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Suffering In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'

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A Fate of Suffering The truth can be an excuse someone uses to justify their actions. It can be a positive force that drives someone to excel and answer complicated questions that have been avoided in the past. However, it can also be the force that initiates a series of destructive actions in order to find answers. In the play Oedipus, by Sophocles, and the tragedy Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, curiosity instigates several murders and harmful acts due to the curiosity that two prophecies give the main characters. In these tragedies, both of the main characters are challenged when their fate is revealed. Oedipus’ prophecy causes him to suffer a greater tragedy because the prophecy forces him to run away from his home, murder his father, …show more content…

Oedipus discovers his fate when he meets with an oracle after a man brings suspicious thoughts to Oedipus’ mind about his family. Oedipus is greatly disturbed when the oracle unveils his future by saying, “You are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring/ a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see-/ you will kill your father, the one who gave you life!” (Sophocles 205). This prophecy causes Oedipus to panic, so he leaves his home and family in order to protect his mother and father. However, Oedipus does not know that the king and queen of Corinth are his adopted parents, so he unknowingly puts himself and his real family in danger. Similarly, Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches. After a victorious battle, Macbeth begins his long journey back to his home. When Macbeth encounters the three Weird Sisters, they tell him “All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis/ All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor/ All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (Shakespeare 1.3.51-53). Unlike Oedipus, Macbeth’s initial foretelling is honorable and positive and is told that he will become king. Macbeth accepts the challenge after a messenger makes him Thane of Cawdor, just like the prophecy predicted. Oedipus and Macbeth both gain insight about the surprising fortunes of their future, but Oedipus’ causes him to suffer more than Macbeth because his prophecy creates darkness and fear due to the fact that he is destined to destroy his

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The theme of confinement prevails throughout the play. He did whatever was in his limits, but, was still imprisoned by the fate that had already his destiny. Likewise, in the play “Oedipus the King”, the main message that the play portrayed was that no matter how much one try to run away from the fate, it always follows and even succeeds. The father of Oedipus, when found out that his own son was going to kill him, abandoned him, to prove the fate wrong.

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Furthermore, it was mentioned many times that Oedipus was fated to commit these crimes and actions, indicating that he had little to no control over whether the action or crime occurred. For example, the instances in which he killed his father and married his mother were both predicted by the oracle, which indicates

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With the realization of his demise, Oedipus tries to protect himself from punishment and shame by gouging out his own eyes and exiling himself out to die in the place destiny prevented him from dying originally. After many years of luxurious living, Oedipus’s predestined fate tears his life apart and returns him to the place he should have died as an infant, the mountain. Through the use of, departure, initiation, and return, Sophocles displays the journey of Oedipus. Not only is Oedipus the King evidence of the use of the hero’s journey throughout many famous plays, movies, and books across all cultures and time periods, but it also seen as a perfect tragedy, in which the audience experiences both pity and fear for the main

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Upon receiving the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, he unquestioningly embraced its validity without challenging it. However, if he employed his common knowledge and free will, the course of events might have been altered. For instance, he tragically killed Laius in a dispute that could have been avoided with restraint. Additionally, when tasked with uncovering the murderer of the former king of Thebes, Oedipus willingly accepted the challenge, firmly believing it was his destiny to expose the killer and save his city. Unfortunately, his unwavering trust in fate and blind devotion to prophecies ultimately led to his downfall.

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English 12 2/27/2023 William Shakespeare's Macbeth is a tragic play that explores the themes of ambition, guilt, and the consequences of one's actions. The main character, Macbeth, is a tragic hero whose ambition leads him to commit heinous crimes, which ultimately lead to his downfall. Throughout the play, Macbeth attempts to control the future and bury the past in various ways, which ultimately contribute to his tragic fate. One way in which Macbeth tries to control the future is through his attempts to control the future is through his interaction with the witches and manipulation of the prophecies given to him by the three witches.

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Then following that an shepherd takes him away on basically the opposite side of which his parents are. Then he hears his prophecy, which is kind of irony seeing that if he never heard the prophecy, it would've never came true. After hearing his prophecy he journeys past the crossroads, where he kills his father ( not the adopted one, but the one who was king) then solves a riddle by the monster Sphinx, to which makes him king, to which he marries the now widowed queen ( his mother) and has multiple children with. Oedipus admits this was his in a long monologue on page 12 (897-968) to his wife which, after hearing the news, kills herself. Now that's just bad luck.

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The prophecy stated that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. When his parents sent him away to be killed he was not. Instead

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Throughout Act I of Macbeth, Macbeth encounters three witches who give him three prophecies. These prophecies state that Macbeth will become Thane of Glamis, Cawdor, and king. “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth!

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This personal tragedy for Oedipus was discovering the truth and becoming blind because of it. It completed the prophecy that Oedipus had received from Tiresias, the blind prophet. Tiresias told Oedipus that he had come into Thebes with his sight but would leave Thebes without it. The physical blindness that Oedipus had also left him with wrongs of his life, with nothing to look at Oedipus was forced to think about his life, wrongdoings, and what had happened. Essentially he was forced to deal with it.

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After hearing the witches’ initial prophecies, Macbeth writes a letter to Lady Macbeth, stating: “These weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming on of time with 'Hail, king that shalt be!' This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou might’st not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee” (1.5.1). Macbeth is ecstatic when he “finds out” he will become King and believes that there is great joy in store for

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He tells his nobleman to announce that Macbeth will now become the new thane of Cawdor! The witches exclaim “All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor. ”(cite) They also announce he, “Shalt be king hereafter!”

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Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! … All hail Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter.” (1.3.50-53) In regards to the prophecies, Macbeth writes to Lady Macbeth a letter indicating the prophecies and their already partial fulfilment towards the first two prophecies. He also expresses his strive of determination and hunger for Duncan’s crown to Lady Macbeth in his letter. The witches manipulate Macbeth, telling him half of the truth in the prophecies, especially in the third prophecy involving Macbeth becoming king.

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Macbeth fate started of when he met the witches at the battle field after winning the battle against Macdonwald. The three witches predicted that he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth believes their prediction “ If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me Wthout my stir”

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In the earlier years Oedipus visits Delphi and learns that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother. He then planned to never return to Corinth. In the play "Oedipus the King", the author presents us with several

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