Fated Tragic Hero Of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex example essay topic

man unwittingly moving ever closer to the unhappy fate he is struggling mightily to avoid. Fate in Oedipus Rex Do you think that fate controls the lives of everyday people, or do you think someone's actions control their lives? In the play, Oedipus Rex, fate played an important role in the lives of the characters... In order to avoid their predestined fate, the main characters took every precaution to avoid their predetermined destinies. The queen, Iocasta, and her son, Oedipus, both tried to escape what Teriresias, the oracle, told them, however, it would eventually come back to haunt them. [Fate controlled the lives of the characters in this play...

] NEW THESIS When queen Iocasta found that she and king Laius were to have child, she went to consult an oracle for guidance. However, Teriresias had a devastating prophecy that their first born son would kill the king his father, and marry his mother. In order to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled, the king upon the birth of his son pierced the baby's feet with an iron pin to prevent the baby from using his feet. The king ordered a shepherd to abandon the child in the mountains, to be left to die. [The shepherd, in spite of his order from the king, gave the baby, instead, to one of his friends, a herdsman from Corinth. The herdsman gave the baby to his master, the king of Corinth.

It was with this family that Oedipus grew up not knowing his real family or the fate that awaited him.] AVOID SUMMARY! As Oedipus became a young man, he went to consult the same oracle that his biological mother queen Iocasta did. Teriresias the oracle told Oedipus the same prophecy that he had previously revealed to queen Iocasta, his mother. Oedipus, in order to escape his prophesized fate, fled Corinth never to return. He was unaware that he was adopted. During his journey, Oedipus came across an old vile tempered man who insulted him.

Oedipus, in defense of his honor, slayed the old man and all of his servants. Upon reaching Thebes, Oedipus was asked a riddle by the Sphinx of Thebes. The Sphinx is a monster that is part lion, part eagle, and part human female and like to ask riddles. [ The question she asked was what walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs at night.

Oedipus answered the question correctly, and the Sphinx left. The people of Thebes, in gratitude to Oedipus for ridding them of the Sphinx, made him king]. DON'T RETELL STORY! Another plague was placed on the city. They found out that the city was being punished because the murderer of king Laius had gone unharmed. "He was murdered; and Apollo commands us now To take revenge upon whoever killed him" (Prologue 110-111).

Creon, Iocasta's brother, stated the only way to rid ourselves of this defilement is, "By exile or death, blood for blood. It was Murder that brought the plague-wind on the city (Prologue 105). Oedipus vowed to find the murderer, and he, also, said that anyone who knew anything should come forward or the same penalty will be to him or her. Creon went to get Teriresias, and although hesitant at first, he told Oedipus that he killed his father.

"So? I charge, you, [Oedipus] then, Abide by the proclamation you have made. From this day forth Never speak again to these men or to me; You yourself are the pollution of this country" (Scene I, 131-135). At first, Oedipus did not want to believe what Teriresias said.

After he left he started questioning everything, until he realized it was himself who killed his father. Ah God! It was true! All the prophecies!

-- -Now, O Light, may I look upon you or the last time! I, Oedipus, Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned, Damned in the blood he shed with his own hand! (Scene IV, 68-72) He then realized he had married his mother, which is just what had been prophesized. Queen Iocasta hung herself, and Oedipus used her ornaments from her gown and gouged them into his eyes, never to see again.

Fate played an important role in the characters in this play. Both queen Iocasta and Oedipus tried to escape their predestined fate. Iocasta had her servant leave Oedipus in the mountains to die. Oedipus fled Corinth in fear that he would kill his parents, at the time not knowing he was adopted. NOTE: Text enclosed in brackets are referred to by the teacher comments in all capital letters. Fate and Free Choice in Oedipus the King The debate over fate vs. free choice has been raging for a long time.

