The first of a very famous trilogy, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, is a greek tragedy in which Oedipus (the main character) struggles to find the truth of his birth, and face his horrible fate of murder and incest within his own family. Throughout the whole story, Oedipus constantly faces these conflicts. Even though he was considered a well-respected king, Oedipus experiences complications with himself, society, and the gods, just like other tragic heroes.
One of Oedipus’ hardest things for him to deal with was the ongoing conflicts with himself and his family. For the majority of the story Oedipus doesn’t know exactly who his parents are but is determined to find out, “However base my birth, I must know about it”(Sophocles 1022). Because he …show more content…
First, when he first came into power in Thebes, a terrible plague was upon the city. Oedipus tried to help the people but didn’t realize that he was the root to all of their problems. He was the one who murdered the king! And when Creon came back from the oracle it confirmed that “It was [in fact] murder that brought the plague-wind on the city”(105). The dramatic irony is very abundant in this part of the story as the readers know about how the king was killed but citizens of Thebes do not. Later in the play, the citizens are all on a roller coaster of emotions and feelings towards Oedipus. After he saved them from the Sphinx and was a respectable ruler towards them, they had no need to be concerned when Tiresias accused him of things or questions about his birth. To them, he might as well have been a product of the gods themselves, “... of the nymphs that flower beyond the years, who bore you, royal child”(Sophocles 1040). This deep trust and respect of Oedipus from the people of Thebes makes the end of the play even more surprising and unpredictable for …show more content…
This makes sense because it was Apollo who put Oedipus’ fate upon him in the first place. When asked about what caused him to blind himself and do all these horrible things Oedipus replied, “... the god was Apollo. He brought my sick, sick fate upon me”(Sophocles 1286). If this sinful fate was never brought atop Oedipus none of the deaths and tragedies of this play would have ever happened. In the play Oedipus never really has much respect for the gods and he even curses one of the gods messengers Tiresias and insults him and the gods. “He has brought his decrepit fortuneteller, this collector of dirty pennies, this prophet fraud - why, he is no more clairvoyant than I am. This story could have also been told to show a lesson that those who disrespects the gods will be
One of Oedipus’ hardest things for him to deal with was the ongoing conflicts with himself and his family. For the majority of the story Oedipus doesn’t know exactly who his parents are but is determined to find out, “However base my birth, I must know about it”(Sophocles 1022). Because he …show more content…
First, when he first came into power in Thebes, a terrible plague was upon the city. Oedipus tried to help the people but didn’t realize that he was the root to all of their problems. He was the one who murdered the king! And when Creon came back from the oracle it confirmed that “It was [in fact] murder that brought the plague-wind on the city”(105). The dramatic irony is very abundant in this part of the story as the readers know about how the king was killed but citizens of Thebes do not. Later in the play, the citizens are all on a roller coaster of emotions and feelings towards Oedipus. After he saved them from the Sphinx and was a respectable ruler towards them, they had no need to be concerned when Tiresias accused him of things or questions about his birth. To them, he might as well have been a product of the gods themselves, “... of the nymphs that flower beyond the years, who bore you, royal child”(Sophocles 1040). This deep trust and respect of Oedipus from the people of Thebes makes the end of the play even more surprising and unpredictable for …show more content…
This makes sense because it was Apollo who put Oedipus’ fate upon him in the first place. When asked about what caused him to blind himself and do all these horrible things Oedipus replied, “... the god was Apollo. He brought my sick, sick fate upon me”(Sophocles 1286). If this sinful fate was never brought atop Oedipus none of the deaths and tragedies of this play would have ever happened. In the play Oedipus never really has much respect for the gods and he even curses one of the gods messengers Tiresias and insults him and the gods. “He has brought his decrepit fortuneteller, this collector of dirty pennies, this prophet fraud - why, he is no more clairvoyant than I am. This story could have also been told to show a lesson that those who disrespects the gods will be