Oedipus Rex example essay topic
Apollo failed... (2) Later, she counsels Oedipus: Why should we fear, seeing that man is ruled By chance... No, live at random, live as best one can. (3) Thus, we can see Oedipus and Jocasta create their own tragedies, and pull themselves further into their fates, even as they deny them.
Question 2 Light and dark seem to play an important part in Oedipus Rex. Early in the play, Oedipus is king and hero of Thebes; he is "in the spotlight", and his world is bright and well-defined. In fact, Oedipus seems to have nothing but contempt for the darkness: OEDIPUS: ... You are blind, in eyes and ears and brain and everything. TIRESIAS: You " ll not forget those insults that you throw At me, when all men throw the same at you. OEDIPUS: You live in darkness; you can do no harm To me, or to any man that has eyes.
(4) Later, however, as evidence of the truth mounts, Oedipus remarks: I greatly fear that prophet was not blind... (5) Eventually, as he begins to accept his fate, Oedipus recognizes that his bright and wonderful world has come to an end: Ah God! Ah God! This is the truth, at last! O Sun, let me behold thee this once more.
(6) Finally, he recognizes that his fate is upon him, inescapable: O cloud of darkness abominable, My enemy unspeakable, In cruel onset insuperable. (7) Thus, Oedipus, who began the play in fam and daylight (and thus, presumably, in the good graces of Apollo), ends it in infamy and darkness; it is this contrast which makes the play so fascinating. Question 5 While there are those who would argue, it seems obvious that Oedipus Rex is meant to be, at least somewhat, a deterministic play. The only guilty parties here would seem to be Laius and Jocasta, who defied the warnings of the Oracle by having children in the first place. Once they had a son, the warnings of the gods inexorably took place, regardless of the best efforts of all involved. In fact, the play serves to show us the folly of ignoring the advice of oracles, seers, and holy men; whenever someone in the play ignores the Oracle, or belittles Tiresias, they bring themselves closer to their own destruction.
Thus, not surprisingly, the play serves to reinforce the beliefs and traditions of the society from whence it came.