There is a very interesting and twisted plot in the play titled, Oedipus the King, by
Sophocles. In an unimaginable plot, Oedipus is faced with some fairly unusual hurdles in which he ultimately realizes that he is living a very troubling life. But, was he a tragic figure, or was he an active participant in his own destruction and demise? In the play, Oedipus the King, there are three major points to consider when answering this question: what has he done, did he know what he was doing, and how did he react to what he was doing.
When looking at what Oedipus has done, the play does not give many hints until later on in the story. In the play, we find out that the Oracle’s prophecy accurately predicts that Oedipus would kill his father and sleep …show more content…
In an effort to save his land, Oedipus sends Creon, his brother-in-law or uncle, to talk to the Oracle at Delphi. Creon learns that to save the people living in the land,
Oedipus must exile the man who killed the king before him, named Laius. While searching for the murderer, King Oedipus learns from a prophet named Tiresias, that it was himself that actually killed the late King Laius. Tiresias tells Oedipus, “There is a multitude of horrors which you do not even suspect. There is no man alive whose ruin is more pitiful than yours” (Roberts
1323). That starts the downward spiral of Oedipus finding out that Laius was his father and that
Laius’s widow, Jocasta, who is now Oedipus’s wife, is actually his mother.
McCauley …show more content…
He learns that as an infant, he was given to a shepherd to be killed, because Laius feared the prophecy. Unable to kill the young infant, the shepherd gave him to another shepherd in a faraway land. When the second shepherd received the boy he took him to his king’s family in the land called Isthmia. The king and queen of Isthmia were barren and were to raise the child as their own. After realizing he was adopted, Oedipus could now believe that Laius was indeed his father and that he had killed him at the crossroads. Moreover, he had to admit that Jocasta, Laius’s wife and now his own wife, was actually his mother.
Upon hearing the news, Oedipus leaves the shepherd and goes to the palace to find his wife, Jocasta. When he reaches the palace he finds her dead, hanging by a noose. He pulls her down, and takes two pins from her clothes, and as stated in the book, “he raised and struck into the ball joints of his eyes” (Roberts 1343), blinding himself. Oedipus is exiled from Thebes, where he had reigned, and wanders for many years. Eventually, his travels lead him to a grove near Athens where he meets Theseus, the king of Athens. Oedipus then gets Theseus to
Sophocles. In an unimaginable plot, Oedipus is faced with some fairly unusual hurdles in which he ultimately realizes that he is living a very troubling life. But, was he a tragic figure, or was he an active participant in his own destruction and demise? In the play, Oedipus the King, there are three major points to consider when answering this question: what has he done, did he know what he was doing, and how did he react to what he was doing.
When looking at what Oedipus has done, the play does not give many hints until later on in the story. In the play, we find out that the Oracle’s prophecy accurately predicts that Oedipus would kill his father and sleep …show more content…
In an effort to save his land, Oedipus sends Creon, his brother-in-law or uncle, to talk to the Oracle at Delphi. Creon learns that to save the people living in the land,
Oedipus must exile the man who killed the king before him, named Laius. While searching for the murderer, King Oedipus learns from a prophet named Tiresias, that it was himself that actually killed the late King Laius. Tiresias tells Oedipus, “There is a multitude of horrors which you do not even suspect. There is no man alive whose ruin is more pitiful than yours” (Roberts
1323). That starts the downward spiral of Oedipus finding out that Laius was his father and that
Laius’s widow, Jocasta, who is now Oedipus’s wife, is actually his mother.
McCauley …show more content…
He learns that as an infant, he was given to a shepherd to be killed, because Laius feared the prophecy. Unable to kill the young infant, the shepherd gave him to another shepherd in a faraway land. When the second shepherd received the boy he took him to his king’s family in the land called Isthmia. The king and queen of Isthmia were barren and were to raise the child as their own. After realizing he was adopted, Oedipus could now believe that Laius was indeed his father and that he had killed him at the crossroads. Moreover, he had to admit that Jocasta, Laius’s wife and now his own wife, was actually his mother.
Upon hearing the news, Oedipus leaves the shepherd and goes to the palace to find his wife, Jocasta. When he reaches the palace he finds her dead, hanging by a noose. He pulls her down, and takes two pins from her clothes, and as stated in the book, “he raised and struck into the ball joints of his eyes” (Roberts 1343), blinding himself. Oedipus is exiled from Thebes, where he had reigned, and wanders for many years. Eventually, his travels lead him to a grove near Athens where he meets Theseus, the king of Athens. Oedipus then gets Theseus to