Some People believe that fate dominate a person's entire life, and that all events are inevitable. Others feel that we are free to make choices in life and that fate has absolutely no role in our lives. In Sophocles's Oedipus the King, Oedipus feared that a certain prophecy would come true, and that he was doomed. People can always choose their own direction in life, but some things in life are unavoidable. Most people understand that certain events in life are simply unavoidable. Oedipus feared that he was destined to couple with his mother and kill his own father, but his desire to avoid this prophecy led him to believe that he could avoid it because he knew something about it and could try to prevent it.

Oedipus would later realize that his efforts to prevent the prophecy from fulfilling itself were futile; in fact what he did to avoid the prophecy ironically made it come true. People frequently do not realize the significance of their own action when the are in the process of doing that action. It is only at a later time that they realize how important that particular action was to their lives. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus knew that he was destined to kill his own father. His efforts to prevent this part of the prophecy, however, did not stop the event from occurring. Oedipus would later kill a man whom Oedipus had never seen before and could not identify.

Oedipus would later discover that the man he killed was his father and that the prophecy was coming true. He learned that killing the old man, while it seemed insignificant at the time, was far more significant than he had realized. Oedipus learned that people are always free to make their own choices in their own lives. Oedipus made choices that he felt would prevent the prophecy from coming true. People still wonder if they have total control over their lives, of just a little control.

As far as fate vs. free choice, that is for the individual person to decide. The Power of Fate in Oedipus Rex Oedipus, the fated tragic hero of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, is a complex character who, through slow realization, learns that one cannot escape fate. Throughout the course of the tragedy, Oedipus's attitude evolves from arrogance to humbleness as he learns to seek for truth and finds that fate is impossible to cont... Oedipus The King and His Fate Oedipus The King, by Sophocles, is a play about how Oedipus lives up his fate that he will kill his father and marry his mother, both of which are extremely bad in the Greek society, even though he thinks he is getting away from it. Despite the Greek notions of supreme power of the gods and fate, Oedipus' downfall is primarily the result of King Laius' and his own actions and attempts to defy the gods, consequently Sophocles says that prophecies from the gods of someone's fate should not be ignored. Prophecies from the Oracle of Delphi are told to King Laius and Queen Jocasta, and to Oedipus.

Sophocles says that prophecies from the gods of someone's fate should not be ignored when King Laius went to the Oracle of Delphi and received a prophecy that his child, Oedipus, was going to kill him and marry his wife, J acosta". Shepherd - No! No! I said it before -- I gave him the child... It was the son of Laius, so I was told. But the lady inside, your wife, she is the one to tell you.

Oedipus - Did she give it to you? Shepherd - Yes, my lord, she did... To destroy it... She was afraid of dreadful prophecies... The child would kill its parents, that was the story. Oedipus - Then why did you give it to this old man here?

Shepherd - In pity master. I thought he would take it away to a foreign country -- to the place he came from. If you are the man he says you are, you were born the most unfortunate of men". (86-89) When King Laius heard this prophecy and returned to Thebes to tell of this prophecy to his wife, they planned to kill their child, but neither had the guts to do it. They had a servant shepherd bring their child to Mt. Cithaeron to kill it, but the servant felt pity for the child and gave him to a fellow Shepherd from Corinth in hopes he could take it to a foreign country to take care of it.

Sophocles says that prophecies from the gods of someone's fate should not be ignored when he tells that when Oedipus was in the care of his foster parents, Polybus and Merope, he took a journey to The Oracle of Delphi without them knowing. "Oedipus - Without telling my parents, I set off on a journey to the oracle of Apollo, at Delphi. Apollo sent me away with my question unanswered but he foretold a dreadful, calamitous future for me -- to lie with my mother and beget children men's eyes would not bear the sight of -- and to be the killer of the father that gave me life. When I heard that, I ran away. From that point on I measured the distance to the land of Corinth by the stars. I was running to a place that I would never see that shameful prophecy come true".

