The Tragedy Of Oedipus The Play ' Oedipus '

The Greek drama “Oedipus The King” evidently leads to the unveiling of a tragedy. Oedipus, the protagonist of the play uncovers his tragic birth story and the curse he had been baring his whole life. Oedipus is notorious for his personal insight that helped him defeat Sphinx, which lead him to becoming the king of Thebes. He is admired by the people of Thebes and is considered to be a mature, inelegant and a rational leader. From his birth, his story began with a prophecy that Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Through out the play numerous people, who tell him of his unknown past, visit Oedipus. Blind to the truth he casts them away until a blind man named Therisis gives a sight of truth to Oedipus. As Oedipus learns the truth he realizes the great evil his life carries. After finding his wife and also mother hung in her bedroom, Oedipus blinds himself with the gold pins that held Jocasta’s robe. Oedipus blind to the truth is finally able to see when the old blind man visits him and tells him the truth about his life. Both metaphorically and physically sight plays a significant role in understanding the irony of a blind man seeing the truth while Oedipus who isn’t blind doesn’t seem to the truth that’s right in front of him.

Charles could see Erik giving up as sharply as he felt it, the small spark that he’d come to label in his own mind as ‘life force’ dwindling to an ember and extinguishing. He was stepping forward before he could stop himself, blooding rushing in his ears against time as he spoke. “Dēsístite!“

The theme of sight and blindness is undoubtedly important to notice while reading Oedipus the King. The number of times the words “see” or “blind” are in the play make it make it undeniably obvious that they are significant. The theme is developed throughout the dialogue, through characters such as Tiresias and Oedipus, and also directly in the irony of the play. It is important in a play about the truth because almost every character was “blind” to the truth. All of the characters, except one, can physically see, but mentally cannot see the truth.

Oedipus’ foolish decisions ultimately lead to his downfall in the play. Oedipus chooses to kill Laios. He chooses to marry Iocaste. He chooses to forcefully, and publicly, assume the mission of discovering the identity of Laios’ murderer saying ironically, “I say I take the son’s part, just as though I were his son, to press the fight for him and see it won,” (633). He proceeds on this mission and chooses to ignore the warnings of Creon, Iocaste, Teiresias, the messenger, the shepherd, and anyone who attempts to stand between him and the truth; and, he chooses to blind himself. In the end, Oedipus’ most foolish choice prevails throughout the play; the choice of illusion over reality ultimately costs him his life.

Throughout the movie Lone Star, the influence of the Greek myth and play Oedipus the King play an important role in the movie line. The influence that Oedipus has on the characters of Lone Star causes the movie to become a modern interpretation of Sophocles’ infamous play. Although the two are different and remain unique in their own regards, there are several key aspects that unite the movie and play. Without the presence of boundaries, the issue of relationships and the influence of lies and secrets on the characters and outlying communities Lone Star would not have connection to Oedipus the King.

Evidence: “ How i weep for you -- I cannot see you now… just thinking of all your days to come, the bitterness, the life that rough mankind will thrust upon you… such disgrace and you must bear it all! Who will marry you then? Not a man on earth. Your doom is clear: you’ll wither away to nothing, single, without a child. (Line 1625-1645)

At the end of Act 2, Oedipus starts to uncover the truth about where he came from with the help from the messenger. As the suspense grows to know what will happen after Oedipus comes out of the palace. As the scene closes and Act 3 starts, a messenger came from within the palace to tell the chorus what he saw.

Because Oedipus knows nothing about the past of Thebes, he is not an assassin. Oedipus committed murder but unknowingly of who King Laius was. Oedipus' honor was his claim against the murder. Had it been the other way around and Oedipus had lost the battle, King Laius' alibi would have also been for reasons of honor: for reasons of royalty. Oedipus was royalty and knew it as well did King Laius. The main idea behind Oedipus' innocence is this "royalty." Regardless of either of their class standings a fight occurred and the one to start had been King Laius? men, or group, the fact that they lost is not the fault of Oedipus. In other words, King Laius and his men wanted to discipline Oedipus for not

Sophocles's Oedipus Rex is probably the most famous tragedy ever written. Sophocles's tragedy represents a monumental theatrical and interpretative challenge. Oedipus Rex is the story of a King of Thebes upon whom a hereditary curse is placed and who therefore has to suffer the tragic consequences of fate (tragic flaws or hamartia). In the play, Oedipus is the tragic hero. Even though fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his fidelity to the truth ruin him.

A possible reason for his ignorance, and a fascinating twist, could be that Oedipus had originally believed that he was the murderer of Laius, and knew at the time of the story, that he had married his own mother (Daniels and Scully, 26). All the public cursing, the whole "Now my curse on the murderer" (Sophocles, 172) was really a spectacle to throw the suspicion off himself (Daniels and Scully, 26). However, most literary scholars don't believe this, as Oedipus does seem to display a great deal of remorse when he realizes that the prophecies about him are true. If it is all a setup by Oedipus, then he is both extraordinarily intelligent and stupid, by hiding the truth for so long and being self destructive at the same time (Daniels and Scully, 26). Most believe that "Oedipus has simply chosen to ignore a real possibility" (Daniels and Scully, 21). Howard Clarke said that "[Oedipus] reaches a point where he is, literally, the captive of what he is searching for." (Clarke, 593). He reached a "point in his search where he is carried along on the tide of his of his own discoveries" (Clarke, 593). A part from these interesting interpretations, Oedipus Rex can be read from cover to cover as a normal detective story with all the basic elements; suspects, crime, clues and an investigator. The whole plot rotates around one significant event, which was the killing of Laius. So now we have the crime stated, we

One moment, Oedipus is brimming with hope; the next, he’s sure that he is the killer of his father, King Laius. Every time Oedipus thinks that it can’t possibly be him, evidence proves otherwise. His wife, Jocasta, attempts to prove his innocence but “lets out part of the dire secret by her allusion to the ‘triple crossroads’” (Haigh). By attempting to assist Oedipus, she

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.

I have known of the story about Oedipus since my senior year of high school, so believe me I was uninterested hearing about reading it all over again. My teacher basically made us eat, sleep, and live anything that was about Oedipus in her class. She made us see weird videos about the story. However, having the class discussions made me more interested in the story because I was able to hear everyone’s standpoint and interpretation of the story. I have grown to somewhat accustomed to handle the story of Oedipus.

The question at hand is whether Oedipus’s choices or his fate had a bigger impact on his tragic end. To answer that, Oedipus’s fate played a larger role in his death because it was prophesied that he would murder his father and marry his mother and it came true, Oedipus could not alter his fate because he did not know who his parents were, and he exiled and blinded himself because he realized the prophecy was true.

The play “King Oedipus” contains the characteristics of a tragedy. The play is set in a tragic setting, atmosphere and mood. Oedipus, the King of Thebes, is the protagonist of the play where he goes through some form of suffering and has a tragic flaw that leads to a catastrophe. The play also has a tragic understanding by the audience and character. Therefore, I consider “King Oedipus” a tragedy because of the events in the play such as Oedipus’s destined fate at birth and his actions after the revelation of the truth about his parentage.