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Oedipus The King Compare And Contrast Essay

1008 Words5 Pages

The world of literature offers many different works; some may offer similarities while there are differences between others. There are more similarities than differences between Odysseus and Oedipus. Two great examples of literature is the tragic play “Oedipus the King”, written by Sophocles and “The Odyssey”, an epic poem written by Homer who were both Greek poets. Both poets’ work shows similar examples of life altering changes that were ultimately controlled by the Greek gods.
Oedipus the King and The Odyssey share many similarities. For instance both start out with conflict, In Oedipus the king the conflict emerges as the plague is destroying Thebes, while in The Odyssey the conflict emerges after Odysseus has finished fighting in the war and tries to return home. “I do pity you children. Don’t’ think I’m unaware. I know what need brings you: this sickness ravages all of you. Yet sick as you are not one of you suffers a sickness like mine” (68-72).This is one of the beginning lines in Oedipus the king where he is giving the audience a clue showing that the plague is part of the conflict. “Tell me the source of our trouble. How do we cleanse ourselves? By banishing a man or killing him. Its blood—kin murder—that brings this storm on our city” …show more content…

“We haven’t come to beg at your hearth because we think you’re the gods’ equal. We’ve come because you are the best man at handling trouble or confronting gods” (38-41). The people of Thebes are showing their respect in devotion to King Oedipus because the trust him as their well respected leader. They speak and think highly of king Oedipus based on this verse from the story. “We’ve lost almost everything, because we don’t have Odysseus to protect our house. We can’t defend ourselves” (63-65). These are lines from the Odyssey where the people are showing their respect for Odysseus by entrusting him with their

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