Oedipus The King essay topics

You are welcome to search the collection of free essays and research papers. Thousands of coursework topics are available. Buy unique, original custom papers from our essay writing service.

77 results found, view free essays on page:

  • Oedipus And Beowulf
    946 words
    A Comparison of Oedipus and Beowulf The characters Oedipus and Beowulf represent two different types of heroes. Oedipus is a tragic hero and characterized by its standards. He was an influential man of stature who had a tragic flaw. While he contributed to his own downfall, Oedipus was not entirely responsible for it. He also learned a lesson from his mistakes which ultimately creates a catharsis in the reading audience. Beowulf, on the other hand, is characterized by the standards of an epic he...
  • Oedipus The King And A Doll House
    1,066 words
    Dramatic irony depends on the audience's knowing something that a character has not yet realized, or on one character's knowing something that other characters do not know. It is a crucial literary tool used by authors, poets, and playwrights in some of the most famous stories ever told. Dramatic irony can serve many purposes. It can build suspense, excitement, and allows for a crucial climax. It makes the audience more involved in the story and in touch with the characters. Two examples of dram...
  • Classic Greek Tragedy Of Oedipus The King
    714 words
    Hamlet Versus Oedipus the King Content: Good Paper Showing the differences between Hamlet and Oed pius the King Sophocles Oedipus King and Shakespeare's Hamlet both contain the basic elements of tragedy, although the Shakespearean tragedy expanded its setting far beyond that of the ancient Greek tragedy. The tragic hero of Hamlet finds himself burdened with the task of avenging his father's death from the start of the play, and is not himself the source of the pollution of regicide, while Oedipu...
  • Tale Of King Oedipus
    483 words
    Elements of Tragedy in Oedipus Rex It is not the tragic subject matter of the text that is of primary interest - but rather the manner in which the plot is developed. The story line progresses as if the reader is 'unfeeling an onion. ' The tale of King Oedipus is well known. An enraged Oedipus unknowingly slays his father (Laius, King of Thebes) and supplants him as monarch and as husband to his own mother (Queen Jocasta). As each successive 'layer of the onion' is unpeeled, Oedipus is brought a...
  • Antigone And Oedipus The King The City
    903 words
    Compare and contrast the part that the city or state (polis) plays in Antigone and Oedipus The King. Antigone is a play about the tension caused when two individuals have conflicting claims regarding law. In this case, the moral superiority of the laws of the city, represented by Creon, and the laws of the gods, represented bt Antigone. In contrast, Oedipus The King is driven by the tensions within Oedipus himself. That play both begins and concludes within the public domain, the plot being driv...
  • Oedipus The King Ankle Theory
    538 words
    Oedipus the King 'Ankle Theory'; The classification of 'Oedipus the King'; as a tragedy requires it to meet certain criteria pertaining to the main character, Oedipus. Oedipus must have no control over the situation which he is in, he has to have been harmed by someone for doing nothing or doing what is just, and he must come to an end in which he is utterly lost, or dies without resolving the situation. I believe all three of these criteria can be found represented under a symbol, and that symb...
  • Play Oedipus The King
    855 words
    Oedipus the King Being born with a terrible prophecy, having parents send out for death, surviving death, living in a entirely lie, does it sounds like fate or is it made by decisions? In the play Oedipus the king there is a deliberation in whether Oedipus life is simply just fate with an incapacity to change it or if he chooses his fate by the choices and decisions he formulates. There is no right or wrong answer and in this case there is evidence supporting both fate and choice. Oedipus never ...
  • Play Oedipus Rex
    781 words
    The play 'Oedipus Rex' is a very full and lively one to say the least. Everything a reader could ask for is included in this play. There is excitement, suspense, happiness, sorrow, and much more. Truth is the main theme of the play. Oedipus cannot accept the truth as it comes to him or even where it comes from. He is blinded in his own life, trying to ignore the truth of his life. Oedipus will find out that truth is truth, it is rock solid. The story is mainly about a young man named Oedipus who...
  • Oedipus
    860 words
    Oedipus the King While reading classical literature one is bound to run into many types of heroes. The different types of heroes can range in their greatness, but above all, the tragic hero is viewed as being the most alluring of them all. A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, is a man who is great but also terribly flawed, who experiences a fall in misfortunes while still remaining admirable to the audience at the end of the play. One of Aristotle's favorite works, Oedipus the King, a play by...
  • Major Flaw Of Oedipus's Life
    615 words
    Oedipus All tragic heroes suffer a downfall because of their tragic flaws. In the Greek story of Oedipus, he is responsible for his downfall because of his tragic flaws and his hubris. When Oedipus was born his parents, King Lauis and Queen Jocasta, went to an oracle. They were told Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Jocasta and Lauis didn't want this so they stuck a spike into Oedipus (means swollen foot) ankles and had a servant of theirs leave him on the mountain Cither an. A...
