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Oedipus The King Research Paper

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Oedipus The King, written by Sophocles, conveys the message that a man’s fate can not be changed, but being ignorant to the truth can result with the worst consequences. When Tiresias, a blind prophet, discloses the truth to Oedipus about the murderer of Laius, Oedipus reacts the way every man would, spurning the truth which would ruin his life. Oedipus turns on a loyal friend of many years, Creon, after being accused of doing the unthinkable, killing Laius. After hearing the news that Polybus, Oedipus’ “father” has died, he believes he has beaten the prophecy, only to soon learn was blind to the truth his entire life. Oedipus believes he is the exemplar for whom every man should be, but what is hidden from him makes him the contrary, a man abhorred by all others. …show more content…

When the truth of who killed Oedipus is revealed to himself and the people of Thebes, Oedipus is repulsive. Oedipus accuses Tiresias of doing what was accused of him, killing Laius, the preceding king of Thebes. Oedipus must act like a king would in this situation and responds to Tiresias telling him, “Oh truth has strength, but you have none. You have blind eyes, blind ears, and a blind brain.” (31) Oedipus feels his hatred for Tiresias building up and would never be able to accept this terrible fate. He refuses to accept the truth, being blind to what he has done, who his parents are, and the outcome of the

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Oedipus denies the truth and faces the consequences later on in the play. He gets furious when everyone is blaming him for killing Laius. As he is blaming others, hubris appears within his personality. Oedipus becomes blinder as hubris takes over him.

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The plot of Oedipus the King, a Greek Tragedy written by Sophocles, revolves around several prophecies. A plague has stricken Thebes, and Oedipus discovers that the plague will only end when the murderer of King Laius has been caught. Additionally, another prophecy states that the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta would kill his father and sleep with his mother. Oedipus vows to the citizens of Thebes that he will find the murderer, but as the plot develops, Oedipus comes to the realization that he himself was the murderer he had been seeking. Oedipus’ use of violence, both verbal and physical, accurately illustrates his excessive self-pride, which helps reveal his tragic flaw to the audience.

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In the epic Oedipus the King, the idea of fatalism is one of the main themes within the story. The awareness that no matter how hard one tries he will not be able to avoid the destiny that has been laid before him. From this concept, Oedipus was caught in the midst of a very crucial dilemma; without even knowing, he was called upon to kill his father just because the gods decided to. This is just one of the examples within the story that proves that Oedipus is a quarry of the society that is at the mercy of the gods. By analyzing Oedipus’ birth and the death of his father, a reader will be able to see why he is a victim of society.

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Tiresias may be blind, but he can see the truth of the tragedy involving Oedipus. An illusion is set throughout the play which shows who Oedipus really was before he became king of Thebes. But Oedipus is the victim of the illusion which led him to kill

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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.

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Throughout the tragedy of Oedipus the King, Oedipus displays his imperfectly noble being for all to see. While Oedipus had saved the Thebans from the Sphinx’s riddle, Oedipus’s nobel pride and anger lead to his destruction as he attempted to find Laios’s murderer. In his mistreatment of Teiresias, and his false allegations towards Creon being a usurper, Oedipus shows his imperfectly noble character as he foolishly attempts to fight fate and the gods will. Oedipus and his imperfectly noble nature appear again and again as he attempts to solve the murder of the previous King.

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In Sophocles’, Oedipus Rex, truth is clearly seen to hold critical value towards one's perspective. In scene one of Sophocles' play, Teiresias exclaims that, knowledge of the truth can be dreadful "...when there's no help in the truth. " This statement is made in relevance of Oedipus' realization of Laios' murder and his own tainted fate. This newfound knowledge does not sway in favor of Oedipus' position as King. The murder of prior ruling figure, Laios, causes Oedipus to fear for his own safety as he is the current reining power of Thebes.

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Unbeknownst to Oedipus, he kills a man when he leaves Corinth, this man is Laius. Subsequently, Oedipus, upon arriving to Thebes, marries Jocasta and ends up becoming king of Thebes; thus, fulfilling the prophecy. Only later does Oedipus find out that he, trying so hard to prevent it, sealed his fate. Moreover, once Oedipus realizes that the prophecy has come true, he gouges out his eyes and begs for exile. This scene was particularly ironic due to the fact that Oedipus so aggressively argued that he was not Laius’s killer.

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One cannot deny that Oedipus wanted to find the killer of Laius, and he did everything in his power to do so. That is where the problem lies. Although many believe Oedipus is relentlessly searching for the previous king’s killer, he is actually harming others in order to confirm his fate and wrongdoings. For instance, “One of you twist his arms behind his back quickly!”(Sophocles 85). “You are a dead man if I have to ask you again.

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When he hears the story of how the king, Laius, was terribly murdered, Oedipus wants to get to the bottom of the story and find the person who is guilty. He never considers himself a suspect, even though he knows he murdered a man not very long ago. When Oedipus is confronted by Tiresias about the murder of Laius, he is shocked and appalled that someone would say such a thing about him. This shows that Oedipus cannot look inside himself to find the truth, and he does not want to know the truth about himself. After people accuse about Oedipus committing the murders, he is determined to find out the truth no matter what it takes.

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Shortly after this, he hears of the unfortunate truth from Tiresias, but he refuses to acknowledge it, cursing Tiresias and commanding him to depart (Sophocles and Frederic 25). We see again of how Oedipus’ role as the king builds

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So when he starts telling him the truth Oedipus gets even more mad and taunts Tiresias about being blind. Then Oedipus accuses Ceron of being the murderer and that he is just trying to become king. If it was not for Oedipus’s temper he would not have killed king Laius and his men. Oedipus’s temper had a great contribution to his downfall and later his blindness. Oedipus’s pride also was a large contribution to his downfall.

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Oedipus is portrayed as a tragedy because of his hubris actions that lead to his downfall. Oedipus believes he can change his own fate and run away from his own prophecy. The play, "Oedipus King Sophocles" translated by David Grene, Oedipus states that "he sent his rascal prophet to me since he keeps his own mouth clean of any guilt", this quote shows how Oedipus 's pride is getting in the way of believing the truth and reality. oedipus believes that they 're trying to point the finger at him. Jocasta proceeds to tell him what the prophecy is and the whole entire story.

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Oedipus the King is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who kills his father and marries his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would murder him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, had a son, he exposed the baby by first pinning his ankles together. The infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife was then brought up as their very own.

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Oedipus passionately tries to find the killer of the previous king not knowing that the old man he killed a long time a go was actually King Laius; however, he doesn’t know that in fact he is the true killer of king Laius and not only that also that Laius is actually his real dad. On the other hand he tries to search for the killer so intensely that it proves that he is doesn’t know that he himself is the killer of the king. There is a part in the story when the citizens and the priest actually pray to the god because Oedipus has come to save their city from suffering; Oedipus has so much

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