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Oedipus The King Literary Analysis Essay

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Oedipus the King Literary Analysis Jennifer Tincher When something horrible happens your first reaction is to blame yourself. What if the blame actually lies with the almighty beings? Tragedy is a central idea in Ancient Greek work. Usually it is brought on through a flaw in a character being exploited. In Oedipus The King by Sophocles the horrible events that transpired were influenced by the characters. However, the main cause was ultimately the gods. Sophocles wrote this play around 429 BC in Athens, Greece and was one of the most celebrated playwrights of the era. The play centers around a royal family and the hidden horrors of their relations to each other with Oedipus having unwittingly killed his own father and married his mother. Without the gods there would be no horror and the land would …show more content…

He is stubborn in resisting the truth but he still seeks for it and that is his final undoing. Wanting to know the truth is not necessarily a bad thing but it is often the cause for bad things to happen. Oedipus is a key example of this when he finally realizes that he was the one who killed his father when he is faced with his dead wife and mother. He reacts harshly to this, stabbing out his eyes and banishing himself all over again. There is no denying that Oedipus caused a lot of his pain himself with no one else to blame.
To close, Oedipus’ curse was caused by the gods but his pain was a consequence from himself. He banished himself and stabbed his own eyes, but he also married his mother and killed his father. Despite this, it is known that those events would not have happened if the gods had never said anything. It is a harsh story but it brings out good questions about blame and cause that I hope have been cleared up. The fate of Oedipus was not his own but he caused a disruption of a nation that could have been

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First his denial of being the source of the plague. Second, his egotistical abilities that will form his plot to change his fate. And lastly, the consequences of his denial that will lead him to his physical and emotional destruction. It would seem that in this case, Oedipus’s fate is his own enemy.

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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.

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Oedipus Rex essay Final draft Oedipus certainly deserved his fate. Oedipus and his actions are clearly disrespect to the gods , he faces the fate he deserves. He was doing things that would eventually lead up to the unfortunate event of his death , he was even warned by the great and wise Teiresias , but he being himself was to stubborn and did not listen. All the things Teiresias said would happen became the truth. He killed his father, married his mother, yet he tempted his fate , he deserved everything that came his way .

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In ancient Greek society, the tragedy was a deeply spiritual and emotional art form integral to daily life. Perhaps one of the best examples of Greek tragedy is Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. The work is distinguished by the deep emotion and thought it elicits from the reader. This is in part due to Sophocles’ expert portrayal of Oedipus, who bears all the attributes of an Aristotelian tragic hero. A once powerful king turned blinded pariah, Oedipus is characterized by both his pride and his honorable character.

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