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Sophocles Oedipus, Is Not In Our Stars

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The Fault, Dear Oedipus, Is Not in Our Stars

Sophocles comments through his work Oedipus Tyrannus on the role Apollo and prophecy occupy. They serve as stage directions in some cosmic play where the remaining script is filled in an improvisational fashion by the people who live it. On examination of the words of Teiresias and the conclusion reached by Oedipus, one can see that prophecy does not remove choice, but rather it inspires it.
Teiresias, regarding the idea of fate, appears to dismiss the idea of choice when he says these “things” will come to be whether he speaks of them or not (OT 341). However, an inevitable fate does not necessarily preclude choice. The prophet of Apollo words does not imply that the entirety of life had been
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Explanation Everyone thought it was the profocys fault yet it could have been Oedipus's or Iokaste's fault. The quote shows how we can be the downfall of ourselves yet we still may blame it on others even if we know that we had done wrong. Also it could mean that our fate can be changed by our dissions. 2.

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In Antigone, they were four siblings, they were the children or Oedipus and Jocasta. Eteocles and Polyneices that was strong and brave but Eteocles was so stubborn and the things he wanted will happen either you like it or not and Polyneices was fair. Antigone that was kind, helpful,strong,confident and loyal. Lastly Ismene she was the one that was scared she cared about the law and respected the king. In Antigone the two brothers fought against the law Polyneices was supposed to have his turn to have the throne, playing by the rules of Eteocles having the throne for a year,displaying fairness.

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In the play Oedipus Tyrannos by Sophocles, there are many instances in which Oedipus breaks the law, and commits awful crimes. After carful considerations of all his actions, we conclude that Oedipus was not guilty. To begin, it is evident that Oedipus’ story is not something that would occur frequently, and therefore can be considered an extenuating circumstance. This leads to the conclusion that he cannot be blamed for his actions.

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Because of this action it allowed for Oedipus to grow up to then become king and marry Jocasta thus setting the prophecy into motion to be fulfilled. This shows that no mortal can change the path that the gods have set for them. The God that Stated Oedipus’ fate was the son of Zeus, Apollo. This is found out through one of Oedipus’ messengers that read the oracle of the gods and when Oedipus found out he stated, “Apollo said though his prophet that I was the man who should marry his own mother, shed his father’s blood with his own hands” ( Sophocles 3. 945-947). Even when the prophet of a god tells Oedipus that he will do all these horrible acts he still denies it and continues to try and find out the truth of who his parents really are and who killed the late king Lausis while avoiding what the gods are saying will happen

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A main theme throughout The Odyssey is the idea of fate vs. free will, which is also largely consistent throughout Oedipus Rex. However, instead of exclusively exploring the involvement of both fate and free will in the human condition, Sophocles analyzes the limits of human free will and the consequences of ignoring or attempting to avoid fate. Throughout the play, we see both Oedipus and his parents constantly running from their fate. They make almost every possible move to avoid their inevitable fate. Through this presentation of free will, Sophocles suggests that although humans have the independence to make their own choices, these choices will ultimately result in whatever condition they were predestined to encounter.

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As parents raise their children, they teach them to always tell the truth. But do people always want to know the truth? In the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus shows his ignorance to the truth for most of the play. Only at the end does he decided to pursue it. In Minority Report by Steven Spielberg, John lived by catching future murderers.

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All of which has put me far and long from Corinth” (Sophocles 53). To Oedipus, his prophecy was his worst nightmare; the thought of marrying Merope and killing Polybus terrified him. He pursued to escape from his destiny because, in his mind, running away from his parents was the foolproof-plan to avoid his prophecy. Yet, Oedipus met his destiny on the path he took to escape it. The fatal flaw of Oedipus was his incapability to accept his destiny.

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Sophocles suggests that characters are not fully responsible for their actions by elevating the importance of fate. The themes in Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus are also free will

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Throughout the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles, there are many motifs that connect to universal truths, one motif in the play is ignorance. The motif of ignorance can relate to the universal lesson of, truth is not always the best to have because it can harm yourself and others. To start with, Oedipus wants to find out who his mother and father are so he questions a messenger. In the process of this, Jocosta realizes that she is Oedipus’s mother. In addition of her finding out this new information, she cannot live with herself so she commits suicide.

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In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and agency are very strong throughout the play.  Both sides of the argument can be greatly supported.   The attributes of a person have either a positive or negative affect on the choices that they make.   For Oedipus, his main attribute was the desire for knowledge and understanding about his own life. Because of this strong will and desire, this was Oedipus’ driving force in the play to lead him to the truth of his beginnings.

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Oedipus is a classic example of a man whose central problem is that he does not know himself. Over the entrance to the temple at Delphi are inscribed these words: “Know Thyself”. Throughout the text, Oedipus shows that he does not himself as good as he should. That becomes a huge problem for him throughout the whole play. He is basically blind the whole entire play.

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Free will is something that we, as people living in a judeo-christian and capitalistic society, seemingly depend on for purpose, but throughout much of history, the concept was viewed through a quite different lense. In The Oedipus Cycle by Sophocles, despite all of the efforts of Oedipus to avoid his fate, the king of Thebes is not able to avoid the inevitable, due to circumstances out of his control. Considered in a more simplistic light during Sophocles’ time, with the role of the gods playing an much more significant role in people 's thought processes, many preeminent philosophers, such as Sam Harris, are now taking this point of view, but then adding science and excluding religion. While this topic is still quite controversial even today, by delving into both the science behind free will and also the text of The Oedipus Cycle, the conclusion that the concept of free will is a false narrative is not as implausible. First and foremost, the science behind free will is essential in the understanding of people’s decision making.

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Sophocles was born in Colonus, Hippius, which is now part of Athens, in the year of 496 BC and he was a Greek playwright in drama. Sophocles was not only a Greek philosopher but he was also a politician, priest, and a military leader. Sophocles and two other philosophers, Euripides and Aeschylus, were mainly known as the masters of tragedy. Sophocles was the most successful of the three and always won in play competitions and “never had the ignominy of being voted third” (Cartwright) place. It is said that Sophocles wrote about 120 plays but only a few of them have survived up to this date.

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The destiny that Oedipus was attempting to avoid, was the destiny that he was also fulfilling. Fate is defined as a destined outcome; nothing can alter that no matter what is tried. Anyway, it was too late for Oedipus to do anything about it, for the many factors that contributed to his death were irreversible and dormant until the very ironically tragic end. Oedipus tried to master fate and it ultimately mastered him.

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In ancient Greek society, the tragedy was both a deeply spiritual and deeply emotional art form that was integral to daily life. Perhaps one of the best examples of the genre of Aristotelian tragedy is Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. The work is distinguished by the deep emotion and thought it elicits from the reader. This is partly due to Sophocles’ portrayal of Oedipus as the ultimate tragic hero. Oedipus is characterized by both his pride and his honorable character.

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