Sophocles ' Oedipus Play ( B )

The fulfillment of prophesies has enthralled ancient people since the beginning of time. Greek culture, in particular, relied predominately on Athenian religion and credited their actions to the work of gods. In Sophocles’ work, Oedipus the King, Sophocles defines an indication that men may not have accountability for their own moral sanctity because their lives are determined through fate. In fact, within Oedipus the King, Oedipus has to complete an investigation of his own self and determine his punishment regardless of who it hurts because of his willingness to comply to a god. In response to this, many believe that the title of this particular tragedy is Oedipus the King because it illustrates the conflict Oedipus has with his family and state. Although this is true, the title, Oedipus the King, also exemplifies Oedipus’ response to the idea that everything that has ever happened and ever will happen is necessary. The title and evidence that supports the title in this play comprise logic that enables one to understand how the law of necessity drives Oedipus’ decisions. It eventually claims that Oedipus does not act at random but rather in response to causality, and he ultimately does so in a dignified nature.

As is true with characters of many other works of literature, the protagonist of Oedipus the King, must contend with the horrible reality of his past. This protagonist, Oedipus, killed his father and married his mother, and what is worse, is that he is not aware of this. Throughout the entire play, his relationship with his past is one of ignorance. His ignorance of past events is what causes the play to unfold as it does. Unaware of his own reality, Oedipus leads himself to his own demise by becoming overly confident and prideful, and by distancing himself from his supporters. Through the main character’s relationship with the past, Sophocles develops his central themes of fate, sight, and pride.

Considered one of the greatest dramas of all time, Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King follows the tragic life of Oedipus, king of Thebes. Considered a Satyr play, the Oedipus trilogy is perhaps the most famous of Sophocles’ plays. Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy that was first performed somewhere around 429 BC in Athens, Greece. Originally, the Greeks referred to the play as simply “Oedipus,” as that was what Aristotle referred to it as in the Poetics. Perhaps what makes this play so memorable, is Sophocles’ uses of the tragic hero as the main theme. Sophocles uses characterization and conflict to portray Oedipus as an Aristotelian tragic hero.

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.

Character is an imaginative person who plays role in a story. (Kennedy, 1983 in Koesnosoebro, 1988). The role of character is very important. Every story must have its own character, as their function are to play the role in a story. Sometimes, it is easy to interpret how the character is. However, most of the time, it is quite difficult to know about the characteristic of them and readers have to analyses more how the character really is. The characters are not fully revealed at the beginning in order to make the readers curious about them.

Throughout the play we find that Oedipus, the protagonist of this Greek tragedy, is tested by life in a number of ways. To those in Athens who watched the performance of Oedipus the King, Oedipus appeared to be the embodiment of a perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong-willed. Ironically, these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. He is portrayed as a character of

Let’s start out with Oedipus, according to our text book, Living Theatre, it states, “Sophocles’s King Oedipus, which was first presented around 430 B.C.E. There are structural similarities among all extant Greek tragedies.” (Wilson 38). If there ever was a story that epitomized the definition of a Greek Tragedy. Granted yes, it was a very powerful and depressing, it has many themes that are relatable for today’s world and society. For example, at the end of the play, Oedipus is down on his luck, Oedipus found out who is father and mother was from the Oracle. Lo and behold, the oracle was right, he said that he would murder his father, who was Laius, former king of Thebes and the gods said in order to bring back the once prosperous kingdom of Thebes, they must banish the murderer of the former king. The other prophecy was that he would marry his mother. Well, he speaks to the

Oedipus Rex is an amazing play written by Sophocles. Oedipus Rex is about a king who can visually see but in reality he is blind, which then leads to him becoming physically blind in the end of the play, because he no longer wants to see the hurt and pain he’s caused himself. The play says, “No more shall you look on the misery about me, the horrors of my own doing!” (Sophocles Exodos lines 46-47). Also the play tells us that he kills his father and is married to his mother.

