Oedipus’s Quicksand
In pop culture, quicksand is known for entrapping characters. The harder the character fights to get out of the quicksand, the deeper they continue to sink. Oedipus has much in common with a character in quicksand. The harder he fights to get out of his fate, the closer he is to becoming it. In the tragedy about Oedipus Rex, he goes to Thebes to find it guarded by a sphinx who wants an answer to its riddle. Oedipus gets the riddle correct and frees the kingdom, and becomes the king himself. Oedipus then starts to see his past unravel when he starts investigating the death of Laius the past king. In the story Oedipus the King, Sophocles shows Oedipus’s downfall from being king to becoming a blind homeless beggar. The quicksand …show more content…
Oedipus displayed this unwillingness during Tiresius exclamation:
TIRESIUS : You have eyes, but see not where in evil you are, Nor where you dwell, nor whom you are living with, Do you know from who you spring? And you forget, You are an enemy to your own kin/ Both those beneath and those above earth, Your mother’s and father’s curse with double goad, And dreaded foot shall drive you from this land, You who now see straight shall then be blind/ And there shall be no harbor for your cry. (405-415)
Oedipus reacts to the newfound information in anger by stating, “I did not know that you would speak such folly, or, I would not have brought you to my house” (426). Therefore, because of the newfound knowledge provided by Tiresius; Oedipus displays anger at Tiresius by sending him out of Thebes. Oedipus then goes to lash out at Creon, because he believes Creon has been plotting against him for his throne. Oedipus exhibits this anger by stating “Least of all that. My wish is you should die, Not flee to exemplify what envy is. /‘Do you say this? Will you neither trust nor yield./’ No, For I think that you deserve no trust”’ (559-602). Thus, because of the knowledge Tiresius bestowed upon Oedipus; he lashes out at Creon in anger as a coping mechanism for his unwillingness to accept his …show more content…
When Oedipus first addresses the issue of the plague with the people he says; “O piteous children” (59).When Oedipus addresses the people as children he is stating that he is above them as king, and when he states “You are all sick, and in your sickness none/ There is among as sick as I” he is saying that since he is king he is suffering more because this is his own city. Oedipus exhibits pride when he is investigating the death of the previous husband of Jocasta. Oedipus makes excuses of why is cant be him and this is shown when he says: “The self same number, I could not have killed him,/ Since one man does not equal many”(820-821). Oedipus allows his pride to cloud his vision in the possibility that he could have possibly murdered Laius when supposedly the amount of people did it. Another instance of pride is shown after Tiresius leaves; Oedipus confronts Creon and allows his pride and anger to take over as he attacks Creon verbally leading to Antistrophe
In pop culture, quicksand is known for entrapping characters. The harder the character fights to get out of the quicksand, the deeper they continue to sink. Oedipus has much in common with a character in quicksand. The harder he fights to get out of his fate, the closer he is to becoming it. In the tragedy about Oedipus Rex, he goes to Thebes to find it guarded by a sphinx who wants an answer to its riddle. Oedipus gets the riddle correct and frees the kingdom, and becomes the king himself. Oedipus then starts to see his past unravel when he starts investigating the death of Laius the past king. In the story Oedipus the King, Sophocles shows Oedipus’s downfall from being king to becoming a blind homeless beggar. The quicksand …show more content…
Oedipus displayed this unwillingness during Tiresius exclamation:
TIRESIUS : You have eyes, but see not where in evil you are, Nor where you dwell, nor whom you are living with, Do you know from who you spring? And you forget, You are an enemy to your own kin/ Both those beneath and those above earth, Your mother’s and father’s curse with double goad, And dreaded foot shall drive you from this land, You who now see straight shall then be blind/ And there shall be no harbor for your cry. (405-415)
Oedipus reacts to the newfound information in anger by stating, “I did not know that you would speak such folly, or, I would not have brought you to my house” (426). Therefore, because of the newfound knowledge provided by Tiresius; Oedipus displays anger at Tiresius by sending him out of Thebes. Oedipus then goes to lash out at Creon, because he believes Creon has been plotting against him for his throne. Oedipus exhibits this anger by stating “Least of all that. My wish is you should die, Not flee to exemplify what envy is. /‘Do you say this? Will you neither trust nor yield./’ No, For I think that you deserve no trust”’ (559-602). Thus, because of the knowledge Tiresius bestowed upon Oedipus; he lashes out at Creon in anger as a coping mechanism for his unwillingness to accept his …show more content…
When Oedipus first addresses the issue of the plague with the people he says; “O piteous children” (59).When Oedipus addresses the people as children he is stating that he is above them as king, and when he states “You are all sick, and in your sickness none/ There is among as sick as I” he is saying that since he is king he is suffering more because this is his own city. Oedipus exhibits pride when he is investigating the death of the previous husband of Jocasta. Oedipus makes excuses of why is cant be him and this is shown when he says: “The self same number, I could not have killed him,/ Since one man does not equal many”(820-821). Oedipus allows his pride to cloud his vision in the possibility that he could have possibly murdered Laius when supposedly the amount of people did it. Another instance of pride is shown after Tiresius leaves; Oedipus confronts Creon and allows his pride and anger to take over as he attacks Creon verbally leading to Antistrophe