Sophocles ' Oedipus And His Fate

The play, Oedipus the King by Sophocles presents a grim hamartia caused from a terrible deed of long ago. Oedipus the protagonist is the powerful King of Thebes and held of high estate by the people of Thebes. As the terrible deed of Oedipus’s becomes apparent to both Oedipus and the City of Thebes his tragic flaw is slowly realized. The play will show “tragic power resides in human failing, hamartia, constantly underpinning any sense of the inevitable” (Walton). The play will show the author’s view of a tragic hero as seen in the play Oedipus the King does exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero.

In Sophocles play Oedipus the King, Sophocles depicts the horrible fate of Oedipus, a pompous, arrogant young ruler. The story begins in the Greek town of Thebes. A plague has descended upon the Thebians causing death and famine throughout the land. Oedipus, being the heroic king, takes full responsibility to find out the cause of their aliments. While working to discover the source of the plague, Oedipus stumbles upon the tragic truth of his heritage and the horrifying implications of his appointment to the throne. Unfortunately for Oedipus, everything ends in tragedy. With the suicide of his mother/wife and the self-inflicted blindness followed by exile from Thebes, Oedipus paved the path to his own

Oedipus the King is a tragedy that displays irony throughout the play. In the play, King Laius and his wife Jocasta learn that in the prophecy their newborn son, Oedipus, will kill his father and marry his mother. In order to prevent the prophecy from occurring, they decide to bind and tie his ankles and then abandoned him. When Oedipus grew up, he eventually learned about this prophecy and decided to leave his parents. What he did not realize was that the parents who raised him were not his biological parents. On his voyage to Thebes, Oedipus ended up in a chariot accident

Many people believe that fate has planned out their lives and despite efforts on their part what was meant to happen, will eventually happen. This belief has been handed down over the centuries from some of the first civilizations, such as the Greeks. However, not all Greek citizens wanted destiny to take control of their lives. Some decided to choose freewill over the will of the gods. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles writes a cautionary tale meant to warn the doubters in Greek society that regardless of their beliefs in gods and prophecies, it is necessary to heed their warnings. Oedipus, Jocasta, and Laius are Sophocles’ characters that prove that escaping one’s fate is not possible, as each of their predicted fates is realized despite extensive efforts to thwart them.

Born into a royal family, Oedipus was one of the bearers of a disastrous generational curse. He had no idea what he was born into, or what he would become. Poor Oedipus was put into to the world to serve as an example from the gods. Although Oedipus was said to be a victim of fate, he contributed to his own fate more than the gods. He was placed into the world to with a prophecy that he will kill his father and married his mother and conceive children with her, but that was just a prophecy not his destiny. Oedipus could have determined a new destiny for himself, but instead he did more things to make the prophecy true rather than false. The life of Oedipus was a great tragedy, not only for him but for his entire family. Although the gods

Oedipus responded quickly into taking the responsibility for finding the murder of King Laius death. After knowing the horrible truth, one can say that Oedipus could be a victim of the gods fate since he was left abandoned at a mountain by his own parents. Although, the prophecy never said he needed to know the truth, only that he would kill his father and marry his mother which he did without knowing till the end. Fate overtly plays a role in this outcome, condemning Oedipus as soon as he was born. Thus although Oedipus’s ultimate search for justice is in one way successful, the ramifications of his pursuit for justice lie at the mercy of fate, not human

“The better you know yourself, the better your relationship with the rest of the world.”- Toni Collette. In the play Oedipus the King written by Sophocles.Oedipus the main character is presented with a problem, where he is called a bastard by a drunken man. This left him no choice but to find out the story behind this. Upon hearing this information he fled his city to try and not fulfill this prophecy,only to end up fulfilling it anyway. In Sophocles’ play Oedipus does not truly know himself, like he thinks he does. Only to realize that he had be living a lie his entire life and was destined to a horrible fate.

