... that he "is not blind [he] can see everything clearly." This is ironic because at the conclusion of the play Oedipus blinds himself. Sophocles did a remarkable job of using numerous engaging examples of irony in Oedipus the King. Sophocles evolves one of the most tragic characters in all of mythological literature using a combination of intelligence and creativity. From the time he was ... for having committed the terrible acts of incest and murder. In reaction to his despicable behavior the abashed Oedipus says "Kill me, I"ll be obedient to the death they planned." Sophocles uses these...

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... / And then he will leave Thebes, / Self-exiled, in order that the curse / Which he himself pronounced may depart from the house. (Sophocles 131) Kreon becomes Oedipus successor and he wants to spare Oedipus dignity. He asks Oedipus what is to become of him and Oedipus remains loyal to his ... myself be accurst / By my own ignorant edict Who told you how it happened? Iokaste. A household servant, / The only one to escape. (Sophocles 124) During this point in the play, Oedipus bravely continues to seek out the truth even though he believes the killer to be himself. Eventually, ... Oedipus...

• Word Count: 838
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the slayer wear his unblest life out evilly, as he is evil. And I pray may I suffer the same things which I have just called down upon others" (Sophocles, 82-83). This statement entitles Oedipus to suffer the same punishment as the unknown slayer. Also, Oedipus said that "Our health (with the gods help) shall be ... made certain - or our ruin" (Sophocles, 80). Oedipus wanted the help of the gods at the beginning. The nature of the gods is to answer such prayers, but not to force decisions onto ... the prophecy of being found "at once brother and father of children; son and husband of the...

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• Grade Level: High School

... suffer because he believed he deserved it.-------------- Finally, there was one part of Oedipus the King that I didn't like and can blame on Sophocles. That was the part where the chorus seems to go on and on about the gods and how Apollo and Zeus should save them. They ... to Delphi or another temple if Oedipus" story wouldn't come true. I did not like reading that part at all and consider it a waste of Sophocles" talent. ---------------- In Oedipus the King, I thought Oedipus was the central character because the whole play was about him. It focused on Oedipus" life ... fascinates rea...

• Word Count: 1190
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• Grade Level: High School

... situation of Thebes. This city has been cursed by the Gods because Oedipus has unknowingly murdered his father and married his mother. From the start, Sophocles has introduced mystery as to how Oedipus survived and managed to come back to Thebes. Nevertheless Thebes has been cursed by the gods. The only ... a prophet who cannot see". This shows that Oedipus could have believed the prophet; though he didn't and instead he reacted in an irrational manner. Sophocles is trying to show that sometimes the truth can be so painful and unbelievable that it tends to change a persons attitude towar...

• Word Count: 1079
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• Grade Level: High School

... like what he hears he try's to stop it by fleeing the situation when in reality he was actually walking right into it. In Sophocles" play Oedipus Rex, Sophocles portrays his main idea of predestination through the use of discovery and reversal. The first major character who goes through a reversal in this ... the soothsayers when she says "If it is a question of soothsayers, I tell you that you will find no man whose craft gives knowledge of the unknowable"(Sophocles 185-186). This quote shows us that Jocaste doesn't believe that a person can get messages from the Gods about the destiny ...

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... been a tremendous amount of speculation and dissection of this play by countless people throughout the ages. I can only draw my own conclusions as to what Sophocles intended the meaning of his play to be. The drama included a number of horrific and unthinkable moral and ethical dilemas, but I believe that was what ... murder occurred some time ago and King Oedipus sends for the seer Theiresias with his powers of prophecy to aid in the search for the murderer. Sophocles cleverly projects his feelings on wisdom and knowledge through Teirsias when he says "Alas, how terrible is wisdom when i...

