it was none of us aided him/But surely one of the gods

Oedipus was not perfect though he was amazing he still had human emotion and human flaws. You would probably say Oedipus flawed was his self-confidence but as you go deeper in the novel arrogance is the main reason fall his downfall. His arrogance leads him to search for the truth that destroys his life at the end. With Oedipus being very prideful and cocky also, this made him seem prejudice. Oedipus goodness goes out much farther than his position in the kingdom of Thebes. The feeling of power booted his self-esteem up which lead to his downfall and what drove him into the position he was at the end.

Throughout the play, Oedipus showcases his undeniable ability to grow enraged, frustrated and in various cases very close minded; this self-coping mechanism however is not part of a hamartia he may have endured that lead to his demise. His ultimate outcome actually was anything but his own doing for his destiny was predetermined by powers inexplicably greater than his existence.

Throughout Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus’ failure to appreciate the limitations of his knowledge makes a terrible situation much worse for both himself and the people of Thebes. Because Oedipus’s confidence in his knowledge is bolstered by his defeat of the Sphinx, he ignores the truth told from the gods’ prophet Tiresias and the loyalty of Creon, which brings destruction upon himself and his people.

Anyone who believes that they can best fate deserves 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 hero because suffered from hubris, had some free choice, received pity, and was doomed from the start.

In my first evaluation of Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles I was immediately intrigued by the sequence of events that produce the play. A King of Thebes by the name of Oedipus first seeks for a cure for the plague that is currently ruins Thebes but later gets consumed with his own identity. He eventually learns that he unknowingly fulfilled a prophecy that predicted he would kill his father and bed his mother. Oedipus is so horrified by his past actions that he gouges out his own eyes and wishes to be exiled from Thebes. His wife and mother, Jocasta, likewise kills herself when Oedipus learns of her identity, after warning him not to pry further. Because serval other characters predicted the truth and warned Oedipus of the horridness, I was surprised when Oedipus acted the way he did when finally accepting the truth. I intended to research how ignorance contributes to the downfall of Oedipus and his biological mother and wife Jocasta, in Sophocles’ Oedipus1.

After the truth was now out there, things began to fall apart. One key event that reveals the downfall would be from the very beginning, as the chorus had cried out that even the great king Oedipus has fallen victim towards his destiny. After their cries, even more started to fall as a messenger had entered to tell the chorus what had happened. His messenger was sadly about Queen Jocasta; she had committed suicide and now dead. She locked herself in her room, where she broke down, cried out for the husband, Laius, wept horrifically, and finally hung herself to end her suffering. However, that wasn’t the only bad news the messenger had given. After some time, Oedipus decided to head to the bedroom while it was locked. He yelled out and demanded