Oedipus The King Research Paper

In the early beginning before King Oedipus’s reign of Thebes lived Cadmus. Cadmus was the first Greek hero to be advised and mentored by the oracle at Delphi and was assigned to build a city called Thebes. Cadmus constructed the city of Thebes and was the first King to reign over the city. However, Cadmus encountered a dragon who guarded the well outside of the cities walls and killed it, little did he know, the dragon happened to be Apollo's favorite dragon. For his unfortunate actions, Apollo cursed Cadmus and his family for many generations to come, in which, the queen and king of Thebes would bear a child who would kill his father and marry his mother. A few generations later King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes bore a baby. King

Sophocles', Oedipus the King, is a fatal story about a king named Oedipus who does everything in his power to avoid the commands of the prophecy; murdering his own father and marrying his own mother (Sophocles, 45), however, destiny pushes Oedipus towards the path he was destined to follow by the god Apollo and he ended up realizing how he had already done such catastrophes without even realizing it before. According to D'Holbach, all of one's life experiences are pre-determined and are not free of choice (D'Holbach, 1772 [80]). However, Sider would argue that it includes how the person's character reacts to their desires of the certain situation (Sider, 130). D'Holbach would state how Oedipus' destiny was pre-determined since before he was

In terms of the human experience, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave reveals that most humans would rather know the truth and suffer rather than be fed a lie for their entire lives. This idea is reflected in Sophocles’’ Oedipus the King because Oedipus seeks the truth and suffers greatly when it is found. Plato’s four stages of awareness are necessary for the final form of the good, which is the truth, to be found. In both the Allegory of the Cave and Oedipus the King, these four stages of awareness; Imagination, Belief, Reason, and Understanding, take a vital role in explaining Oedipus’ suffering.

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.

Ever since the dawn of time, it appears that psychics and fortunetellers attempt to predict the future. Some people believe that these fortunetellers benefit people in allowing the freedom of choice when dealing with an important decision. The classic Greek play, “Oedipus the King,” by Sophocles, demonstrates this belief of predicting the future. Along with this argument comes the question of whether we truly have the freedom of choice. According to Bernard Knox, Oedipus had only one freedom throughout the play: the freedom of pursuing the truth. He believes that this sets up the tragedy and drama of the play. He further goes into saying how this freedom reveals his “courage, intelligence, perseverance, the qualities that make human beings

“How dare you disrespect the king of Corinth,” the servant shouted at Oedipus. If the servant never pushed Oedipus out of the way for Laius, Oedipus wouldn’t have killed laius leaving the group of servants at fault. Oedipus ran away from home because of what the Oracle had told him. The servant, not knowing who Oedipus is, caused the anger and started the tragedy.

Oedipus the King conveys the moral lesson of the catastrophe that results when human determination struggles to change fate. Humans are mortals, not always strong, and are fallible; the gods are not mortal, always strong, and are infallible. These differences plainly collide when Jocasta and Oedipus attempt to avoid their fates- what the “gods themselves have decreed.” Oedipus and Jocasta should have just submitted and not have had so much confidence in themselves; but, they are human, and could not change that which is predetermined. Thus, to the people of Thebes, their actions were blasphemous and offensive to the gods.

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

Oedipus was a great king to his city. He was devoted to helping find a cure from the people, he was a family man and he always stuck to the rules. All these great qualities about Oedipus, and yet he was still very flawed. Oedipus was very stubborn and hard headed, he mostly never listened to anyones opinion and believed he was always right. He was also prideful and had a temper. All of these qualities get the best of him as the play goes on.

Irony is “incongruity between the actual results of a sequence of events and the normal or expected results (Merriam – Webster).” This means that a person may think that something is going to happen based on what they see or what they believe, when in reality the exact opposite happens. Irony can be further specified as dramatic or tragic irony. These types of irony often occur in plays, stories, and movies; where viewers or readers are led in one direction and director or author reveals different results than what is expected. The sudden twists and turns create drama and keep people interested thus, deserving the name dramatic irony.

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.

Oedipus was a thoughtful king in the book Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles. Before Oedipus was born, Laius and Jocasta (Parents of Oedipus, King and Queen of Thebes) went to go see Apollo. Reason being, they wanted to talk to Apollo to see what future was ahead for their family. He told them that their baby (Oedipus) would end up killing his father Laius and marrying his mother Jocasta. Them hearing such awful news, they pierced his feet together and gave him to a servant/shepherd to leave him in the woods to die. Baby Oedipus was given to another shepherd, from corinth, out of pity and was then given to his adoptive parents, Polybus and Merope (King and Queen of Corinth).

Blindness is the downfall of the hero Oedipus in the play “King Oedipus” by Sophocles. Not only does the blindness appear physically, but also egotistically as he refuses to acknowledge

"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.