The Downfall of Oedipus Essay

Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus Rex, the concepts of fate and free will are very prominent throughout the play. In ancient Greece, fate was considered to be a reality outside of an individual that determined his or her life and represented an unstoppable force. The ancient Greeks believed in fatalism, which was the belief that our lives are controlled by more powerful beings, known as Gods. Both the concepts of fate and free will played a crucial part in Oedipus’ downfall. Oedipus was destined from…

delusional and is unable to accept the fact that he has failed to achieve the state at which he longed to be at. Oedipus lacked the knowledge of the prophecy and everything that he believed in was false. Another example of the similarities between the two stories is that both protagonists inflicted self harm upon themselves. Willy commits suicide in attempt do something right for his family and Oedipus gouges his eyes out as well as casts himself out of the city as punishment for his mistakes.…

Purpose of Free Will in Oedipus One of the most multisided philosophical debates can be sparked simply by asking "Are we free?" It's a question that we've been grappling for thousands of years. Sophocles uses Oedipus to ask questions about fate, free will, and how they can possibly exist together. In ancient Greek, the word for fate was Moira, defined by Homer as an impersonal power and sometimes makes its functions interchangeable with those of the Olympian gods. Oedipus is a character quite…

Between Plato’s dialogues and the Greek tragedies composed by Sophocles, there remains a rift between the idea that knowledge is the ultimate achievement versus the idea that it is ultimately the downfall of one’s mental and emotional well-being. While Plato argues that knowledge of absoluteness, true beauty, and otherwise complete enlightenment can only be achieved in fractions by means of cognitive awareness or fully after death, Sophocles presents the notion that we are better off blind to…

In the story of Oedipus Rex, blindness refers to people being blind to the truth. The answer they were seeking when it came to their problems may have been obvious, but they could not see the answer. Due to them being blind to they answer they were seeking. Blindness also can be associate with being physically blind and being enlightened. A blind person in the story is said to have powers to see things that people with sight cannot see. Though the blind doesn’t have sight they have another kind…

once said “A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” Throughout reading The Great Gatsby, Opedius the King , and as well as King Lear, each main character faces many tragic flaws throughout their life. A tragic hero can be defined as a character who commits an action which eventually led to their collapse. Typically, the aspect of an individual’s character plays a part in their downfall. Each main character faced many obstacles that shapes their outcome in…

Oedipus Rex is a tragic tale of a man whose fate betrays him. In this play Oedipus is involved in a prophecy that for his whole life his was ignorant to. Oedipus knows about the prophecy, and tries to avoid it by leaving his home. By doing this, Oedipus unknowingly fulfills the prophecy. Oedipus later has to deal with the repercussions of these actions. Once he accepts what he has done, Oedipus gets a sense of clarity even though he is still in pain. The various symbols throughout Oedipus Rex…

story of Oedipus could be the story of any of us. Yes, everyone could capitulate to a foreboding future, for it is out of our hands, just as it was out of his. Even before he could speak there was prophecy of what he would come to do. He unknowingly killed his father, only to learn about it twenty years later. He takes his own eyes out with the pins of his mother’s brooches. Oedipus is a classic example of a tragic hero because of his unjust fate and cruel circumstances. When Oedipus is born,…

Greek mythology and literature, particularly in “Oedipus Rex” where Sophocles nurtures the theme that true sight requires, not eyes to see, but the capability to see through the surface of things. Sophocles believed, one must be able to understand what they are seeing, its not enough to just see it. Teiresias, who is only physically blind character, is the only character that throughout the play who actually sees what is occurring around himself. Oedipus only achieves this level of insight once…

free will is a God given thing. It was given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Often times, fictional characters are written to have free will. Those are the character that we find more relatable. One of those characters is Oedipus. In Sophocles’ Oedipus The King, Oedipus becomes a victim of his own free will; a parallel to the story of mankind as detailed in the bible. Free will is found all over the Bible; although those exact words are not used. One example can be found in the book of…