Summary of Oedipus Rex Essay

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.

Oedipus, outraged at the accusation, denounces it as a plot of Creon to gain the throne. Jocasta appears just in time to avoid a battle between the two men. Seers, she assures Oedipus, are not infallible. To prove her point she cites the old prophecy that her son should kill his father and have children by his mother. She prevented its fulfillment, she confesses, by abandoning their infant son in the mountains. As for Laius, he had been killed by robber’s years later at the junction of three roads on the route to Delphi.

The entire play comes to a tragic end. And with dramatic irony is clearly seen in the entire play. Oedipus killed his father and murdered his mother, but Oedipus and Jocasta did not find out until the end, Tieresias ' warnings and prophecy clearly portray the use of irony. Rhetorical questions are seen questioning himself or fate. What, born as mine were born?”

In the end, Tiresias explains that Oedipus is to blame for Laius’s death, for he is the murderer. Oedipus naturally denies the claim and accuses Creon and Tiresias of conspiring against him, so that Creon can gain power. Even though Oedipus is in denial, he still adamantly seeks the truth held by the shepherd. He sends for him, and upon arrival the shepherd was timid to reveal the truth. Oedipus responded by calling to the guards, “Twist his arm back, quickly! (line 1269)” In the end of this scene Jocasta, wife of Oedipus, realizes the truth behind who her husband really is, and that the prophecy had been fulfilled and runs away. Oedipus then continues to question the shepherd further because he still fails to see what is right in front of him.

It is a common human flaw to only see things that are pleasing and choose to ignore distasteful situations. Falling into this trap, Oedipus, the King of Thebes in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, finds his doom by choosing to turn a blind eye to reality. The king falls from his throne by choosing to live in an illusion and failing to recognize the power of fate.

Both Oedipus and Creon experience terrible loses at the end of each play, which causes them to feel grief and remorse for their actions. After Oedipus receives the shocking revelation from Tiresias that he is the man that he has scorned and sentenced to exile, his mother, whom he married, kills herself and Oedipus realizes that all of his life he had been living a lie. Oedipus grieves over the loss of his beloved wife and mother but is also disgusted with himself. He cannot live with the shame of his incest, so he takes the broche from the dress of Jocasta and proceeds to blind himself. He is terribly upset over everything that has happened and cannot live with the reactions he fears he will get from the people of Thebes. Oedipus then follows through on the law he had set and exiles himself from the city. At the end of Antigone, Creon goes to the cave he has enclosed Antigone in, only to find his son Haimon has beaten him there and Antigone hanging from the roof of the cave. Haimon is so angry with his father that upon Creon’s arrival to the cave, Haimon tries to stab Creon. He is unsuccessful, but then turns around and stabs himself. Creon has now lost

Ancient Greeks cared deeply about the pursuit of knowledge. Although the truth was often a terrifying concept, they still saw it as a critical virtue. The theater was one way in which the ideas of knowledge and truth were examined.

“Oedipus Rex” was a Greek Tragedy written by Sophocles in the fifth century BC. It was the first of a trilogy of plays surrounding the life of Oedipus. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays approximately 100 years before Aristotle even defined a tragedy and the tragic hero. Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy is “… an imitation of an action of high importance, complete and of some amplitude; in language enhanced by distinct and varying beauties; acted not narrated; by means of pity and fear effecting its purgation of these emotions” (Kennedy and Gioa 2010). According to Aristotle there were six elements to a tragedy: the plot, the character, the

In this play we learn about Oedipus a king who was trying to find out about his past . Oedipus was a king he was from a royal family he wanted to know more about his past but it got really bad. When Oedipus the king was ruling the citizens of Thebes begged to lift a plague that was on the city because it threatened to destroy them but in the play Oedipus send his brother in law Creon to find out what to do about the plague Creon learn that Oedipus has to find out the killer of Laius the previous king that is the only way to end the plague. As Oedipus searches for the killer a prophet comes along and tells Oedipus that he killed the previous king but Oedipus ignores him but he get distracted by that and he goes and asks his wife Jocasta but

Hans Rockwell 8/26/17 Question 1 Question 1.) One of the responses people usually have about Oedipus is if he really deserved the fate that he ended up with. It’s not his fault that Jocasta and Laius tried to outsmart fate and dispose of him.

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.

In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus unknowingly murders his father and marries his mother. When Oedipus discovers this he is disgusted with himself and decides to go into exile. The Misanthrope is a play about the self-exile of the main character Alceste. Challenged in court, he refuses to take back the criticism of a sonnet written by a powerful nobleman. Alceste and Oedipus are both convicted by their knowledge of the truth. Although, the United States grants asylum to more refuges than any other country, there is one man who has decided to self-exile.

If it has not been for the Shepard sparing his life and giving him to Polybus to raise as his own Oedipus would have died. Man walks on 2 feet when he has matured. This is a metaphor for Oedipus when he reaches adulthood and leaves Corinth to escape the oracle. Oedipus meets up with a band of travellers and in a rage kills them. Inadvertently Oedipus has killed his own father. Oedipus then answers the riddle of the sphinx and becomes king of Thebes. By becoming king of Thebes he marries Jocasta the Queen of Thebes and his own mother. Many years later after bearing children with Jocasta a plague kills many of the inhabitants of Thebes. Oedipus is told by the gods to find the killer of Laius. He is very diligent in the inquiry and finally comes to the horrible truth that he himself is the murderer. Jocasta kills herself at the horrible realization that she has

"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 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.