ipl-logo

Does Oedipus Deserve His Fate

662 Words3 Pages

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is a play about a man who was sent to be killed as a baby.
Oedipus is the king of Thebes and considers the people of Thebes as his children. Thebes was cursed by a sphinx and the only way to cure it is to find the true killer of the previous king,
Laius. Earlier in the play the Oracle at Delphi told Oedipus the tragic story about his destiny, and
Oedipus makes it his mission to figure out if it was true. Oedipus was told that his fate was to kill his real father and marry his real birth mother. Since Oedipus was not raised by his real parents, and did not know, he believed that he did not do either of the things the Oracle has stated. More witnesses continued to surface proving that Oedipus, unknowingly, lived …show more content…

While he is escaping his fate he runs into his real father
Laius, who he does not know is his real father, and kills him. He arrives at Thebes where his birth mother lives and ends up marrying her, also believing it was just a random women. The
Oracle predicted all of these things to happen, while Oedipus thought he was winning, he never knew he was actually fulfilling his destiny. As he gathered more information about the truth, he uncovers that he did in fact marry his mother and kill his father. Disgusted with himself, he gauges his eyeballs out and exiles himself from Thebes, and his hometown, Corinth.
Thus, Oepidus the King is the true definition of a tragic hero, because of his excessive pride and self-righteousness that led him to fulfill his destiny. Oepidus the King is a very interesting play that I would definitely recommend to other people. The fact that it uses ancient tragedy really pulls it all together. Oepidus was just trying to do right by who believed was his father and mother but ended up making the gods mad. The Oracle told him it is not possible to

Johnson 3 escape his fate and although Oedipus believed he could, he was wrong in the long run. That goes to show karma will get you sooner or

Show More
Related
328 Words | 2 Pages

Since Oedipus was not aware of who his biological parents were, he was not truly guilty of killing his father and sleeping with his mother. The Greeks strongly believed in a person’s fate. They believed that no matter what a person does, there is no escaping his or her fate. Although Oedipus technically committed the crimes of killing his father and sleeping with his mother, he is not guilty of these because he unknowingly did these

Read More
614 Words | 3 Pages

From the beginning Oedipus was destined to fulfill a terrible prophecy, but through particular events that follow the steps of the Hero’s Journey, Oedipus becomes a powerful king of Thebes, only to be destroyed by the prophecy that should have ended his life as a child. The Hero’s Journey typically leads to self-confidence and power, however; the Hero’s Journey of Oedipus leads to his tragic demise. The Hero’s Journey lays out the steps of Oedipus’s future actions, which create suspense, fear, pity, and other emotions that captivates the audience. Similar to many famous stories, Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles in 430 B.C., follows the Hero’s Journey path, which is evident in Oedipus’s departure, initiation, and return.

Read More
1429 Words | 6 Pages

Upon receiving the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, he unquestioningly embraced its validity without challenging it. However, if he employed his common knowledge and free will, the course of events might have been altered. For instance, he tragically killed Laius in a dispute that could have been avoided with restraint. Additionally, when tasked with uncovering the murderer of the former king of Thebes, Oedipus willingly accepted the challenge, firmly believing it was his destiny to expose the killer and save his city. Unfortunately, his unwavering trust in fate and blind devotion to prophecies ultimately led to his downfall.

Read More
311 Words | 2 Pages

In our lives, people believe that destiny controls our lives and that when things happen it 's for a reason. In into the wild by Jon Krakauer and Oedipus, by Sophocles, it shows us strong examples of destiny. Into the wild shows us destiny when Chris Supertramp goes through many hardships like his car being in a flood and the battery dying. When this happens he has to leave his car behind but is happy because it looks like it was destiny to shed access things and walk up to Alaska meeting new people along the way and making friends that supported him in his endeavors. It was also his destiny to find the bus and eat wild pea plants and die.

