... not sin!" (114). This shows that he has begun to accept that much of his life is out of his control. This makes him seem less willing to accept his past sins. Antigone, Oedipus" daughter, has much of the same decisiveness as her father did. As soon as her play begins, she is planning to defy Creon's order and bury ... Polynices. Unlike her father, however, Antigone has the ability to remember the past. Whereas Oedipus defies Tiresias, the prophet who has helped him so many times, and whereas he seems almost to have forgotten his encounter with Laius at the three-way ... about the many ...

• Word Count: 588
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... that Oedipus actually killed Laius, he doesn't want to tell Oedipus in fear of his life. Tiresias tells Oedipus that he isn't going to speak of the past, and that it is for Oedipus" own good. Oedipus" temper explodes, much the same as it does when he dealt with his uncle/brother-in-law ... refuses to give Oedipus the prophecy about who killed Laius, Oedipus won't take no for an answer. He keeps on asking more and more questions about the past. To try to get Oedipus to stop questioning for his own good, Tiresias even gives hints to drop the subject: "The rotting canker in the city ... is...

• Word Count: 1090
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... with life changing events. How they individually handle the events is their greatest difference. Emotional reactions to adversity in tragedy vary from character to character and are based on personality, past experience, or exposure to many different situations during childhood. Medea is a woman who sacrificed greatly to be with Jason; the man she fell in love with and later married. She ... her life for him so it was only fair that he should have to give his up. Another factor to look at when tragedy strikes is past experience. Oedipus as well as Medea ran from past experience. Oedipus...

• Word Count: 2458
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... made, so crossroads usually symbolize moments where decision will have important consequences but where different choices are still possible. In Oedipus the king, the crossroads is part of the distant past, dimly remembered, and Oedipus was not aware at the time that he was making a fateful decision (Murray 59). In this play, the crossroads symbolize fate and the awesome power of ... . This prophecy, as warned by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, was unconditional and inevitably would come to pass, no matter what he may have done to avoid it. His past actions were determined by fate and hi...

• Word Count: 1264
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... prophecy, as warned by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, was unconditional and inevitably would come to pass, no matter what Oedipus could have done to avoid these circumstances. Oedipus" past actions were determined by fate, but the situation in Thebes, is a result of his own freewill. At the beginning of this tragedy, Oedipus took many actions leading to his downfall ... judged, causing a reversal of fortune in his prosperous life. By gouging out his eyes, Oedipus accepts the full burden of his acts and knew he must be punished for his sins. Therefore the last act of destruction is caus...

• Word Count: 852
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... by it. Oedipus was destined from birth to marry his mother and murder his father. This prophecy was inevitable no matter what Oedipus may have done to avoid it. His past actions were determined by fate, but his decisions to flee from Corinth, murder an older man (which so happened to be his father and the King of Thebes), and to ... a reversal of fortune in his prosperous life. When Oedipus tore at his eyes he accepted the full burden of his acts and knew that he must be punished for his sins. Therefore the last act of destruction was caused by Oedipus" free will, but his tragic fate ca...

• Word Count: 725
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... Oedipus chooses to badger him until the prophet loses his nerve and tells Oedipus that he is the one polluting Thebes. After being warned not to dig further into the past, Oedipus" curiosity and stubbornness drives him to find out more. A messenger is sent from his home city stating that his "father" has passed away. Oedipus is momentarily relieved to find ... manipulated it to get what they wanted. Oedipus did not bring his fate upon himself. It was enormously misfortunate that he was born to a couple defying the gods. Because the sins of the father are passed onto the son, he was forc...

• Word Count: 1252
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School