William Shakespeare 's ' Oedipus Tyrannus '

Oedipus The Rex was a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles first performed in 429 Bc. Oedipus was the king of Thebes and his first goal of the story was to find out who murdered Lauis. Oedipus summons an oracle who he demands to tell him who the killer is. The oracle replies that he does not wish to tell the king anything, outraged the king demands an answer. The oracle tells Oedipus that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus is outraged naturally at his apparent future and mocks the oracle for being blind, then the oracle says he is blind. Throughout the play we see that Oedipus is a great guy well loved by the people of Thebes. He is very intelligent, a natural leader but unfortunately is fatally flawed. His hamartia is that he can not simply let things go in life which ultimately leads to his own ruin and others he loves. His ruin in life comes when he has the sudden realization of what he has done. He does fulfill his prophesy of killing his father and having sexual relations with his mother without even being aware of the situation. No great person would ever want to ruin their

The chaos of searching creates suffering as he had to fish around and accept the truth. Throughout the play he is driven to his destiny through actions. Without knowing himself he puts a curse on the murderer of King Laius. Ending his speech to the people of Thebes with, “Full knowledge,/ may the curse I just called down on him strike me!(Sophocles 285-286).” The irony is Oedipus is the cursed man and will soon realize it. His own words bring forth his fate as he was blind to himself but thought otherwise. He created the path to his own anguish. The implication of avoiding the oracle also comes up. His free will and fear of shaming his parents made him flee them. Oedipus thought he could avoid the oracle but fate is unavoidable. His search for the truth only creates disaster. As Jocasta realizes the oracle came true she begs son to abandon search to his origins. Only because it will bring anguish. As she says, “man of agony-/ that is the only name I have for you,/ that, no other (1176-79).” He only makes discovery of self filled with pain. Oedipus is obliviously unaware of of his origins. If discovered a commoner or slave he would be shaming wife but that is not the truth and Jocasta knows. Instead his actions to discover self will bring his downfall. His past brings the end of everyone in his life; thus his fate brought nothing but agony. There are several points where could have reflected outcome of actions but does

The plays starts with the city is fulfilled with the disaster from the Gods because there is sin and evil happened before Oedipus became king, and the murder who kills the king Laius need to discover and obtain the punishment. It was strongly reflecting to the background of ancient Greek society and God’s involvement in the humans’ life. Essentially, it demonstrates the Greek god has the ultimate power, being divinities of the fate, and shows how helpless of the position the people in. When Tiresias hide the information about the murder, Oedipus became angry, but he noticed Oedipus that his personal cargos is more than his desire to know the truth. (Sophocles 365). Oedipus do not know this warning is about he is the prime for the death of Laius and sleep with his mother, he still continues follow the clue to find out the truth to save his people. His actions is deliberate but it was triggered a curse set upon him many years. So the Tiresias gives a conundrum that Oedipus starts to fall and lost everything. “Revealed at last, brother and father both to the children he embraces…he spilled his father’s blood!”(Sophocles 185). Fate played an important role among the humans and Greeks believed their lives were directly decided by the goddesses. Oedipus knew there will be oracle happened on him

The life of Oedipus, the protagonist of the play, is also controlled in this manner, since many of his actions and decisions are based solely on one prophecy that stated he would kill his own father and marry his mother. When he leaves his family in fear that the prophecy would come true, Oedipus settles in a city called Thebes and succeeds the previous king, Laius. Laius was murdered, but the circumstances surrounding his death and the motives behind his murder were very unclear, so Oedipus vows to investigate his death and uncover the truth. However, as the investigation goes on, Oedipus realizes that he himself was the murderer and also finds out several truths about his own past. As Oedipus conducts interrogations and questionings, more and more evidence points to Oedipus being Laius’s own son, meaning that not only did Oedipus kill his own father, but also married his father’s wife, who is Oedipus’s mother. Throughout the investigation, the audience is able to witness how coincidences keep occurring that eventually lead to the prophecy being fulfilled, showing that fate always finds a way and man’s freedom of choice is merely an illusion. The investigation of the mystery serves as a means to not only expose the truth to the main characters, but also to bring out their own views on free will and

“Oedipus Rex”, written by Sophocles, is a Greek Tragedy about Oedipus, who born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta in Thebes. He was brought into this world with a prophecy that he was bound to kill his father. Laius, hearing this, ordered a shepherd to have his son killed. However, Oedipus was saved. He was passed from shepherd to shepherd until one brought him to Cithaeron. There, Oedipus was raised as royalty with his adoptive parents, King Polybus and Queen Merope. Once Oedipus was informed of his prophecy, he fled to Thebes, in order avoid killing his father. “Oedipus Rex” demonstrates the nature of innocence and guilt. This is shown by Oedipus unknowingly killing his father, realizing that he married his birth mother and had children with

(Question 1) The situation in Thebes is that they have a plague. Oedipus wants to discover the murderer of Laius in order to end the suffering of his people.

