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Oedipus The King Essay Research Paper Even

Oedipus The King Essay, Research Paper


Even though Oedipus the King didn?t detail all of Oedipus? adventures, I thought it


was a good book. I think it was smart of Sophocles to pick out the most


significant, life altering phase in Oedipus? life to bring to the stage. I also really


respect how Sophocles took the myth of Oedipus and put all of the details of the


story into it. I think it?s somewhat amazing how he took something that


supposedly happened and gave the people exact dialogue and specific feelings. I


realize that Oedipus the King is only a myth and that all Sophocles needed was a


creative mind, but I still respect him.


Being as Oedipus the King?s storyline was already laid out, I can?t blame


Sophocles for some of the events I didn?t agree with or ridiculed. First of all, I


know I shouldn?t laugh at this myth because the ancient Greeks actually believed


it, but I did. The Sphinx was a monster with the head and breasts of a woman, the


body of a lion, and the wings of a bird. I just think it?s absurd that someone would


actually make up a story with something like the Sphinx in it. It sounds like


something out of a science fiction story, and I just don?t like science fiction. Next,


why did Oedipus gouge his eyes out? I understand why Oedipus would do


something so drastic in the instant he learned the foul deeds he committed, but I


thought he would?ve killed himself as Jocasta did. That is, until I realized in a


way he wanted to suffer because he believed he deserved it. Honestly, I feel bad


for the guy.


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 chanted on


about how they would never go 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 and I believe that is a


key component for being the central character.


Oedipus was just trying to find himself. He grew up thinking that his


parents were Polybus and Merope, the king and queen of Corinth, until some guy


who had a few too many at a banquet told him they weren?t. This sparked


Oedipus? curiosity and he went to the oracle of Apollo to find out the truth.


However, the oracle only told him he?d kill his dad and marry his mom. Upon


hearing this, he surely wasn?t going home in the hope of preventing this from


happening. So he decided to start anew and on his way he ran into an old man and


his servants who tried to run him off the road. He killed them in self-defense,


except for one. Little did Oedipus know he had just killed his real father who had


abandoned him at birth.


Oedipus continued his journey and came to Thebes, where he defeated the


Sphinx, winning the new position of king and husband to Jocasta, his real mother.


The prophecy of Apollo had come true, without anyone knowing. Poor Oedipus


had no idea what he was doing. He was just trying to live his life. He had no


control over the situation, and if he had known who his biological parents were,


I?m sure he never would?ve killed and/or married them.


I pictured Oedipus as tall and muscular with curly brown hair, always


dressed in a stereotypical toga, reminiscent of the

times.


Oedipus was a round character because he was just, innocent, and


good-hearted, yet he was extremely stubborn and headstrong. He was also a


developing character because he changed throughout the course of the story. In


the beginning and middle, he adamantly refused to believe he could possibly be


the terrible man he?s accused of. Yet, in the end he finally does come to realize


the truth about his past.


The central theme in Oedipus the King was, ?Don?t try to control your


fate.? This theme not only applied to Oedipus, but also to Laius. When Laius


heard of his son?s disgraceful future and the costly effect it had on him, he tried to


alter his own fate. As a result of Laius? meddling, Jocasta and himself were


unhappy because they had no son and in the end, the prophecy came true.


When applied to Oedipus this theme is more apparent. After he went to the


oracle of Apollo at Delphi, he learned of what shameful thing he was to do. When


he tried to dodge it, he only made it really come true. There is the possibility that


had Oedipus controlled his curiosity of his biological parents, none of this never


would?ve happened. He never would?ve even went to Delphi and then fled from


Corinth. He never would?ve met up with his real father and killed him. He never


would?ve married his mother and father her other children.


On the other hand, had he never done this, I think the gods would?ve found


a way to make it happen. They needed this to happen because Oedipus defeated


the horrible Sphinx and saved Thebes from its terrible reign. Oedipus also helped


to restore Thebes.


Another theme present in Oedipus the King was, ?don?t torture yourself or


your loved ones over something you had no control of.? This theme applies to


Laius, Jocasta, and Oedipus. First, Laius and Jocasta hurt themselves by


abandoning Oedipus early in his life, to avoid the inevitable. Secondly, and more


relevant to the play, is a) Jocasta killing herself and b) Oedipus spearing his pupils.


They not only painfully hurt themselves, but they didn?t really think of their


children. No matter how terrible what they did was, their children still needed


them and ultimately, the children are also the ones who are going to suffer.


I found a literary criticism of Oedipus the King in the book Greek Drama


for Everyman by F. L. Lucas. Lucas thought that Oedipus the King was a ghastly,


horrifically plotted story with an unbelievable plot written two thousand years ago.


Yet, it still fascinates readers today. He ponders why.


Lucas said the answer is the common reader wants to know what a


respectable, honorable man such as Oedipus would do in such a situation. Lucas


said that if something is meant to be, then it is meant to be.


Sophocles had an arduous task in convincing his audience to overlook the


flaws in Oedipus the King. For instance, Oedipus? rationality. He intimates that


perhaps Oedipus let his curiosity get the better of him, and he was the main cause


of his fate. If Oedipus would?ve trusted the oracle at Delphi more completely, he


wouldn?t have rushed into changing his destiny. Maybe Oedipus went looking for


his future.


In Lucas? opinion, Sophocles? Oedipus the King is a great play because of


how it moves, due to the scenes. The play is dramatic, but to Lucas, not the


highest possible. He says it was the first detective thriller in Europe?s history.


However, Lucas only liked the admirable play, he didn?t admire it.

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