Oedipus the King by Sophocles Essay

Sight and Blindness in Oedipus Rex It is easy for a person that has great vision and can see clearly to be blinded by the truth. The Greek play, Oedipus the King by Sophocles is the story of Oedipus, a man who becomes the king of Thebes, while unwittingly fulfilling the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his own mother. One of the main themes in this play is blindness: physical blindness, which is lacking the sense of sight; and intellectual blindness, which is the refusal to accept…

dominance, this does not apply to all situations. Surprisingly, in Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King, the opposite prevails. Oedipus’ lack and pursuit of knowledge serve to bring suffering upon his immediate family members, emphasizing that wisdom does not always lead to happiness and success. As a product of his desperate attempts to gain awareness of his past, Oedipus causes Jocasta to go through an insurmountable level of misfortune. Oedipus first exposes her to this anguish when revealing…

Evident Irreverence for the Gods in Oedipus Rex The definition of irreverence, identified by the Merriam Webster dictionary, is a lack of reverence, or respect. Oedipus Rex, a complex tragedy written by Sophocles around 430 B.C., demonstrates consistent examples of irreverence toward the usually glorified gods of Greece. A few of these cases include the arrogant behavior displayed by Oedipus in the early scenes, strong accusations and doubt towards Tiresias, the blind oracle of Apollo, and…

Compared to Oedipus, Antigone or any other characters in the plays, excluding the Chorus, Creon is the only main character who spends the most time in all three plays and has a different personality in each play, which should give him the honor of having the play named after his name. His constant presence and pivotal words are so important to these plays that he cannot simply be disregarded because of his autocratic personality. His presence should rather be seen as the thread that stitches…

The play by Sophocles “Oedipus the King” develops the theme of blindness throughout the entire play through three of its central characters: Oedipus, Tiresias, and Jocasta. Oedipus is blind not only to whom he has killed, but also to what his life has consisted of up until the point that he killed Laius; Tiresias the prophet is physically blind; Jocasta is blind in wanting nothing but the best for her child. Through these three main characters they are not only showing that blindness does not…

Imagine a life where you are guilty of killing your father and marrying your mother. In Oedipus the King, this is the unfortunate reality of the main character, Oedipus. In the tragedy by Sophocles, written around 430 b.c., the question of whether Oedipus is guilty or innocent of these things is presented. However, he is both guilty and innocent. Oedipus is innocent of his behaviors because he isn’t aware that his parents are the victims of his actions, but he is also guilty because he fulfills…

In the story Antigone, the King of Thebes, Creon, showed that too much power will corrupt anyone. As Creon became the one with total control, his character, judgment, and his principals deteriorated. Antigone was written by Sophocles. He did an excellent job of showing how absolute power will corrupt absolutely. Using Creon's utmost authority, Sophocles told of how everything he once stood for had crumbled. Antigone begins by telling of a Theban royal family which is in much turmoil. There are…

The play Antigone, by Sophocles, sometimes appears to have two tragic heroes: two characters that make decisions that lead to a tragic conclusion. However utilizing the ideas presented in Aristotle’s Theory of Tragedy, is is clear that the true tragic hero of this Greek play is Creon. Although the story deals with the demise of Antigone in her quest to honor both her brother and the gods, the true misfortune of this tragedy is that of Creon who through excessive pride, ultimately loses all that…

Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex shows how people let their emotions control them to the point where they can no longer think rationally. There are many instances where the characters in the play let their emotions cloud their judgement, which leads to the gods punishing them for their actions. King Laius and Queen Jocasta are told that their infant son is fated to kill its father, and couple with its mother, which causes them to panic. They decide to try to prevent this prophecy by leaving him to…

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…