In Sophocles’s, “Oedipus the King”, the thematic genre of tragedy is exhibited because, as Aristotle puts it, tragedy is not of character, but of action. “Oedipus the King,” tells the tale of a man, made king, named Oedipus who, while attempting to outrun his fate by running from Corinth, saves Thebes from the curse of the Sphinx and is named hero and king. The dramatic irony depicted is Oedipus’s attempt to escape his fate leading him which ____. Oedipus has killed his father, former King Laius of Thebes, and married his mother. As a savior, Oedipus is a hero to Thebes, he is also a Tragic Hero to the Greeks as Aristotle explains.
This lead his biological parents to give up their baby, by sending him to be murdered. But due to the role of fate in the life on Oedipus, he was not murdered, but was instead given to a family that would grow up to take care of him and eventually become his adoptive parents Polybus and Merope. Thus, it is clear that the first time the Prophecy affected his life, was in his infancy, in which he was ripped away from his family in order to die. Years later, after Oedipus was crowned as king of Thebes, he began the search to find the murderer of Laius which would eventually lead him to discovering out that he is the murderer of Laius thus fulfilling the prophecy. This again shows how the prophecy played a role in dictating the outcome of the vents that take place in Oedipus’ life.
Oedipus the King Oedipus the King, the masterpiece of Sophocles, is considered a great tragedy filled with ironies and contradictions between the characters and their personalities. Oedipus is the major character in the story who tries to find out the murderer of Laios who was the king of Thebes. By the time he struggles to solve the problem he is unaware that he is going to find out his own biological father and going to be claimed as the murderer. Actually, this is the main question in this play; how is it possible for Oedipus not to know himself? Is there a really chance that he could not be guilty and be totally innocent?
The tragic play Oedipus the King by Sophocles tells the tale of a famous king, Oedipus. Oedipus is the perfect example of a Greek tragic hero. A Greek tragic hero is a person whose fate is predetermined by the gods which will cause the person great suffering and lead to their ultimate destruction (). The hero tries to fight against his fate and win the god’s admiration. Oedipus is the king of Thebes but he was raised in Corinth by Merope and Polybus.
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn 't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Søren Kierkegaard. This is the takeaway of the play King Oedipus by the Greek philosopher Sophocles written around 440 BC. The characters in the play are struggling to find the truth, yet blindness is a result of not the truth. Most of the characters are blinded by the facade of happiness surrounding them that until the King, Oedipus, searches for the truth about what actually happened to King Laius, that is when they uncover the real hardship underneath.
More specifically, Oedipus faced an unknown truth, a task to save his people, and a moment of grief to represent is blind ending. Throughout the events he represented self-justice and an idea that the people were eventually going to respect and understand. As a lifetime of searching became a norm for Oedipus he discovered such a truth that hurt his soul and caused his wife and mother to kill themself. Although obtaining this notion, the king himself took risks that were greatly empowering and laborious. The whirlwind of emotions produced by each of the characters allowed justice to become more real and visual as the end became more authentic than ever before.
Symbolism and Theme in Oedipus Rex Oedipus was a noble, royal king. Maybe his ignorance was brought upon him because of his power. “Confidence is ignorance. Eoin Colfer stated, “If you’re feeling overconfident, it’s because there’s something you don’t know” (goodreads). Oedipus was given the responsibility of killing King Laius’s murderer.
Even before he was born the prophecies that were sent for his parents about him were not so good. Oedipus was a king who was controlled by his emotions dramatically, but he was still in control of his actions. Although Oedipus had the choice of making his actions; he was not responsible for what his actions led him to, fate worked in a twisted way to teach him and those around him that there’s no escape from it, because fate is unchangeable, predestined and a destination. Each person has a purpose to live for, like the story in the holy Quran about the prophet Yousef whose brothers tried to get rid of and keep him away from their father because he was his dad’s favorite and was chosen by God to be a prophet. Even
People have many perceptions of what is right and wrong, perceived differently amongst time period and an individual 's own uprising. In the ancient greek play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus was convicted of a terrible sin. As bad as this sin was, he repented, putting his hubris to the side, and he did not know that he was acting out on his sins before acting out in his repentance, for the young king worked so hard, sometimes acting instinctively, to remove himself from his sinful fate. The main argument in defence of Oedipus’ innocence is his sheer lack of knowledge. People say ignorance is a curse while some say this is bliss.
This hubris ultimately brings about Oedipus’ fate, as his assuredness in his own infallibility causes him to recklessly attempt to prove that his judgment is correct. However, this miscalculation leads to the revelation of the prophecy, and brings about both death and grief. Oedipus’ character traits contribute not only to his own suffering, but also to the suffering of his family and his people. Additionally, these traits also perfectly align with classic tenants of an Aristotelian tragedy, making Oedipus the King a model tragic