...Date: 12/10/08 Title: Oedipus the King: A Story of Fate Thesis: “Oedipus the King” by is generally a story about fate as it deals with its unalterable nature and the consequences that come with the attempt to change it. I. Fate and its Characteristics A. Characteristics of Fate 1. Fate as controlled by external force 2. Insignificance of man in relation to fate B. Fate according to Sophocles 1. Determined nature of fate 2. Freedom of man as manifested through his attitude towards destiny II. Oedipus A. His destiny as determined before his birth 1. The attempt of King Laius and Queen Jocasta to alter his fate 2. The futility of such attempt B. Oedipus’ lack of knowledge as instrumental in determining his fate C. Oedipus’ negative attitude towards his destiny D. Man’s attitude as uncontrolled by fate but possesses the power to influence 1. The role of arrogance and self-confidence in the fulfillment of the prophecy 2. Arrogance as a result of experience 3. Self-confidence as contributed by the people of Thebes 4. Arrogance and self-confidence as his response against fate III. Fate according to Epictetus A. Fate must not be feared and wanted B. Fate must be accepted with grace and dignity C. Fate must be embraced as the will of gods D. Refusal to accept fate results in tragedy Name:...
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...Fate plays a crucial role in both Sophocles's Oedipu Rex and William Shakespeare’s Othello. Oedipus the King and Othello the Moor both experience a catharsis, or emotional downfall, due to fate. Fate is not only a prevalent theme in both works, but a basis of plot as well. Sophocles and Shakespeare both employ elements of fate being influential in their works. Fate in Oedipus Rex does not possess the same meaning as it does in Othello. In Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, however, fate is depicted as the idea that one’s destiny in predetermined. In Othello, fate pertains to the limit that is placed on the control of one’s own destiny. Fate can be used to show how different authors portray the theme in their work and how each different vision of fate...
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...hubris, fate, and the will of the gods. The tragic hero's powerful wish to achieve some goal inevitably encounters limits, usually those of human frailty (flaws in reason, hubris, society), the gods (through oracles, prophets, fate), or nature” (Reeves 175). Aristotle says that the tragic hero should have a flaw and/or make some mistake (hamartia). The hero does not necessarily have to die at the end, but he/she must undergo a change in fortune. In addition, the tragic hero “may achieve some revelation or recognition (anagnorisis--"knowing again" or "knowing back" or "knowing throughout" ) about human fate, destiny, and the will of the gods” (Reeves 175). Aristotle quite nicely terms this sort of recognition "a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate" (Reeves 176). Both Oedipus and Hamlet both have qualities of Aristotle’s tragic hero. Oedipus is the main character in the play Oedipus the King. Oedipus is thought of as a tragic figure because he was doomed from birth. Tiresias, an old blind prophet, told Oedipus' parents about Oedipus' fate. He told them that Oedipus would kill his father and sleep with his mother. So, his parents decided to have him killed; only it did not happen that way. He was passed off by two shepherds and finally to the King and Queen of Corinth, Polybus and Merope to raise him as their own. Oedipus finds his way back to Thebes and on the way kills his father, but Oedipus did not know that one of the men he killed was his real father...
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...Free will in Oedipus Rex In terms of their fate, characters in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles have very little control over their lives and can do little to prevent major events in the story to influence the fulfilment of prophecies. The play itself follows the king of Thebes, Oedipus, who realizes in his quest to save the city that he has fulfilled a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, a fate he had been trying to escape his whole life. One important theme in this story is the theme of free will, or in this case the absence of it. The significance of free will in Oedipus Rex is that Oedipus does not truly have the ability to exercise free will or to change his fate, but throughout the story he still tries to escape...
