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Oedipus Rex Research Paper

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Know Thyself Pamela Theresa Loertscher once said,“Know thyself and all will be revealed”. This crucial thought is the center of Oedipus’s downfall in the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. In this early play, Oedipus had always thought that he knew his true parents, but the play takes a turn and reveals the shocking truth. If Oedipus had known who he truly was, all of these tragedies could have been avoided. In the beginning, Oedipus didn’t know the true identity of his parents, much like himself. Without a doubt, he truly believed that the parents who raised him were his real parents. Oedipus believed that Creon was trying to overthrow him by telling the prophecy of him. After this argument between them, Oedipus went to his wife, Jocasta, and …show more content…

He believed his own brother-in-law was plotting against him and therefore he was furious with Creon. Jocasta entered the scene when Creon and Oedipus were having a dispute. Oedipus had decided that he must either banish Creon or slay him. “He’s right, Jocasta, for I find him plotting with knavish tricks against my person” (pg 10).Oedipus was turning on his kin because of the information he had gotten from Teiresias about his dreadful future. If he had known his real parents, he would not be turning on his own family member and accuse him of horrible doings. Oedipus was recalling the events at the crossroads to Jocasta fearfully, “When the old man saw this he watched his moment, and as I passed he struck me from his carriage full on the head with his two pointed goad. But he was pain in full and presently my stick had struck him backwards from the car and he rolled out of it. And then I killed them all” (pg 13). He did not know his own father’s face so he had no idea that he had just slain his father. If Oedipus had actually had ties with his true father, he would have recognized the carriage and the man in it. Sadly, Oedipus did not know it was his father and he executed

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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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