  • Entire Play Oedipus
    505 words
    Oedipus Rex a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles in the early days of antiquity is based upon an even more ancient story in Greek mythology. Sophocles, however, knowing that his audience is aware of the outcome of the play utilizes that foreknowledge to create various situations in which dramatic and verbal irony play key roles. However, citing all of the irony in Oedipus Rex would require the writing of quite a hefty book, for time and convenience only a few examples will be cited. Through his ...
  • Most Obvious Of Oedipus Character Traits
    870 words
    Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles around 430 BC, is one of, if not the most, important and influential tragedy ever written. It became the base for most of the tragedies written since. In spite of the fact that some of the story line may seem a little out of place now, parallels can be very easily drawn with the present time. Even though it was written over 2000 years ago, Oedipus the King is still fitting and applicable in today's society. In ancient Greece, the people believed that the go...
  • Sophocles Tragedy Of Oedipus The King
    1,286 words
    The story of a tragic hero is a tale of a hero that comprises his goodness and superiority, but which are overshadowed by a tragic flaw in which the hero makes fatal errors in judgement that ultimately leads to the downfall and a final tragic realization of the hero. It is at this time in which the hero understands how he has unwittingly helped bring about his own destruction and absence of freewill. In Sophocles tragedy of Oedipus the King, Oedipus falls under the common description of a tragic...
  • Prior To The Killing Of King Lauis
    1,424 words
    How Does King Oedipus Fit The Profile Of The Classical Greek Tragic Hero And How Is His Fall Typical In his Poetics, Aristotle defined the term tragedy as a man not preeminently virtuous and just, whose misfortune, however, is brought upon him not by vice or depravity, but by some error in judgement the change in the heros fortune must not be from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery. From this definition, he further expanded it by defining the profile of the Classi...
  • Oedipus The King
    1,620 words
    JOCASTA My lords look amazed to see your queen with wreaths and gifts of incense in her hands. I had a mind to visit the high shrines, for Oedipus is nervous, alarmed with various terrors. He will not use his past experience, like a man of sense, to judge the present need, but lends his ear to any croaker that argues. Since then my counsels dont have an advantage, I turn to thee, our help when we are in trouble, Apollo, Lord Lycian, and to you my prayers and pleas I bring. Ease us, lord, and cle...
  • Oedipus The King Aristotles Criteria For A Tragedy
    436 words
    3. How Sophocles Oedipus the King fits the description of tragedy provided by Aristotle Why does Aristotle believe tragedy is superior to epic poetry First of all to understand how Oedipus the King fits the description of tragedy we need to know what the description is. Fortunately Aristotles description is kindly provided and explained in detail. It is described that poems have to include certain elements to be called a tragedy. Through logical discussion Aristotle determines these elements to ...
  • Oedipus And Queen Iocaste
    1,536 words
    In this paper I will present an interpretation of the Play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. "Compare and contrast the views of Oedipus and Queen Iocaste as to the validity of uncontrollable fate, and oracles being able to see the future". King Laios the ruler of Thebes, has a son with his wife Queen Iocoste. His name is Oedipus. The soothsayer Teiresias, a loyal servant to the King and Queen tells them some disturbing news. Teiresias tells King Laios and Queen Iocoste that their son, Oedipus will kill ...
  • Oedipus The King
    920 words
    The downfall of a hero follows from his very nature. In Sophocles play, Oedipus the King, the playwright focuses on a man named Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who is trying to discover the truth about his past. When he was born, his parents learned from an oracle that their child would someday be the cause of their death. Believing the oracle, they abandoned their infant son with the intention of killing him. However, without their knowledge he is rescued and raised by another couple. After many y...
  • Macbeth And Oedipus
    1,309 words
    Oedipus was very similar to Macbeth because both of them were confronted and destroyed by a set of circumstances; Oedipus by fate and Macbeth by the witches and their prophecies. Oedipus the king was given the throne of Thebes because he answered the riddle of the Sphinx. Macbeth did not make the position of king at first, but was promoted to the title of Thane of Candor, which is still very high. Macbeth and Oedipus were told by prophesies, the witches in the case of Macbeth and the oracle in t...
  • Oedipus Past
    827 words
    "I am here to learn for myself - I, Oedipus, whose name is known afar... ". This is a play about the search for identity. What do you think? Back each point with a quote. The tragic play, Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, is considered by many to be the greatest tragedy of all time. Its effectiveness as a tragedy is evident through the sheer drama and tragic irony that the audience are exposed to. The play begins 15 years after Oedipus' arrival in Thebes, with him as King of Thebes. Due to his ignoranc...

77 results found, view free essays on page: