Tragedy In Oedipus The King

Greek theatre was formed back in 500 BC by the Greek civilisation that used performing, miming and dancing as ways and means to tell stories, imitate others and for their rituals. They were two forms of plays that were showcased in the City of Dionysia; tragedy and satyr. The City of Dionysia was the festival celebrating the God Dionysus. Throughout this essay I will be describing the characteristics of Greek tragedy while using Sophocles’ ‘Oedipus the King’ as a reference.

Before Oedipus was the king of Thebes, he lived in another city with the people he thought were his parents. Oedipus, as an infant, was abandoned by Queen Jacosta and King Laius and adopted by a new family in Corinth. He was abandoned and left to die because someone had told them that when he grew up he would kill his father and

The Queen, Jacosta, Oedipus’ wife tells him not to believe in the prophet, because they’ve been wrong before, she then tells Oedipus about how she and King Laius had a son who was prophesied to kill Laius and sleep with her but since the child was supposedly dead the prophecy couldn’t be true. Oedipus becomes a bit weary because as a child an old man told him he was adopted and that one day he’d kill his real father and sleep with his mother, Oedipus did also kill a man at a crossroads which sounded like the way Laius died. Oedipus continued questioning the messenger and found out that he was the man everyone spoke of and Jacosta then comes to the realization that Oedipus is her son and kills herself. Oedipus shortly after is escorted away by Creon after realizing that he had slept and procreated with his mother and killed his father.

There are many characteristics of Greek tragedy; it always depicts the downfall of a good person who is called the protagonist. In the play ‘Oedipus the King’, Oedipus was the protagonist and soon met his demise at the end of the play by no one