I decided to write on the Tragic Hero; Oedipus Tyrannus because his plays were interesting and easy to interpret. I was eager to know Oedipus character and leadership in Thebes. I had plenty to write on. I think my essay is strong due to strong thesis. I think I used great examples from the play to support my thesis. Evidence is the area I think I am weak on. Did I explain the evidence well?

Desperately attempting to escape his fate, Oedipus, the tragic hero of Sophocles’ play, ran away from his prophecy yet tragically could not escape. The moment Oedipus was born, his entire life was decided for him with nothing that he could decide for himself. However, even after miraculously living even though his parents ordered him to be killed, Oedipus demonstrates his personality as a leader and hero. Throughout the entire play, Sophocles makes it clear that Oedipus is always putting his nation and the city that he rules over his own needs. Although tragic fate caught up to Oedipus, the audience continues to endlessly support him due to his actions towards the Sphinx, the characteristics he exemplifies of a hero, and what his fate brought.

Immediately Oedipus boldly launches a campaign to do what is best for his people and for himself…

Oedipus is the tragic hero and main character of Sophocles' play. He is the cause of many deaths and sufferings, whether directly or indirectly inflicting them. At the start of the play, Oedipus is depicted as a loving king, taking good care of his people and doing whatever he can to ease their pains. After realizing his mistakes and suffering the consequences, he became even more humble and kind, but with weak spirit and mind. He had a short temper and flared out with suspicion and distrust. This occurred first when Teiresias accused him of killing, and later when Oedipus suspected both Creon and the blind prophet of plotting against him. However, throughout the whole play, one aspect of his personality was clear: his endless ambition to find the truth. Even when it finally dawned on him that he truly was the son and killer of Laius and the son of his wife, he just had to gather the last piece of the great puzzle to satisfy himself.

Oedipus the King is seen as a perfect tragedy. It features a hero with a tragic flaw, Oedipus, and highlights many common themes in Greek tragedy such as fate or destiny, love, pride, loss, the abuse of power, and a tense relationship between man and God. It also meets the five main standards for a tragedy: a tragic hero of noble birth, a tragic flaw, a fall from grace, a moment of remorse, and catharsis [HubPages]. In this play, the audience learns of Oedipus’ past and hears foreshadowing of his future all while we see him trying to figure it out for himself. He

Oedipus Rex is, at its very core, a story about a young man’s vain attempts to change his fate. Orphaned at a young age because of a prophecy, Oedipus finds himself in a neighbouring kingdom, Corinth, in Greece. In the play, Oedipus learns of the prophecy that says he will kill his father and marry his mother. Upon hearing this, he leaves his foster parents Polybos and Merope, whom he believes are his real parents, in order to defy this fate.

Oedipus The King, or Oedipus Rex as it is more commonly known, is an Athenian tragedy written by Sophocles; one of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays survived. The play centres on Oedipus, the protagonist and hero of the tragedy who inadvertently fulfils an oracles prophecy that he would, in his adulthood, murder his father, Laius, and marry his mother, Jacosta. In the time of the ancient Greeks, tales spun by dramatists and poets were either of a comedic or tragic nature, in particular. Oedipus The King is both a play of tragedy and of irony, and questions the audience whether enlightenment, or simply the art of ‘knowing’, is really such a good thing. Teiresiasa asserts a fitting assertion that consolidates the aforementioned enquiry:

Aristotle’s Poetics argues that a successful tragedy is determined by its “plot, character, diction, reasoning, spectacle and lyric poetry”(50a8). According to Aristotle, plot is essential to a great tragedy: the most effective tragic device is conveyed through the work’s plot. Yet, having a protagonist of “not outstanding moral excellence or justice” undergoing bad fortune due to own error instead of “moral defect or depravity” would distinguish a good tragedy from a poor one. Additionally, Aristotle argues that a successful tragedy also yields pleasure to the audience. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus’s character traits, the play’s coincidences, and Oedipus’ hamartia contribute to the effective arousal of pity and fear, and Oedipus’ recognition of past sins contribute to the pleasure part. Combining the pitiful reactions and pleasurable demonstration of humanity, Oedipus Tyrannus presents itself as the perfect Aristotelian tragedy.

During the story Oedipus Rex you get to see Oedipus’ fall out. Oedipus was cursed at a young age because a man that could see the future told his parents that if they kept him alive it wouldn't turn out in their favor. They told a shepherd to to take him high up on a mountain and leave him for dead. The shepherd just couldn't kill a newborn baby boy so he made the decision to give him away to a man. This man brought Oedipus to the king and queen of Corinth. From there, they raised him and never told them he wasn't theirs. In the future one day Oedipus went and got a prophecy who told him the same thing his parents were told when he was a baby. In belief of his true parents being the king and queen of Corinth, he leaves the city so he won't kill them. Ironically, in an effort to save his parents, he is doing the exact opposite. After this occurs you begin to realize Oedipus’ true flaws that lead to his downfall. He is a bad tempered, selfish, stubborn and hubris man. Every criticizing remark, he overlooks, which leads to his downfall.