What if destiny can be changed? Is escaping your fate ever a good thing? Is it ever a good idea to try to escape your destiny? In the tragic Greek play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles‚ a man escapes his given fate and establishes a new life by being the King of Thebes. Sadly‚ the city is going through a plague and by trying to fix this‚ Oedipus’ fate comes back to him‚ a Prophecy which stated that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Once finding out the truth‚ he impales brooches
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The Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles demonstrates the theme of free-will versus fate. Theme is the central or dominating idea of a work. Through the character‚ actions‚ and subsequent downfalls of Laius‚ Jocasta‚ and Oedipus‚ Sophocles shows how free-will is limited. Firstly‚ as Oedipus is the tragic hero of this play‚ he must possess a characteristic that leads to his downfall and for Oedipus‚ that flaw is his hubris. When told by Teiresias‚ the blind prophet‚ that “those clear-seeing eyes
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cursing himself; but the audience know that he indeed is placing the curse upon himself. This is an example of dramatic irony because the audience knows that Oedipus himself is the murderer that he is seeking to find; however‚ Oedipus‚ Creon‚ and Jocasta do not. Another example of dramatic irony is how Oedipus insults the old man‚ Tiresias. In anger‚ Oedipus says‚ “In truth‚ but not in you! You have no strength‚ blind in your eyes‚ your reason‚ and your eyes.” (1‚1‚375) These words anger Tiresias
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Oedipus the King follows the story of a man named Oedipus who tries to escape fate. Before the play is even started‚ the readers are given background information about Oedipus. When Oedipus was a baby his parents abandoned him. His parents‚ Laius and Jocasta‚ ordered a servant to leave him on a mountain to die. The servant‚ taking pity on Oedipus‚ gave Oedipus
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their life‚ whether that is on a positive or negative result. Oedipus was destined to kill his father‚ marry‚ and have children with his mother‚ Jocasta‚ and be blind to the truth until he becomes physically blind. Oedipus’s parents learned about his fate once he was born‚ but to keep the prophecy from happening his parents had him chained up. Jocasta told Oedipus about the oracle she was told when her child was born‚ “..‚ before our child was three days old‚ Laius pinned his ankles tight together
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In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex‚ King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes become aware of one of their childen’s supposed fate – that he will kill his father and marry his mother. In awareness of this fate‚ they release one of their children‚ Oedipus‚ and abandon him in hopes that this fate will never come to pass. After Oedipus is taken in as a bastard child to another king‚ Polybus‚ he grows up to become the king of Thebes‚ after Laius‚ marrying Jocasta. However‚ during his rule‚ Thebes is inflicted with
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Oedipus Rex Sophocles‚ 496-406 B.C. Main Characters Oedipus - The story revolves around Oedipus and his search for the cause of the blight on his city finding it to be himself. Iocaste - Iocaste is Oedipus’ wife and mother who was very supportive of Oedipus’ search of the truth until she found out that she was part of that truth when she committed suicide. Creon - Creon‚ Iocaste’s brother‚ helps Oedipus find the murderer‚ but when the truth begins to come out through Teiresias‚ Oedipus
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father’s role since he has passed away. (Sophocles 2.8) During this time Jocasta knew about the oracles of the holly gods but she wanted to do the right thing by trying to convince Oedipus to go away from her to Corinth and rule that land because during that moment Jocasta knew that she was her fraternal mother but Oedipus did not know. (Sophocles 2.8) One thing led to another during the conversation between Oedipus‚ Jocasta‚ and the Corinthian that led to the Corinthian to ask why Oedipus is so afraid
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Even though Oedipus has nothing left‚ he still holds a place of love for his children in his heart‚ showing that he is not all arrogant as he seems. Furthermore‚ he is shown in complete sadness‚ being at the side of the deceased Jocasta. After barging into the room where Jocasta lay‚ he sees her and gives a “deep dreadful cry of sorrow and loosened the rope round her neck” (93). Believing that everything is his fault‚ he stabs himself in the eyes with sorrow. On the other hand‚ during the time Oedipus
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escape the fate that has been set for them are the characters Laius and Jocasta. Both Laius and Jocasta tried escaping the fate written out for them by excommunicating their son at the hands of a servant to Mt. Cithaeron. In addition to the first attempt at changing her fate‚ Jocasta also unsuccessfully tried a second time to alter her fate when Oedipus sent out for an in depth search to find the truth of his birth. Jocasta pleaded with Oedipus‚ saying “What? The man he spoke of? Pay no attention
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