King Oedipus's Journey

Oedipus Rex is a well-known play of a tragic hero written by Sophocles around 430 B.C in Athens Greece. The play revolves around the prophecy given by the oracle Delphi who predicted the son of King Laios and Jocasta will murder his father and marry his mother. Terrified of the prophecy, King Laios and Jocasta selfishly and drastically decide to bind the baby’s feet together and leave him in the forest to die. Miraculously the baby is rescued by someone passing through the same forest and was later adopted by the King and Queen of Corinth. They named the baby Oedipus, who then learned about the prophecy and decided to run away from his adopted parents to avoid his cruel destiny. Oedipus embarks in a journey to prevent the prophecy from coming

However, the town began to suffer from a plague that would not go away until the killer of Laios was found. Desperate to help his people Oedipus was determined to find the killer at all costs, “I’ll stop at nothing to trace his murderer back to the killer’s hand” (715). In his attempts to find answers he seeks the elder Tiresias in hopes that he might reveal to him who is Laios’ killer. Arrogantly and ruthlessly Oedipus dismisses Tiresias’ advice to not seek answers. Oedipus on the other hand wishes to hear the truth from Tiresias by forcing him to speak. Oedipus then is filled with rage after hearing Tiresias accusations that Oedipus is the “plague” and has “poisoned his own land” (717). Oedipus believed that Tiresias is a traitor and is lying about his accusations to harm him. Oedipus then decides to banish Tiresias and continues to seek answers. Oedipus’ freewill is limited because he is misguided by his ambitious character. He is not willing to hear and try to understand Tiresias advice because he wishes to be the savior and hero of his town. After the injustice of banishing Tiresias from Thebes, he blindly continues to seek answers he later regrets to learn. Oedipus has a strong character and wishes to help the town, even at his own costs. The dramatic irony kept building up as Oedipus kept cursing the individual responsible for his

However, he kept making the wrong decisions and actions. His actions led by his flawed character is why he ended up fulfilling the prophecy. Oedipus is a tragic hero who by his own hand caused all his misfortune. Although in the beginning of the play, it is clear of his faith there was instances where Oedipus had a say in the upcoming events. Throughout the play Oedipus had freewill and was ultimately responsible of his future. However, he did not approach the situation in the best matter because he often let his aspiration and rage control his actions as a man and as a