Oedipus Tyrannus And 7 Against Thebes Analysis

In his essay, “Introduction to Oedipus the King”, Bernard Knox supports free will by stating that Oedipus’ downfall was not caused by fate. According to Knox there is not a doubt that, “Oedipus is the free agent who, by his own self-willed action, discovers that his own predicted destiny has already been fulfilled” (86). He clearly states that Oedipus is responsible for his free actions during the play. He insists that Oedipus’s made the decisions to discover the truth about himself.

The Greek play, Oedipus the King, shows how easy it is for a man to fall apart, while trying to make things right. Sophocles’ tragedy tells the story of Oedipus, a regular man turned king of Thebes. Throughout the tragedy, Oedipus searches for the cause of the chaos and havoc encompassing his land; however, he discovers that he is the one responsible for the hardships plaguing Thebes. As the tragedy continues, Sophocles’ exposes a dark side to power, fame, and ambition. Further, Sophocles’ exposes the fear that many have of the truth, and exposes the grave danger in hiding from it.

Tragedy can either be the darkest part of life for one person or it can be a learning opportunity for the other person. Of all the tragedies written in the literate, “Oedipus the King” written by ‘Sophocles’ is one of the oldest and the most prominent tragedy written till date. It is the story of the king, who is brutally left to die by his own parents, luckily survived, unknowingly killed his own father and married his mother. Although this story was written 2000 years ago, but it still has a great significance in the modern world. Of the most powerful tragedies of the time, “Oedipus the king” discloses such values and situations as parental aggression, child abandonment, self-confidence, ability to handle trauma, and parent-child intimate relationship that people are struggling with in today’s world. Sophocles reveals these behaviours and incidents through the actions of Oedipus.

The play King Oidipous by Sophocles is essentially timeless, bearing repeated readings over thousands of years. Throughout those years, many discussions about the flaws of humanity and the nature of fate have centered around the tragedy. When discussing the role of fate in a person’s life and the role of a person’s choices in fate, King Oidipous must be split into two separate parts, the past and the present, the cause and the effect. The work essentially has two plots. The first takes place in the past, in which Oidipous kills his father and marries his mother without knowing who they really are, also saving the city of Thebes and becoming king. The second helps Oidipous realize the veracity of these events and focuses

(150)The difference between a “king” and tyrant is the way in which absolute power is wielded by a leader over a kingdom and subjects. Oedipus was once a king because he had heroically saved the people of Thebes from the Sphinx. However, Oedipus becomes a tyrant when he rejects the wisdom of the oracle (and Teiresias) that says he has killed his father and slept with his wife: Teiresias: “You being the impious pollution of this land!” (p.26, 353). After Oedipus has become aware of these accusations, he suddenly loses his heroic demeanor. This is how Oedipus loses his heroic position in Thebes, and becomes a tyrant. After all, Oedipus has enjoyed a long and fruitful reign, and he is unwilling to lose his power over the seemingly suspect message of the oracle. Certainly, this aspect of Oedipus’s leadership shows the differentiation between a good “king” and a tyrant.

In the midst of a rife plague, Athens held their annual Dionysia festival. The festival was comprised of a collocation of dramatic performances honoring the Greek god Dionysus. During the festival in 429 BC a local playwright named Sophocles entered the festivities with his presentation of the tragedy Oedipus Rex. Oedipus the King by Sophocles introduces a city, much like Athens, that is being threatened by a troublesome plague, much like Athens, and whose people are in search for the cause epidemic. After further investigation, it is divulged that their king, Oedipus, is the one who is to blame for the plague. Based on the plot of the play, it is Oedipus fault that Thebes has come down with a sickness. However, when considering the social context of the play and of its audience, it becomes difficult to assign blame to Oedipus beyond a shadow of a doubt. This essay will discuss the evidence brought up against Oedipus in determining his guilt along with reasons why it is near impossible to fault him within the context of the period. Then this essay will conclude with an interpretation of why the question of blame is irrational, but imperative for any city under a faceless threat.

In the famous playwright, Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King”, a Greek tragedy which explores the idea of destiny, Oedipus is a tragic hero, who, in the exploration of his troubled past, discovers the truth of actions that render him guilty of the heinous crimes of murder, and incest. Although Oedipus was not privy to the truth behind his actions, it does not make these crimes any less unlawful, or unethical, proving that Oedipus is guilty of the murder of his father, Laius, and of having an incestuous relationship with his mother, Jocasta.

