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Oedipus The King Research Paper

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Before “Oedipus the King” actually starts, there is some background information that everyone in the audience should know before watching the play. In the introduction before the play, Laius and Jocasta were told a horrible prophecy , that their son would kill his father and marry his mother. To make sure the prophecy does not come true, they give the baby to a shepherd to be taken to the mountain side, to be killed by exposure. The shepherd felt bad and gave the baby to another shepherd who gave him to the king and queen of Corinth, Polybus and Merope. Oedipus is told by a drunk man that Polybus and Merope are not his real parents. He goes to the Oracle to ask the gods but they ignore his question and instead tell him that he will kill his …show more content…

There are many alternative actions that could have been taken so that the prophecy did not come true. “Laius drove a metal pin through the infant’s ankles and gave it to a shepherd, with instructions to leave it to die of exposure on the nearby mountain, Cithaeron” (Introduction. pg XL). Instead of sending someone else to do their dirty work, they should have killed the baby themselves. They could have even had someone watch the shepherd take the baby to make sure that the baby was properly placed to die. “The shepherd took the child up to the mountain, but pitied it and gave it to a fellow shepherd he met there, who came from Corinth, on the other side of the mountain range” (Introduction. pg XL). If the shepherd would have just taken the orders he was given and leave the baby on the mountain side, the baby would have never lived for the prophecy to come true. Later in the play as Oedipus is telling his story to Jocasta, he says, “The next day I visited /My father and my mother, and questioned them. They stormed, /Calling it all the slanderous rant of a fool;” (Scene 2. Antistrophe 2. 254-256). When Oedipus asks Polybus and Merope if they are his real parents, they should have told him the truth. If he would have known for sure that they were not his real parents, he would not have left so that he could save them. Once again, while Oedipus was telling Jocasta his story he also says, “The god dismissed my question without reply; /He spoke of other things. /Some were clear, /Full of wretchedness, dreadful, unbearable:” (Scene 2. Antistrophe 2. 262-265). The gods know he will run away from his parents if they tell him the truth, so they avoid telling him. He can not control what the gods tell him which makes him not responsible for leaving to save his parents. Each event could have been handled a little differently. Since the alternative actions is not the actions

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This is best shown in Oedipus, whose actions were based on the circumstances surrounding him. Oedipus lived his entire life avoiding the prophecy foretold by Delphi. His parents abandoned him at birth because of it, he left his adoptive family because of it, and ultimately, he was blinded because of it. The prophecy itself did not cause these outcomes, but Oedipus’ actions were driven by it.

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ll 154, 196) . Afterwards when Oedipus’ parenthood was questioned, he had not yet realised or accepted his biological parents as Iocastê and King Laïus, and the truth of his actions towards them. The audience had inferred the truth long before Oedipus, thus giving them a sense of suspense, waiting for the truth to be revealed. This conveys

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Oedipus’ pride made him reject the very idea the he killed Laius, his birth father, or married Jocasta, his birth mother. Oedipus’ states, “But now, all those prophecies I feared--Polybus packs them off to sleep with him in hell! They’re nothing, worthless” (Sophocles 1062-1064). Oedipus’ insults the gods by saying that all the prophecies that were supposed to come true are worthless now that his father is dead. Since the gods play a significant role in Greek culture, his hubris is affecting his character by going against his and Greek culture's morals because he believes he is almighty and does not need the gods.

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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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Later, Oedipus discovers that his wife, was indeed his mother, and after Jocasta discussed the information, in which she held, went back inside to hang herself. Oedipus, from this point, rushed back inside and pierced his eyes out, to not be able to see anything else that in which does not give him joy after he found out that he was indeed the one who killed his father Laius. "But it was my own hands, no one else's, that blinded me. What need for eyes when there was nothing I could see that gave me joy?" (Sophocles 1331-1333).

