The play I decided to read was Oedipus the King by Sophocles, I choose to read this play because of the intricacy of its story plot, which allows for great analysis of the many themes throughout this play. I owned a copy of the play since high school and that was how I obtained the play. In this play, Sophocles does a great job at depicting the prominent theme in Greek history, fate vs free will. They believed that a man was born with a certain fate, and all his actions would lead to that fate, essentially, he has no free will. In the play, Oedipus received a prophecy from the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, that he would be the one to murder his father, marry his mother, and bare children that would also be his brother. In the play, Oedipus is
…show more content…
In the play, a messenger comes to Oedipus and tells him that the ankles of his feet were pierced and tied together. Later in the play we found out that an oracle informed Laius that his born child will kill him and sleep with his mother. In a last-ditch effort to avoid this, Laius pinned Oedipus feet and threw him in the wilderness. However, fate prevails over this action because Oedipus is found and carries out the prophet. This example shows how no matter what he does, the prophecy will be prevailed. Laius went to the extinct to desert his newborn child to avoid destiny, but in the end, he still was killed by his own son. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t avoid …show more content…
However, Oedipus’s free will lead to him fulfilling his fate. Oedipus actions such as fleeing Corinth to go to Thebes, killing the men in the wagon, and condemning himself to live in exile; was his own doing. In addition, while reading this play I found it very interesting and fun to read. I enjoyed how every time a character would talk to the “Chorus” it would be similar to an aside in the real-life plays. While reading the play, I found some of the language hard to understand because of the way Sophocles wrote in that era. I did enjoy the intricate language and the underlying motifs in the play. Reading the play was different because I was able to re-read and decipher parts I didn’t fully grasp; whereas in the real-life play I wasn’t able to do so. In conclusion Oedipus Rex was an enjoyable play to read and it was clear that Oedipus free-will lead him to fulfil the prophecy given to him at
In the play, a messenger comes to Oedipus and tells him that the ankles of his feet were pierced and tied together. Later in the play we found out that an oracle informed Laius that his born child will kill him and sleep with his mother. In a last-ditch effort to avoid this, Laius pinned Oedipus feet and threw him in the wilderness. However, fate prevails over this action because Oedipus is found and carries out the prophet. This example shows how no matter what he does, the prophecy will be prevailed. Laius went to the extinct to desert his newborn child to avoid destiny, but in the end, he still was killed by his own son. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t avoid …show more content…
However, Oedipus’s free will lead to him fulfilling his fate. Oedipus actions such as fleeing Corinth to go to Thebes, killing the men in the wagon, and condemning himself to live in exile; was his own doing. In addition, while reading this play I found it very interesting and fun to read. I enjoyed how every time a character would talk to the “Chorus” it would be similar to an aside in the real-life plays. While reading the play, I found some of the language hard to understand because of the way Sophocles wrote in that era. I did enjoy the intricate language and the underlying motifs in the play. Reading the play was different because I was able to re-read and decipher parts I didn’t fully grasp; whereas in the real-life play I wasn’t able to do so. In conclusion Oedipus Rex was an enjoyable play to read and it was clear that Oedipus free-will lead him to fulfil the prophecy given to him at