Sophocles ' play “Oedipus Tyrannus” is an enigma. His play includes incest, murder and self-enlightenment all leading into the main theme of fate. Athenians believed that fate is not left up to man, but that is provided solely on the whims of the gods. Because of his dramatic approach to his plays Sophocles was considered one of the most brilliant and creative writers of his time.

Sophocles’ play, Oedipus the King, has risen many questions concerning the main character and whether or not he acts on free will or if his future is predestined by the gods. I am going to test the theory that although Oedipus believes he is acting on his own free will, he is in fact a victim of the gods. I will analyze several different sources that discuss fate and human agency in Oedipus the King and then proceed to build my original argument on the archaic debate.

The play Oedipus the King by Sophocles explores themes of prophecy and knowledge. In this paper, I shall discuss the interactions between Teiresias and Oedipus in Oedipus the King, and I will elaborate on how Teiresias is more knowledgeable than Oedipus, but does not posses any greater wisdom or practical knowledge. I shall argue that Sophocles does not see Teiresias as superior to Oedipus, in fact they are both in the wrong when it comes to morality and the truth. Throughout the play, Sophocles emphasizes that the acquisition of knowledge is futile in circumventing fate and prophecy, thus he presents a nihilistic argument in matters of agency and choice.

A significant body of work regarding how Xenophon’s Oeconomicus is a response to Aristophanes’ Clouds has been written in the last few decades, beginning with Leo Strauss’s enigmatic book on the dialogue. And while great consideration has gone into the pronounced relationship between these two works, as well as its relation to Xenophon’s treatises on the arts and his Hiero, the fertile Oeconomicus has many more fruits to yield for us regarding a greater understanding of the coherence of the dialogue to Xenophon’s thought.

I intend to research how ignorance contributes to the downfall of Oedipus and his biological mother, Jocasta, in Oedipus Rex1, by Sophocles. During my research, I began with my most urgent question, Is Oedipus responsible for his demise and is it self-inflicted? I chose to use Bernard Knox’s work, Oedipus at Thebes,2 to answer this question because he addresses the conditionality of the events in Oedipus, and how Oedipus’s actions are not products of fate. With a deeper evaluation of his work, I hope to understand the cause and effect of the major events of the play.

Oedipus Rex1, by Sophocles is an ancient Greek play about the tragic tale of a man named Oedipus who unknowingly fulfilled a prophecy claiming he would kill his father and bed his mother. I intend to research how ignorance contributes to the downfall of Oedipus and his biological mother and wife Jocasta, in Sophocles, Oedipus Rex. My original thought on the play were that Oedipus is not a victim of fate, but rather responsible for his own actions involving the fulfillment of the prophecies. There are three major side characters that provide opportunities for Oedipus to learn the truth, Teiresias, Creon, and Jocasta, as well as intentional setting for the play that provides foreshadow. I plan to evaluate these influences to understand the cause and effect of Oedipus’s actions.

Sophocles Oedipus the King is a tragic play which discusses the tragic discovery of Oedipus that he has killed his father and married his mother. The story of Oedipus was well-known to the Athenian's. Oedipus is the embodiment of the perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Oedipus gained the rule of Thebes by answering the riddle of Sphinx. Sophocles used the riddle of the sphinx as a metaphor for the 3 phases of Oedipus' life and to further characterized him as a tragic man. The Sphinx posed the following riddle to all who came to obtain the rule of Thebes: “What is it that walks on 4 feet and 2 feet and 3 feet and has only one voice, when it walks on most feet it is the weakest?” Oedipus correctly answered “Man” and became the king of Thebes. This riddle is a metaphor for the life of Oedipus. As a child man crawls on his hands and knees this is the four feet to which the Sphinx refers. Also, man is at his weakest as a small child. He depends solely on others for his nourishment and well-being. Oedipus was the child of Jocasta and King Laius who was taken to the mountain by a Shepard to be killed so the omen of the god Apollo that Laius' son would kill him and lay with Jocasta would not come true. Oedipus was the weakest of his life at this point.

Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles at approximately 430 BC, is viewed as one of the greatest tragic plays of all time. Greek plays were predominantly performed in religious ceremonies in honor of the Greek Gods. This play, whose plot is fulfilled in a day, engages the audience to ponder on the interactions between fate and free will.  It also captivates the minds of the audience by stimulating thought on the implications of obliviousness and knowledge. Initially, Oedipus, the protagonist believes his decisions would help him evade his fate and exert control over his life. However, contrary to his beliefs, his choices lead him to his fate. This essay will explore Sophocles’ characterization of Oedipus to convey: free will or human choices contribute