Read More
2289 Words | 10 Pages

It was then revealed that they were not his real parents. He had also found out there was a prophecy that was ruining his life. This prophecy claims that Oedipus would kill his biological father and marry his mother. This all came to reality and from here his life went downhill. To start

Read More
454 Words | 2 Pages

The Greeks believed that they were controlled by fate, or destiny, and that they could not escape it. Oedipus’ fate was that he would murder his father and marry his mother. He moved away from his, not known to him, adoptive father in order to protect him and wound up murdering his birth father, King Laios of Thebes. After Laios’ death, Oedipus married the widowed queen Jocasta, not knowing that she is his birth mother. Some believe, because he was ignorant of his crimes, that he is innocent.

Read More
686 Words | 3 Pages

Oedipus the King is a tragedy that was written by Sophocles that emphasizes the irony of an irony of a man who was determined to trace down, expose and punish an assassin who in turn became him. Oedipus the King is also known as Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus. The art is an Athenian play that was performed in ages approximated to be 429 BC. Oedipus the King would later in the play fulfill the prophecy that he would kill his father and later on marry his mother. There is a twist of an event in the play where Oedipus is looking for the murderer of his father to bring to a halt the series of plagues that are befalling Thebes but only to find he is in search of himself (Rado, 1956).

Read More
1063 Words | 5 Pages

First, he was blind to the truth about his own life. Oedipus had no idea that his real parents were Laius and Jocasta, he was so blind that he got mad at anyone that would even suggest an idea such as that. As the story went on though, Oedipus could no longer run from the truth; he was forced to open his eyes to the reality and truth of his life. Oedipus killed his father and married his mother; he is the brother to his own kids and the son of his own mother. Oedipus was the one that was causing all of the downfall and bad times in Thebes.

Read More
741 Words | 3 Pages

Oedipus solved the riddle of the sphinx which ultimately saved the Kingdom of Thebes from the plague. This made Oedipus a respected ruler that was well liked in Thebes. His time as ruler eventually came to an unexpected end. Although Oedipus could not control his fate, his confidence in himself, determination and stubbornness to find out who killed Laius led to his downfall. Throughout the play Oedipus struggles with not being able to solve this murder.

Read More
583 Words | 3 Pages

Oedipus is the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta. Based on Oedipus’s mother’s dream that when Oedipus grows up, he is about to kill his father. As soon as Oedipus is born, he falls into disuse in the mountains. Then, Oedipus saved by the shepherds and is adopted King of Corinth as the adopted child. When Oedipus is in the age of youth, he learns the dream of mother and then Oedipus abandons to kingdom on the purpose of killing King of Corinth.

Read More
571 Words | 3 Pages

Oedipus’s selfishness and temper eventually lead to his downfall. Oedipus selfishness made everyone else mad at him for him not believing them. He kept digging and digging himself into a deeper hole. This eventually made his punishment at the end worse for him. He also could not handle the truth so this made him disrespect the gods.

Read More
739 Words | 3 Pages

Ordering their servant to take their son to dispose of him, went to go get rid of the baby, but instead of killing him he gave it away to the king and queen of Cornith. Oedipus grow up without realizing he is adopted until one day he is out with some friends drinking, one of his friend that night told him the truth. Finding out this. He travel to Delphi 's to search for the truth. But once he get their he told about a prophecy where he kills his father and marry his mother.

Read More
1159 Words | 5 Pages

Introduction The story of Oedipus the king is gloomy, yet captivating. Going from a child bond around the feet and abandon by the mountainside, to marrying his mother, his story is intriguing. In search of the truth about the prophecy and putting an end to a plague Oedipus, search for king Laius’s killer, did somethings inadvertently, making him a tragic hero. His search for truth in the death of Laius the king, as well as his birth led to the ultimate destruction and downfall of his life.

Read More
1224 Words | 5 Pages

Oedipus the King is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who kills his father and marries his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would murder him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, had a son, he exposed the baby by first pinning his ankles together. The infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife was then brought up as their very own.

Read More
523 Words | 3 Pages

His destiny has been foretold by an oracle which claims that his son will one day murder him. The prophecy stated, His oracle was simplified to, “One which said he’d kill his parents.” (26) At that state of risk he leaves his son, but did the oracle predict right? It seems so, since Oedipus murders a group which was told to be Laius’ group. “I lifted my own staff and hit him back.

Read More

More about Does Oedipus Deserve His Fate

Related Topics

Open Document