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• Grade Level: High School

... Poetics, Aristotle explains that there are certain qualities that a tragic hero has that can qualify him or her as tragically heroic. Two Grecian literary legends, Achilles from Homer's Iliad and Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, fit the description of an Aristotelian tragic hero. Achilles, from Homer's The Iliad, is a tragic hero. Achilles's quick rage coincides with a key characteristic of a tragic hero. ... the god Hephaestus to protect him in battle against Hector, leader of the Trojans. Achilles temper and highborn status qualify him as an Aristotelian tragic hero. The titular character fr...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Sophocles and Euripides have provoked audiences for centuries to question what constitutes justice. While watching the various events onstage, spectators are led to ask if a definite form of justice exists in ... notions of civic and natural laws, are issues dealt with in these two plays. Through Antigone's main characters Antigone and Creon, Sophocles presents apparently conflicting notions of justice. Both maintain different views on what constitutes justice and through them Sophocles sets the values of the city-state against those of natural law. From the beginning, Antigone's desire to b...

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The fates of young women Jocasta's destiny is really cruel in play Oedipus. Jocasta is an integral part of the play, Oedipus the King, by Sophocles. Her actions and thoughts are important to the reader as well as the characters within the play. In this passage there are several themes and significant ... have to worry about his actions. "Best to live lightly, as one can, unthinkingly," Jocasta says, painting a portrait of a society without morals. One might say that Sophocles here argues that fate is responsible for everything and that man can do nothing to avoid it. In this play we realize t...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... these events were meant to happen. As Aegisthus says "Is this dwelling doomed to see all the woes of Pelops' line, now and in the time to come?" (Sophocles 77) Apollo; the God of truth told Electra that she could avenge her father's death with blood for blood but she must do so in a smart, stealthy, and respectful manner ... the room where Orestes was killing their mother she grew with blood lust screaming for Orestes to cut her down once more. "Smite, if you can, once more!" (Sophocles 74) Her mother was being killed; she was finally getting the revenge she waited so many years for but...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Art defines the advancement of humankind. Art instructs, reveals the truth, and expresses the highest feelings of humankind. Sophocles, the author of "Oedipus Rex," and Aeschylus, the author of "Promethus Bound" and "Agamemnon" were both masters of art, weaving the effects of discord between brash humans and divine entities. ... whom you seek, I say. I say you have forgot that you are joined with those most dear to you in deepest shame and do not see where you are in sin" (Sophocles 362-367). Oedipus is too proud to swallow the prophet's news, declaring, "Shall these unbearable words be hear...

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... of a plague that has fallen on Thebes. Finding a cure for the plague rapidly escalates into a conflict that will be an "eye opening" revelation for Oedipus. In Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus is a man destined to fail because he is blind to the truth. Oedipus displays several of his traits in the play. As the play opens, Oedipus is a caring king ... relates to their pain and says, "tell me, and never doubt that I will help you in every way I can; I should be heartless were I not moved to find you suppliant here"(Sophocles 961). Oedipus suffers more for others, than he does for hi...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... for the overthrow of Creon and the throne. Another prophecy creates disturbances for Oedipus and this leads him ultimately to death. This masterpiece was written when Sophocles was nearly ninety. Although at an old age, Sophocles creates some of his finest lyrics in Oedipus at Colonus. Oedipus has been wandering like a beggar with his daughter, Antigone, and has reached Colonus, a suburb of ... " is his theoretical viewpoint. He accepts his punishment because he has no choice, but now claims on his personal innocence and accredits the ultimate responsibility for his crimes to fate. Sopho...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Characters and Plot: "Antigone" by Jean Anouilh is an adaptation of the original "Antigone" written by Sophocles. It is the story of young Antigone, daughter of the late King Oedipus, who is devoted to her brother Polynices. In a power struggle to see who should inherit the throne ... be performed presumably because they found Creon's arguments for dictatorship so convincing. The play is regularly performed and studied around the world. Least Rewarding Facet: After having read Antigone by Sophocles before I read this version, I found myself partial to the original version - for I had known e...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Jocasta is an integral part of the play, Oedipus The King, by Sophocles. Her actions and thoughts are important to the reader as well as the characters within the play. In this passage there are several themes and significant items that she is ... wants and does not have to worry about his actions. "Best to live lightly, as one can, unthinkingly," Jocasta says, painting a portrait of a society without morals. One might say that Sophocles here argues that fate is responsible for everything and that man can do nothing to avoid it. In this play we realize that man is punished for acts that may ...

