The Tragedy Of Oedipus The King

Picture this. An oracle has just told you that you’re doomed to murder your father and marry your mother. What do you do next? In the Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, Oedipus receives this fate from an oracle named Tiresias and immediately runs from Corinth to escape his destiny. Along his journey, Oedipus murders a man on the road named Laius. Oedipus later realizes that Laius was his biological father. Once Oedipus arrives at the city of Thebes, he defeats the Sphinx and becomes king. He marries the previous king’s wife, Jocasta, and has four children with her. When the messenger and shepherd confirm that Laius was Oedipus’ father, Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus stabs his eyes out. The shepherd and messenger are to blame for the downfall of Oedipus because they both contributed to the survival of Oedipus and the discovery of who Oedipus’ actual parents were. If the messenger and shepherd had killed Oedipus when he was younger, the Greek tragedy would not have occurred and Jocasta and Laius would have lived longer lives.
To begin, the shepherd is responsible for Oedipus’ ruin because he did not kill Oedipus when he was instructed to do so and …show more content…
After the messenger received Oedipus from the shepherd, the messenger gave Oedipus to King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth. Though King Polybus and Queen Merope never told Oedipus he was adopted, the prophecy would have been avoided if the messenger never took the baby and the shepherd had executed him. The messenger is also at fault because he said, “ Polybus was nothing to you, that’s why, not in blood” (Sophocles pe. 218 line 1113). This quote shows how the messenger told Oedipus that he was adopted and caused him to spiral out of control. It made Oedipus realize that he was running away from the right prophecy, but the wrong