Oedipus Rex Research Paper

The play Oedipus Rex was written by Sophocles in about 430 BCE. The play follows the life and struggles of the protagonist, Oedipus, as he tries to find out his true identity. The play starts in the middle of things when Oedipus is the king of Thebes and a plague has descended over the kingdom. Oedipus vows to find out the cause of the plague and sends Creon, his brother in law, to Delphi to try and find out the cause from an oracle. Creon brings Teiresias, an oracle of Apollo, back to the kingdom so that Oedipus can talk to him and the cause of the plague can be revealed. Teiresias reveals that the plague is caused by the murderer of Laius, the former king of Thebes, and the plague will remain unless the murderer is found and punished. Teiresias accuses Oedipus of being the murderer, taunts Oedipus by saying that he does not …show more content…
This is because Oedipus is of nobility, had a tragic flaw, and was fated by the gods and struggles against his fate. Oedipus was part of the nobility because, his adoptive and birth parents were royalty and he became the king of Thebes. Oedipus’ fatal flaws were the fact that he did not know who his birth parents were, his pride, and his anger. Many of his actions he did out of anger were caused by his pride being wounded. Oedipus was fated by the gods with the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, he ended up fulfilling this prophecy unknowingly. Throughout the play Oedipus tries to find his true identity no matter the consequences, in the end he realizes that he has actually fulfilled his fate by marrying Jocasta, his mother, and killing Laius, his father. This fulfillment of fate and realization of circumstances led Oedipus to fulfill the concluding stage of a tragic hero's life by gorging out his eyes and fleeing from the kingdom of