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Niya Kebreab King Oedipus: Moral Ambiguity In the play King Oedipus, Sophocles depicts Oedipus’ inevitable downfall, which represents man’s struggle between free will and fate. In an attempt to use the audience’s knowledge to his advantage, Sophocles opens the play seventeen years after Oedipus murders his father, Laius and marries his mother, Jocasta. The sequence in which the story unravels reveals the strong psychological focus towards Oedipus’ character. In search of his identity, Oedipus’ enigmatic quality and moral ambiguity compels readers to question whether his ignorance renders him morally blameless.

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Great point, the parents are ultimately responsible for the prophecy being fulfilled. Oedipus’ parents arranging to have their child to be killed as a means to save themselves from the prophecy, these sets mechanism that sets events in motion. Each member of the family having a fault that leads to their own suffering.

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The argument with Oedipus was when the king of Thebes Laius, was told by the oracle that Jokasta will give birth to a son who will kill his father and marry his mother. During this time his son was born so he riveted the infants feet and left him on Mount Cithaeron to die. But the shepherd who was told to leave the baby on Mount Cithaeron felt sad for the baby and took him to the king of Corinth, Polybus being childless adopted the boy. Later on after doubting is parentage, he was told by the oracle the about his fate. He ran from Corinth and on his way to Thebes, he encountered his real father without knowing it was his real father, fought and

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First, he was blind to the truth about his own life. Oedipus had no idea that his real parents were Laius and Jocasta, he was so blind that he got mad at anyone that would even suggest an idea such as that. As the story went on though, Oedipus could no longer run from the truth; he was forced to open his eyes to the reality and truth of his life. Oedipus killed his father and married his mother; he is the brother to his own kids and the son of his own mother. Oedipus was the one that was causing all of the downfall and bad times in Thebes.

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Oedipus was getting hints of his prophecy and knowledge. King Oedipus hears Laius prophecy, thebes is looking for laius murder to bring healing to the city. Jocasta doesn't want him to keep searching because she is afraid. “I feel that my own curse now begins to descend on me.” (line 703, part 2)

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Jocasta finds out that Oedipus is also her son. When she found out about Oedipus being her child, Jocasta “ ‘broken in through the gates, dashing past us, frantic, whipped to fury, ripping her hair out with both hands--straight to her rooms she rushed, flinging herself across the bridal-bed. . .’ “ (315). Jocasta dashes into her room because she is frighten to the fact that Oedipus is her son. Jocasta not accepting that Oedipus is her son and husband means that she is hiding from the truth.

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In the play, the entire plot centers around a god-given prophesy (or spoken fate), that Oedipus would one day kill his father and marry his mother. His parents immediately attempt to protect their child from this fate and order his death. The baby is not killed, however, and grows up to fulfil the exact details of the prophesy. “Gods can be evil sometimes.” In the play “Oedipus the King”, Sophocles defamed the gods’ reputation, and lowered their status by making them look harmful and evil.

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Ordering their servant to take their son to dispose of him, went to go get rid of the baby, but instead of killing him he gave it away to the king and queen of Cornith. Oedipus grow up without realizing he is adopted until one day he is out with some friends drinking, one of his friend that night told him the truth. Finding out this. He travel to Delphi 's to search for the truth. But once he get their he told about a prophecy where he kills his father and marry his mother.

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And Oedipus replied ”you have got your wish if you don’t tell the truth” . He is not pushing them to speak, he forces them using the power of his position . In addition to the reason behind Oedipus’s escape is knowing his fate and that he is going to kill his father and marry his mother. So he ran from it, and he did not know that he is running towards it. His curiosity and insistence to revel the truth made him follow his passion and never listen to anybody, hence he made bad choices.

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So in the end, Oedipus no longer thinks of himself. Thinking of his children 's impending marriage, Oedipus begs for his children and no longer can think of himself as anything more than a creature that embodies what it means to be pathetic: “When you come to the age ripe for marriage, who will he be who will run the risk, children, to take for himself the reproaches that will be banes for my parents and offspring alike? What evil is absent? Your father slew his father; he ploughed his mother, where he himself was sown, and he sired you in the same fount where he himself was sired.

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