Oedipus The King Literary Analysis

Pride,a mere five letter word yet when resides in a person’s soul can blind him to his own faults and eats all his good deeds thus converting him into a beast. Sophocles’ Oedipus The King and Achebe’s Things Fall Apart skilfully mirrors this overbearing characteristic of pride through the stories of Oedipus and Okonkwo.Although both the characters work hard to attain their present fame,respect and honor yet somewhere in between this they forget to keep in check the amount of pride they are incorporating in their spirits until they become addictive of this drug.And slowly and gradually this drug formulates the basis of their tragic endings In Things Fall Apart and Oedipus The King pride functions as a driving force in determining the destruction of Oedipus and Okonkwo.

Oedipus Rex is one of three plays created by tragedian Sophocles. The story opens with a plague, threatening the lives of many in the city of Thebes, Oedipus’ kingdom. Oedipus, the next heir to the throne, addresses this to the people, Creon, also states the suffering crops, As Oedipus says that he is sick too, this shows his hubris. Oedipus is one of Sophocles’ most notable characters due to the fact that he depicts the “tragic hero” archetype. Oedipus’ “hubris” or pride was the cause of his own undoing, that was part of his initial character.

Oedipus Cursing His Son, Polynices is a great work of art created by Henry Fuseli, in 1786. This painting was created in Fuseli’s homeland, Zurich, Switzerland. This painting has a powerful and dramatic purpose to it, and is very interesting to look at.

Intro: - What is it about someone that makes them worthy of our admiration? Why is it that most often people commended by some are despised by others? (Comes down to who we are and what we value as individuals)

The tale of Oedipus and his prophecy has intrigued not only the citizens of Greece in the ancient times, but also people all over the world for several generations. Most notable about the play was its peculiar structure, causing the audience to think analytically about the outcomes of Oedipus’ actions and how it compares with Aristotle’s beliefs. Another way that the people have examined the drama is by looking at the paradoxes (such as the confrontation of Tiresias and Oedipus), symbols (such as the Sphinx), and morals that has affected their perceptions by the end of the play. Nonetheless, the most important aspect is how relevant the story is and how it has influenced modern ideas like that of Freud and other people of today.

Over two thousand years ago in 400 B.C. Sophocles, a Greek dreamer, wrote the story, “Oedipus the King”. One might think that a story that old may be boring or poorly written, but in fact it is very descriptive and entertaining. Sophocles even employs different literary devices to enhance the themes throughout the story. Some of these techniques includes: metaphor, personification, imagery, symbolism, tone, meter, setting, and diction.

In both novels there is many things that would be considered as the main theme in both these works. The theme that is presented in both works is the willingness to ignore the truth.In both stories they try to ignore the wrong that they have done to try to escape from it in some type of way. In Oedipus Rex when Jocasta tells oedipus that she was told that laius was killed by a stranger oedipus knows he was alone. When he killed a man before it calls into question the whole truth seeking process. They both share prophecies that were given to them both similar like when jocasta was told that her son was going to kill his father. Oedipus was given a similar prophecy from an oracle. But they both try to ignore the similarities they don't want to speak about the real truth.They try to continue their normal lives but nothing is the same after the truth comes out.

Throughout Sophocles’s great work, Oedipus the King, Sophocles raises questions regarding of the value of knowledge and its effect on individuals. In the play, Oedipus solves the riddle of the Sphinx, frees the people of Thebes and becomes their King, but only after unknowingly having killed his own father. Oedipus’s lack of knowledge of this fact and his subsequent discovery due to his constant searching drive the play and reveal various ideas regarding the human condition. Various stages of Oedipus’s tragic journey reveal that his knowledge of his lineage and his success can be interpreted through the riddle of the sphinx and on a larger scale illustrated the need for human curiosity to be satiated, no matter the cost.

Oedipus the King was written by Sophocles, one of the most famous writers of ancient Greek tragedies. He is known for adding a third actor to the plays as well as being the first playwright to add scenery to the set. Oedipus the King is believed to have first been performed in 425 B.C. in Greece. It was one of the many plays written by Sophocles that awarded him prizes during drama competitions. “Oedipus the King” tells the story of a King who is destroyed by his own determination to learn the truth of a prophecy. Instead of heeding the warnings about searching for answers about his past, he persists to learn the truth which leads to his demise. His fate was predetermined by the gods.

Oedipus the King by Sophocles’ is intertwined with many powerful themes and messages, establishing what real vision and real sight are. Sophocles’ play also demonstrates that sometimes in life we have to experience great loss in order to rediscover our true selves. In Oedipus’s quest for truth, lack of self-control, ignorance and tragic self-discovery prevail. Physical vision does not necessarily guarantee insight, nor impart truth. Intertwined with dramatic and cosmic irony, all of these elements contribute to the major theme of blindness and sight, depicting wisdom

At least once in their lifetime, everyone will hear something that they do not necessarily want to hear. A person’s natural instinct is to deny information they do not like or that contradicts their beliefs. In the Greek play, Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, the main character, Oedipus, is confronted with information that contradicts his beliefs. In the play, the three instances that Oedipus is confronted with information that contradicts his beliefs is when he is blamed for the murder of Laius, when he meets with Creon, and lastly when he was told the prophecy about marrying his mother and killing his father, and in all of these instances his attitude changes in a bad manner.

Oedipus did not have a fair start in life. His father, Laius, heard prophecy that Oedipus would one day kill his father and sleep with his mother. In order to prevent this, Laius gave Oedipus to a shepherd to be killed. Fortunately, through a string of events, Oedipus's life was saved, and he even went on to become the honored king of Thebes. Despite this feat, Oedipus still managed to make several decisions that ultimately fulfilled the original prophecy told to Laius, and inevitably sealed Oedipus?s fate.

“Oedipus the King” contains many characters with differing characteristics. Some of these characteristics go hand-in-hand with the two main themes in the play.Tiresias and Oedipus in the play “Oedipus the King” are conflicting characters. These two characters illustrate the contrasting the differences of blindness & sight and knowledge & ignorance, and different interpretations of these ideas. The themes blindness & sight and knowledge & ignorance are similar in how they relate to each character.

"Oedipus the King" is a tragic play showing a shift from the belief of fate to freedom of choice. Therefore, Oedipus the king is a great example of those who run from fate ends up fulfilling their fate

Oedipus the King is a Greek tragedy play written by Sophocles, and it made its first debut