Tiresias

topic of truth. An example of truth in literature is in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. In the beginning of the story, truth appears as a goal because Oedipus needs to figure out who killed Laius in order to dispel the plague. The truth reveals itself when Tiresias tells Oedipus “I say that you are the murderer whom you seek” (Sophocles 216). Refusing to believe it, Oedipus decides to continue in the search, and he rejects the truth. In the end, when the truth is revealed, Oedipus realizes that he is…

The moral of the god Zeus is to be polite and hospitable to all, regardless of their appearance. In the fifth-century B.C, one of the worst thing that you can do is not bury a person, it was believed that an unburied person would not find rest. In order for Antigone to be the tragic hero, she must be a good upstanding person. That is why Antigone feels like its her duty to bury the body of her own brother, Polynices. Antigone’s effort to bring honor to her family by giving Polynices a decent…

Lastly, when Odysseus descends into the dangerous underworld, he makes his his effective leadership skills evident and risks his life for the safety of his men. Before traveling to the underworld, Odysseus is informed it is an inescapable place where danger is omnipresent. When Odysseus first arrives, he is asked by a shade “‘how could [he] cross alive into this gloom at the world’s end?’” since “no man goes a journey without ship’s timber under him” (Homer 190, 172-8). Despite the fact that…

audience but the characters are unaware. “I know or so I’ve. I never saw the man myself”(119). Oedipus not having a clue that he has seen Laius before, because he is the one who killed his father. “You are the curse, the corruption of the land”(401). Tiresias, the blind, prophet accuses Oedipus of murdering his father as a result bringing the plague to Thebes. Situation irony is used to represents the character's actions leading to his tragic fall. “I’ve given Corinth a wide berth, and it’s been…

laws in fear of some man 's opinion/for I know I will die (Antigone, 470-471). Here, fate is not delivered through a messenger, but it is an unspoken order that reflects on the duties of Greek society under the direction of the gods. Even for Creon, Tiresias warns, “the gods arouse against you” (Antigone, 1074). Fate in this story is portrayed more as an unwritten law: characters are given warnings by seers before their actions are determined with chances of redemption, or for Antigone, fate is…

Fate Oedipus Rex is a play that deals with many themes, but the main theme that comes to mind when reading Oedipus Rex is fate. The Oxford dictionary defines fate as “The development of events outside a person's control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power.” This is portrayed in the play Oedipus Rex in many ways. Fate is also crucial to the overall theme and basis of the play itself. Fate is portrayed in numerous ways throughout the play. One example of this is when Queen…

Medea vs. Oedipus: Comparison of Reactions to Tragedy In many Greek tragedies, we are introduced to characters that are faced with many hardships within the tragedy itself. When faced with such tragedy and difficulty, we all vary in how we react and respond to said circumstances. In this paper, I will be looking at two characters from our writing; Sophocles’ Oedipus of Oedipus the King and Euripides’ Medea from Medea. In these two characters, we can see two reactions to difficulty and…

Polyenes and when Creon finds out that Antigone broke the law he sentences her to prison. With several of the townspeople coming to debate Creon’s decision of putting Antigone in prison including Tiresias who was a prophet of god Creon still thought he was right for putting Antigone in prison. Tiresias at one point tells Creon “you have no business with the dead, this is violence you have forced upon the heavens” (1340). With this quote by the prophet of Thebes it shows us that the gods do not…

There are some distinguishable similarities between Homer’s description of Hades and Virgil’s description of Hades. First and foremost, one can note that the purpose of both Odysseus and Aeneas went to Hades was to receive knowledge. Even though the knowledge that Odysseus received from the underworld was different from Aeneas, the purpose of their trip to the underworld was fundamentally the same. “While I dug an ell-square pit with my sword; And poured libation to all the dead; First with…

In Sophocles’ Greek play, Oedipus Rex, events like Oedipus’ parents’ attempted infanticide, Oedipus abandoning his adoptive parents out fear of a prophecy, and the murdering of an innocent old man on his way to Thebes negatively causes Thebes to be plague-stricken and ill, as well as Oedipus’ tragic fate. Oedipus’ personal fate of ending up as a blind hermit has been determined by the gods since before he was even born, but it is ultimately his actions and the actions of those around him that…