(56) The Oracle's prophecy was that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Thinking that Polybus and Merope were his real parents, Oedipus left Corinth so that he would not have contact with his parents and the prophecy could not happen. On the way, though, Oedipus met a man and a herald that tried to run him off the road. Angered, Oedipus hit the old man and then killed both of them. "Oedipus - On my way I came to this place where you say this king, Laius, met his death. I will tell you the truth, all of it.

As I journeyed on I came to this triple crossroads and there I was met by a herald and a man riding a horse-drawn wagon, just as you described it. The driver, the old man himself, tried to push me off the road. In anger I struck the driver as he tried to crowd me off. When the old man saw me coming past the wheels he aimed at my head with a two-pronged goad, and hit me. I paid him back in full, with interest: in no time at all he was hit by the stick I held in my hand and rolled backwards from the center of the wagon. I killed the lot of them".

(56-57) In King Laius' and Oedipus' attempts to defy the gods, they brought the downfall of Oedipus in Oedipus the King by Sophocles, in which Sophocles says that prophecies from the gods of someone's fate should not be ignored. Trying to have Oedipus killed and not succeeding was the way King Laius and Queen Jocasta tried to defy the gods and stop the prophecy from coming true. Had Laius not tried to kill his Oedipus, the events that followed up to Laius' death and Jocasta's marriage would not have happened. Oedipus leaving his foster parents is the way that Oedipus defies the gods and tries to stop the prophecy from coming true.

Had he not left Corinth, he would not have met Laius, who happened to be his real father, they would not have fought, and Laius would not have been killed. In all reality, Oedipus was a goner from the minute he was born, because that was the prophecy of his fate the Oracle of Delphi gave. The Power of Fate in Oedipus Rex (the King) The underlying theme in Oedipus Rex is that fate is more powerful than free will. On this strong basis of fate, free will doesn't even exist.

This was a popular belief among the ancient Greeks. Fate may be accepted or denied by modern society, but in Oedipus's story, fate proves inevitable. In the play, Oedipus Rex, the characters Oedipus, Iocasta and Laius try to change fate. In the very beginning of the story, before we hear from the oracle, there is already foreshadowing of Oedipus' impending doom. He, himself, states to the people, "Sick as you are, not one is as sick as I" (Sophocles 5). This statement is almost eerie when looking back upon it.

Alone, it seems as if he knows that he is ill fated, but reading on he clarifies his pain in this way: Each of you suffers in himself alone His anguish, not another's; but my spirit Groans for the city, for myself, for you" (Sophocles 5). His pain is not his future; it is the plague of the country. Oedipus was told by Teiresias that in his later y... Fate in Oedipus Rex One Work Cited During ancient times, the Greeks believed very strongly in a concept called "fate". What is "fate"? Fate can be defined as a cause beyond human control that determines events.

It can also be defined as the outcome or end of some sort. In "Oedipus Rex", King Oedipus is a character that lived by fate and died by fate. This element of fate truly impacted the storyline and the plot, while... Oedipus also was fated with hubris or pride.

His pride forced him to kill his own father because he refused to pay a toll or give another the right of way. Oedipus's pride prevents him from seeing the truth. Oedipus is blinded by his pride and cannot accept that he could not avoid his fate. The irony is that the only time Oedipus is not blinded by his pride, is when he blinds himself physically. Had Oedipus not had some much pride, he would have listened to Creon and understood the truth in Teiresias The play end when Oedipus tells Theseus he will reward him for bringing his daughters back by giving Athens is body to bury for the blessings of the gods. Did he do this out of his gratitude to Theseus or was he thinking of his foretold fate?

Defining Fate in Oedipus the King Three

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The story of Oedipus, as told by Sophocles, reveals a bleak view of the world. Man is predestined to enact a role scripted by fate, a "mysterious power" that at times rules even the greatest of Greek gods Fate in Oedipus Rex Sophocles' tragic tale of Oedipus presents the reader with a very bleak view of mankind and the world in general. According to the story, every person is predestined to enact a role scripted by fate, a "mysterious power" that rules even the greatest of Greek gods.