• Word Count: 952
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• Grade Level: High School

... the man who killed Laius. As Jocasta tells him the place and time of the death of Laius, Oedipus cries in despair, "O Zeus, what plaything will you make of me?- (Sophocles 41). He begins to realize the coincidence between the death of Laius and that of the man he killed before he took the power at Thebes "but he has ... a great chance that Laius was indeed the man he killed where the three roads met. He cries, "Oh lost! Yes, surely lost! Self damned, I think, just now and self-deceived- (Sophocles 42). He is clearly beginning to gain spiritual insight because he accepts the fact that he...

• Word Count: 262
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

Sophocles' play Oedipus the King, questions how free will and destiny contribute to human life. One idea was that he was trying to point out the power of human free will. ... ). In all of the examples, you can see that the events of the play were not predetermined at all. The choices made by Oedipus were his own free will and Sophocles made it clear in this play to the Greeks at the time, and it is obvious to anyone who reads it now, that he was saying people are capable, even ... they could make decisions free from persuasion of the gods. When you examine the character of Oedipus you find t...

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When you think of Sophocles' Oedipus the King, you tend to think of how the tragedy and prophecy could have easily been avoided, the events that led to the tragedy, and how the characters unwittingly ... will. Was Oedipus doomed from the beginning? Was it his fate to fulfill a prophecy? The questions are still asked today and are discussed philosophically. Maybe these questions were asked by Sophocles. Maybe these are the questions he wanted people to ask....

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... Oedipus' inevitable downfall, which represents man's struggle between free will and fate. In an attempt to use the audience's knowledge to his advantage, Sophocles opens the play seventeen years after Oedipus murders his father, Laius and marries his mother, Jocasta. The sequence in which the story unravels reveals the strong psychological focus towards Oedipus' ... ...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The story of Oedipus Rex has been around for thousands of years even before Sophocles turned it into a greek tragedy. The greek myth is about this king named Oedipus who is born with this fate that he will kill his father and marry and have ... ! Have no dread of them. It is God himself who can show us what he wills in his own way. " (1237-1238) . Towards the end of the play is when Sophocles displays Oedipus' heroism. Oedipus is faced with the work insight of his blindness, his true identity. His fate was true he married his mother, had kids with his father, and ... ...

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... the King. In the story, Oedipus is shown, on multiple occasions, as someone who, through his choices, seals his own fate. Throughout the story, Sophocles repeatedly shows that Oedipus' fate lies in the hands of, none other than, himself. Through his choices of leaving his adoptive parents, to his sheer determination, to his promise to ... ...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Throughout the play Oedipus the King the theme of blindness can be seen. Sophocles uses Tiresias as a major vehicle in establishing this theme. Tiresias" physical blindness is used to accentuate Oedipus" blindness to the truth of his past, and present. Tiresias is a prophet of ... by any chance he proves to be an intimate of our house, here at my hearth, with my full knowledge may the curse I just called down on him strike me!" (Sophocles line 285). Tiresias then informs Oedipus, reluctantly, on the reality of the situation. He tells Oedipus that he is the "corruption of the land" that is ca...

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• Grade Level: High School

... only to fall into a deep pit of despair and pain. In many instances, the leading characters are responsible for their own demise, and often bring this hurt upon themselves. In Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus the King, King Oedipus does everything in his power to avoid his tragic fate; however, he soon realizes that he can't escape his destiny. Before defining Oedipus' tragedy ... ...

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In the tragedy Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, the main character was Oedipus. At the beginning of the tragedy Oedipus was presented as hero who was arrogant and overly confident. The story tells how Oedipus experienced a tragedy in ... I ever hope to win his trust? I wronged him so, just now in every way. You must see that - I was so wrong, so wrong" (1554-1557). In the tragedy Antigone, by Sophocles, Creon was also humbled after he faced a tragedy. Creon was presented in Oedipus the King as a humble person. After he became the ruler of Thebes, Creon became proud and arrogant ... ...

• Word Count: 688
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• Grade Level: High School