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Jocasta In Jocles 'King Oedipus The King'

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Jocasta
In the literature “King Oedipus” by Sophocles, the author introduces readers to a character called Jocasta who plays an important role in the text. Jocasta Queen of Thebes is an independent, nice woman who follows more her free will than her faith which gives her power. She is the ideal woman in Thebes for the people in her kingdom. In the play the Jocasta commits suicide before Oedipus finds out who his real parents are. “Attendant: “First, and in brief- Her Majesty is dead”. Chorus: “Alas, poor soul: what brought her to this end?” Attendant: “ Her own hand did it. You that have not seen. And shall not see, this worst, shall suffer the less. But I that saw, will remember, and will tell what I remember. Of her last
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Once the prophet Teiresias began helping Creon, Oedipus accused him of being untruthful. The last prophecy Teiresias gives is that “He will be blind, although he now can see.550 He will be a poor, although he now is rich. He will set off for a foreign country,groping the ground before him with a stick”(Sophocles, Oedipus). Unbenoiscent to Oedipus, this prophecy was towards him, thus it was inevitable. After finding out that Oedipus was her son, Jocasta, Oedipus's wife hangs herself.

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However, they do not ensure the death of their son by murdering him themselves. Although the intent was to kill Oedipus, Jokasta and Laius are attempting to avoid the natural inclination to feel guilty for the direct death of their son. Similarly, the shepherd’s decision to give Oedipus a second chance at life demonstrates a human inability to show violence towards something innocent, such as a young child. Furthermore, Oedipus’ denial upon learning that the death of the king was his own doing, demonstrates human ignorance. As human beings it is often hard to be told we are wrong or that the decisions we have made in life have led to severe consequences.

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Background Information: In Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, Oedipus was told that he would kill his father Laius and marry his mother Jocasta. However, Oedipus doesn’t believe that he killed Laius but was blind to the truth for him accept it which led to his demise. 3.Thesis Statement:

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Later in the play, after Oedipus and Jocasta have gotten married she says, “An oracle was given to Laius… What came of it? Laius… was killed by outland robbers… There, then, Apollo did not so contrive it. The offspring did not kill his father…”

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As Oedipus discovers the truth Jocasta starts to get defensive and tells him not to believe it. She feels guilty for marrying her son, and now he knows his mother/wife tried to kill him as an infant. “I will not be convinced I should not learn the whole truth of what these facts amount to” (Line 1069-1070). Jocasta learns of her misfortune and out of her free will she kills herself. In return Oedipus realizes that although now he sees the truth, he would rather be blind, so he stabs his eyes out with the brooches of Jocasta’s dress.

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    In the section of the play where Oedipus is furious at the fact that Tiresias, an oracle, tells him that he is the murderer of King Laius, Jocasta enters the scene in an attempt to comfort him. Jocasta tries to convince Oedipus that whatever the oracle tells him is just a ruse. She mentions how the fate an oracle foresaw in

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Niya Kebreab King Oedipus: Moral Ambiguity In the play King Oedipus, Sophocles depicts Oedipus’ inevitable downfall, which represents man’s struggle between free will and fate. In an attempt to use the audience’s knowledge to his advantage, Sophocles opens the play seventeen years after Oedipus murders his father, Laius and marries his mother, Jocasta. The sequence in which the story unravels reveals the strong psychological focus towards Oedipus’ character. In search of his identity, Oedipus’ enigmatic quality and moral ambiguity compels readers to question whether his ignorance renders him morally blameless.

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She responds quickly, going straight to the point showing that the couple is in sync and that Jocasta understands what Oedipus wants and the information he needs. After answering most of his questions without protest, Jocasta asks Oedipus to reveal his reasoning for this session of questioning, claiming she has the “right… to know what is troubling [him]”. Knowing that he is wrestling with a problem and because “no one means more to [him] than [Jocasta]”, Oedipus tells her everything “[holding] nothing back”, turning towards her as he goes through this. Allowing Jocasta to know his thoughts, Oedipus expresses the mutual respect the couple has for each other and the amount of support given during times of

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Jocasta was also blind to the fact that Oedipus very well may have murdered Laius. Jocasta heard the oracle state “It said Laius was fated to be killed by a child of ours, one born to him and me.” (Sophocles Line 710). Jocasta should have been more wary of a stranger who arrived immediately after the murder of her husband. She was not however, and it lead to her marrying her own

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The news of Oedipus being her son is the cause of Jocasta’s death, “She killed herself” (1475). The deeper Oedipus attempts to dive into his prophecy the more people are getting hurt. This just adds one more way Oedipus’ fate destructively influences the ones around him. Once again Oedipus’ decisions effected everyone, he explains this to his kids by saying “I think about your life in days to come, the bitter life which men will force on you.” (1758-1759).

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Jocasta is afraid that the truth might actually be true, she doesn't want him to continue but he is arrogant and doesn't stop. In the end of the play, knowledge causes Oedipus to fall into ruin. Oedipus knowledge didn't help him where he most needed it, even though he defeated the sphinx and saved thebes anything can go into ruin like that. The truth come out maybe something Oedipus would have better off not knowing?

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Gregory highlights that by Jocasta attempting to meditate in the dispute between Oedipus and Creon, she takes the heroic front to try and sort out things calmly (Gregory 212). Thus, in as much as the plot tricks us to believe that women are the cause of the mayhem, like for the aforementioned case, the underlying fact that they are the victims of circumstances is

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No more! My pain is hard enough. May you never learn who you are” (47). This portrays how Jocasta wants to prevent Oedipus from learning the truth, thus inducing his blindness. It is likely that Jocasta does this in order to protect Oedipus because her blindness ultimately led to her downfall and death.

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Once Oedipus found out about the killing of his father and marrying of his mother, everything goes downhill. Jocasta hangs herself after finding out about her son also being her husband and her son killing her past husband. Oedipus finds her and gouges his eyes out. These events led up to Creon taking over as king and exiling Oedipus soon after his request to be exiled. The few interactions led up to the expulsion of the main character, Oedipus.

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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.

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