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The Plague In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'

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Oedipus is putting himself into danger as he saves his city.

Oedipus was a king who wholeheartedly loved his city which is known as Thebes. When Thebes was experiencing a plague. This plague was leading the whole Thebes to its own destruction. Hence, he sent away Creon to the temple of Apollo to know the probable cause of it. When Creon ,with an important message, went back to the Thebes. He told Oedipus that the murderer of king Lauis, a ruler before Oedipus, must be revealed and punish for the plague to end. As the highest ruler of the Thebes, Oedipus was so determine to discover as well as to punish the said culprit. Hence, he investigated how Lauis was killed. He sought helps from others for more enlightenment. In the ending of the story, …show more content…

Upon his investigation, he commanded the blind prophet to give him information about the culprit. Tiresias,the seer, avoided the questions of Oedipus. Hence, Oedipus thought that he was protecting the culprit. Because of this accusation, the blind prophet told Oedipus that he was the real murderer. However, Oedipus refused to believe him. As the story continued, Jocasta, widowed of king Laius and wife to Oedipus, told him about an unbelievable prophecy. The prophecy was about Lauis who would be killed by their own son in “where three roads meet” . Their son would marry Jocasta and would be the next ruler of Thebes. This prophecy made Oedipus more uncomfortable knowing his past as an adopted child. Hence, he sought help from the messenger and a shepherd by asking question. Finally, Oedipus realized that he was the murderer of Lauis and has married his biological mother, Jocast. Oedipus punished himself by gouging out his eyes and leaving the Thebes. On the other hand, Jocasta realized that the prophecy was real so she hanged herself to death. In the scenario, even though Oedipus’s eyes were fine, the blind prophet was the one who was really able to see things beyond what Oedipus could see. In addition, Oedipus was ignorant of the truth contrary to his greatness as the ruler of

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Once the prophet Teiresias began helping Creon, Oedipus accused him of being untruthful. The last prophecy Teiresias gives is that “He will be blind, although he now can see.550 He will be a poor, although he now is rich. He will set off for a foreign country,groping the ground before him with a stick”(Sophocles, Oedipus). Unbenoiscent to Oedipus, this prophecy was towards him, thus it was inevitable. After finding out that Oedipus was her son, Jocasta, Oedipus's wife hangs herself.

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But now in a reversed position, Oedipus is a man that is physically blind but in truth is not. All things considered, Oedipus was in denial and was blinded from truth. As he came closer to the truth he finds himself praying that the prophecy will not come true. His earnestness causes a panic within him that leads him to abuse his power into changing his destiny. But as a result, all thing must come to an end especially Oedipus’s physical sight.

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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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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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After long-term search on the true murderer of King Laius, his son, or the new king Oedipus was found guilty of the crime. Queen Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife and mother, hanged herself committing a suicide after learning this horrific truth as she wept for her gone husband and her cruel fate. Guilty Oedipus who saw his wife dead in her room stabs his eyes as he cried out that he does not deserve to see the world now that he has learned the truth. The former king, Laius, and his travelers who were on their way to consult an oracle were killed by a band of thieves all but one.

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Many know Oedipus as a tragic hero: accidentally fulfilling a cursed prophecy, committing patricide, and marrying his mother consequently causing him to gouge his own eyes out. However few are aware of the whole story, let alone what secrets lie beyond the royal family of Thebes. Queen Jocasta bore a smile wider than the Mesopotamian Valley when she discovered she had been blessed with a child after bearing no fertility until this day. Juxtaposing her pure and utter delight, King Laius remained wary of this “blessing” with sorrow still fresh on his mind after far too many parentless years. Regretting his weariness yet not totally forgetting it, he visited the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi.

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The city of Thebes is under a terrible plague caused by the gods and Oedipus sends Creon to discover the reason for this. When Creon comes back he informs the city that the murderer of Laius needs to be either killed or exiled for the pestilence to be gone. Oedipus dedicates himself to finding the killer of the former king, Laius; he questions Tiresias, a blind prophet, about the murder. Tiresias informs Oedipus that he is the murderer and Jocasta try to comfort her husband by telling him the story of how her son was in a prophesied to kill her and Laius. But they killed the child so the prophecy didn’t come true…

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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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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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Once Oedipus found out about the killing of his father and marrying of his mother, everything goes downhill. Jocasta hangs herself after finding out about her son also being her husband and her son killing her past husband. Oedipus finds her and gouges his eyes out. These events led up to Creon taking over as king and exiling Oedipus soon after his request to be exiled. The few interactions led up to the expulsion of the main character, Oedipus.

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Her character is the most significant to the play and she shows many characteristics of being the modern hero. Jocasta’s son, Oedipus, was sent to a mountain to die because of a horrible prophecy. The Oracle stated that he will one day murder his father and marry his mother. Immediately, Jocasta and her husband, King Laius of Thebes, cut his ankles and ordered a shepherd to leave him on the mountain in order to escape his fate.

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The Queen, Jacosta, Oedipus’ wife tells him not to believe in the prophet, because they’ve been wrong before, she then tells Oedipus about how she and King Laius had a son who was prophesied to kill Laius and sleep with her but since the child was supposedly dead the prophecy couldn’t be true. Oedipus becomes a bit weary because as a child an old man told him he was adopted and that one day he’d kill his real father and sleep with his mother, Oedipus did also kill a man at a crossroads which sounded like the way Laius died. Oedipus continued questioning the messenger and found out that he was the man everyone spoke of and Jacosta then comes to the realization that Oedipus is her son and kills herself.

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