Today is the day that the citizens of Athens are about to experience and watch a big major drama production on a well loved tale of the tragic hero Oedipus. Not only do I get entertained today, but it is also Dionysia, a festival that I have been excited for since we get to honor the wine god, Dionysus. There has also been multiple talks as a well respected playwright, Sophocles, is about to show his own version of the story. The city has been buzzing and filled with so much anticipation for what Sophocles has created. News was, the entire Dionysus theater would be filled with 17,000 spectators including me to watch the screening of the Sophocles’ masterpiece. I have been to this theater multiple times and Sophocles wins awards almost like he has the blessing of the Gods. This Dionysus theater is the biggest I have ever been to. The staggered theater seats looks like the giant staircase depicted in Mount Olympus! Although, Sophocles is a great candidate to win this year’s competition, he has several competitors like Euripides, Aeschylus, and Aristophanes. I really do hope that Sophocles wins this year.

From the start of his life, Oedipus was thrown into series of tragic events that would shape not just his life but the lives of everyone he was associated with. The story of Oedipus has received worldwide acclaim and has been praised as one of the "greatest achievements of Greek dramatic art". When Sophocles wrote Oedipus, he did so in a way that pioneered what a true tragic hero should be and it was written in way that has continued to impact the moral compass and emotions to those that read this epic tale, still to this very day.

In Oedipus Rex, the eponymous character attempts to thwart an oracle and in doing so unleashes tragedies far worse than he could have imagined. The suffering that King Oedipus unleashes upon the city of Thebes, Jocasta, his children, and ultimately himself helps establish the play’s tragic vision about the inevitability of fate as well as the negative consequences that arise when one tries to outwit the gods and their oracles.

In the tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Oedipus searches for the truth of his identity, when it backfires. A plague is running loose so Oedipus, as the new king he tries to help Thebes ; his city. His best option is the gods, he turns to Apollo the god. After having a back and forth argument with his brother in law Creon he learns more about the former king’s death. Oedipus then calls for Tiresias, the seer. Tiresias argues with Oedipus about the oracle that tells the fate of Oedipus. Tiresias then gives Oedipus a hint about the horrible fate. At this time Jocasta, Oedipus's wife, comforts him. Later, after heavy thinking a Herold from Corinth shows up and explains that the king of Corinth; Polybus, is dead. Oedipus hears this news and

Tragic hero could be said to be someone that has had a tragic flaw that leads to the hero's death and also helps the reader to sympathize with the character. Oedipus is a classic example of a tragic hero who had many flaws on the surface, such as the lack of self-knowledge, curiosity and pride, and the wisdom gained at the end.

Oedipus the King, a greek tragedy, is the story of a man's struggle against his fate.

Oedipus the King would not have been successful throughout centuries as a tragic play, if Oedipus were clearly responsible for his own tragedy. The play's ongoing success was do to Oedipus' innocence which immediately makes one think he can not be fully responsible and to blame. I do not believe Sophocles would have wrote the story, or I do not think people would have ever read it or studied it had it simply been a story of a criminal's retribution. Sophocles himself believed Oedipus to be the innocent victim of an ironic tragedy, and built the play around this belief. This story was destined to happen and I believe the author would agree. The story revolves around destiny, the resistance of people to it and the ultimate ending of destiny

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is a story about a boy who was left by his own parents in the mountains, by himself, to die because of a prophecy that were given to his parents by the Oracle of Delphi. A shepherd found this young child and decided to bring him to King Polybus and Queen Merope, who can’t have a child of their own. The couple decided to adopt the child and name him Oedipus, which means swollen ankles because of the way the shepherd found him with his ankles pierced with pins. When Oedipus grew up, he saved the town from a beast which made Oedipus be considered a hero of his town. Oedipus is considered an epic hero, but also a tragic hero. An epic hero is someone who is applauded for his bravery against the beast. A tragic hero is someone who does good for its town, but does not always do the right thing which leads to their own ruin. Oedipus is a tragic hero because he has a fatal prophecy that he could not bypass.