The ancient Greek playwright Sophocles almost always had a purpose for writing. As such, in the ancient Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, Sophocles purpose is to reflect reverence to the gods. He does this through the characters by showing what happens to them when they defy the word of the Gods and place themselves above the Gods. “It was prophesied to Laius And Jocasta, king and queen of Thebes, that the son to be born to them would murder his father and marry his own mother.” (Sophocles VI) this quote from the introduction to the play sets up the defiance of Laius and Jocasta to the Gods. This is because next, “... to avert this disaster they exposed the child with his feet pinned together to die on the mountain side.” (Sophocles VI). Prophecies are the words of the Gods spoken through the oracle and by trying to stop the prophecy from happening Laius and Jocasta defied the Gods. In the end what came of Laius and Jocasta was death for both of them. …show more content…
Oedipus grew up and learned of the prophecy uttered at his birth. He fled and his wanderings brought him back to Thebes, but on the way, ”He killed in a roadside brawl an old man who, unknown to him, was King Laius.” (Sophocles VII). When Oedipus arrived in Thebes there was a plague which Oedipus figured out was caused by the murder of the previous king. To help figure out who the murder was he called on Tiresias who was a prophet of Apollo. Tiresias’s told Oedipus that, “You are the curse, the defiler of this land.” (Sophocles 17). Oedipus refused to accept this and said that Tiresias, a representative of Apollo, was wrong. In this way Oedipus was placing himself above the gods and he ended up a blind