As I stated in a previous essay, Oedipus The King is a play by Sophocles which belongs to the genre of tragedy and focuses on a man named Oedipus, king of a place called Thebes, and his efforts to put an end to a plague that has devastated the city. He believes that in order to put an end to the plague, he must find the man that murdered the previous king of Thebes; a man by the name of Laius (Sophocles pg.8-10). Prophecy plays an important role in this play and as Oedipus’ investigation progresses, he ends up finding out a lot of things about himself and his origins resulting in conflict between the characters and Oedipus himself.

Sophocles gains his first victory in 468 BC, defeating Aeschylus. He is credited with adding third actors, further extending the dramatic possibilities of a scene on which his drama became more complex. He focused on the construction of a good drama leading up to the peak. Whereas Aeschylus tends to deal with great public themes, the tragic dilemmas in Sophocles are worked out at a more personal level. He emphasized the relationships between people from the issues of philosophy or religion into the debate of Aeschylus. Sophocles wrote more plays than Aeschylus but only seven survive undamaged. Oedipus the King is generally considered to be one of his masterpieces.

Over the extensive history of the theatre arts, most of the many plays and productions fall into unique categories in regards to structure. The two most simplest of the structural categories are climactic and episodic. A climactic structure, or alternatively known as an intensive structure, contains a play in which all components are restricted as the main conflict in the story commences late into the play and only a little time passes until the story occurs. Everything is restricted to a few components. There are not as many characters, scenery change and very limited amounts of action. climactic structures focuses heavily on the climax in contrast to other structures. One notable example of a climactic performance is Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. The story of Oedipus is that of tragedy and despair as Oedipus and his family are unable to escape the fate that Oedipus has had since birth. The exposition and starting action (in this case, the events that led up to him to being king of Thebes) occur before the play and is only ever talked about. The play only takes place in the castle and has only four primary characters. Ultimately, Oedipus Rex only takes place within a day and primarily focuses on the realization and aftermath of the story of Oedipus and his sins, or the climax. All these components that define a climactic structure of production are found in the aforementioned play by Sophocles, strengthening what a climactic structure is and the vast potential a climactic play

The behavior you exhibit in certains scenarios and situations show what kind of person you are. In Sophocles’ drama, Oedipus the King, the main character Oedipus displays many types of behavior, but the behavior that he demonstrates during key points in the drama presents the type of person he is. He puts on display acts of stress, arrogance, and confidence. Oedipus’ behavior can be analyzed as actions every average day citizen demonstrates.

When I was a high school student, my school required our language arts teacher to assign readings on Sophocles’ plays about Oedipus. We were required to read the plays for different reasons, one being to learn the structure of plays. Plays in 440 B.C. were different from one another because of the culture they came from. Cultures have different ideas and values, Sophocles plays introduced us to the Greek culture. You may think the plays do not reflect the values of the San Bernardino community, but the plays are not meant to reflect the values of the San Bernardino community or any other community. The plays are meant to teach students about different cultures, symbols, and genres. Plays can be tragic, comedy, romance or drama. Plays can be different genres and come from different cultures, but they focus around one main symbol or point to be known to the audience.

Characters are an important literary element, they can be narrators, protagonists, antagonists, and more. In all the stories the main character has similarities and differences. In the three selections the main

"Oedipus the King" is one of the most representative plays of ancient Greek theater and has contributed greatly to the development of the theatrical concept and influenced the writing techniques to this day. Sophocles made use of a story that was well known for the Greek audience in the 4th century BC. The subject is rather complex for the time and focuses on the tragedy of a man from Thebes, a Greek city, who becomes king after a series of events that lead to the salvation of the city from the curse of Sphinx. The tragedy however unfolds once Oedipus finds out that it was he who had murdered the previous king who was his father and in fact marrying the queen meant marrying his own mother. As a result he inflicts injuries to himself and leaves the city in shame and despair. The elements used by Sophocles in the play to develop the subject and his characters underline that fate is inevitable. Sophocles in his depiction of the story makes use of several techniques and means of expressions that provide the audience with the sense of drama and despair being felt by the main characters of the play. Ancient Greece was always considered the cradle of the theatrical creation particularly because of the writing techniques that were developed by playwrights such as Sophocles, Euripides, or Seneca. However, in the case of Oedipus Rex, the plot together with the techniques of foreshadowing, tragic flaw, or irony, regardless of their type, provide consistency and strength to the subject