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...on after going for the win and losing is similar to what Oedipus from Sophocles’s Oedipus the King and Othello from Shakespeare’s Othello the Moor must think after they have lost everything they once had even though they didn’t have to. Oedipus the King, born royal, runs away from his prophecy to Thebes, his new land, where he completes what the prophecy had in mind. Othello the Moor, a general, questions his wife, Desdemona, after an evil man manipulates his mind. Though both authors use irony and a tragic hero to move their audiences, Sophocles uses those elements to stress the role of fate, while Shakespeare uses them to demonstrate the importance of personal choice. Both Oedipus and Othello are tragic heroes, and the downfall of each moves the audience. Both heroes are blinded by their emotions. Oedipus was blind to his prophecy that he never realized that he actually married his mother and killed his father. He thought that he could run away from it, and got mad at anyone who suggested that he already reached the destination. For example, when Teiresias tells Oedipus that he is the cause of Thebe’s plague, Oedipus says to him, “Your infantile riddles! Your damned abracadabra!” (Sophocles 24). He is basically getting angry because he believes that Teiresias is threatening his power. Similarly, Othello is blinded by his trust in Iago that he falls for all of his tricks. Othello becomes envious and Iago uses this to his advantage. All of Iago’s tricks eventually lead to Othello’s...
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...How much would you give to go back to when you were young and naïve? Humans have an instinctual desire to want to know the truth about all that affects them in life, especially if other people resist sharing such information. As people grow their understanding of truth also grows with them, for they learn that discovering some truths will cause them more harm then it will good. In Sophocles Oedipus Rex readers are able to watch the main character Oedipus go through this process which can take people years of their lives happen in a span of a few short days. In this process, people discover that it is not necessarily beneficial to know every truth and that it is ok to stay blind to some issues. As people go through the aging process they are...
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...Sophocles was a Greek author who wrote many plays. Three of which being a trilogy called The Oedipus Cycle. Within the three plays, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone, three characters experience pride in various degrees. Creon and Oedipus, who both exhibit an excessive amount of pride, eventually come to regret the poor choices that they have made because of the trait. Antigone, who exhibits an appropriate amount of pride, is able to use it in order to become more confident when justifying what she thinks is right. Sophocles is able to prove through portraying different degrees of pride and the different outcomes that it causes that pride can either be a good trait or a bad trait. One of the main characters throughout The Oedipus Cycle, Creon, is able to show that excessive pride leads to regret through his actions when he is in power. In the final play of the trilogy, Antigone, Creon becomes a leader who possesses so much hubris that he thinks he knows what the Gods want when it comes to Polyneices, the son of Oedipus, death: Creon: Stop! Must you doddering wrecks Go out of your heads entirely? ‘The gods!’ Intolerable! The gods favor this corpse? Why? How had he Served them? … Is it your senile opinion that the gods love to honor...
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...life goes is according to fate or free will? Some people lives are controlled by fate, however, some are controlled simply by your own choice of free will. Free Will, is “The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one’s own discretion” (Oxford Dictionaries). Free will allows a person to take action in any case of alternatives without a sense of obligation, but by their own chosen decisions. However, Fate is “The development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power” (Oxford Dictionaries). Fate is the progressive unchanging flow of actions and events, predestined and guaranteed by a higher order or deity, in a person’s life that no one can change. For example, in the drama stories of Sophocles “Oedipus the King” and William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. One of the two stories will show Fate while the other demonstrates Free Will. Oedipus and Hamlet’s life may seem alike as they both wanted what was best for their people and for their loved ones. However, Oedipus’s life...
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...Oedipus the King Although the social standards of fifth century B.C. Greece allowed humans free will, Oedipus, in Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, was not allowed to demonstrate this. Oedipus was a leader of his time became a horrific tragedy because of this. Oedipus’s fate forced him to unconsciously go against the laws and moral precepts, ultimately leading to incest, murder, and his own self-destruction. Oedipus the King is a story told by Sophocles that shows major tragedy. Oedipus was born as the son of Laius, the once King of Thebes and his wife Jocasta. The Oracle tells Laius that his son will be his own demise and he listens to them. Jocasta gives the baby to a messenger so it will be taken away and killed. The messenger pins Oedipus ankles so he will always be marked, and the messenger hands him to a shepherd. The shepherd takes him and instead of killing him he lets him live and raises him as the prince of Corinth. Oedipus was told by the Oracle that he will eventually have sex with his mother and kill his father. Oracles speak to a purpose and are inspired by the gods who control the destiny of men. Oedipus growing up with his non-blood parents didn’t believe the Oracle because nothing that they said happened. Oedipus later on in his life became the King of Thebes, and the city was struck by a plague and needed a savor. The city was looking up to Oedipus as he looked for help, so he sent his brother-in-law Creon to go speak with the Delphi Oracle on this...
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...powerful Zeus, Hera, and Apollo. There are many stories that focus on Greek gods, some people believe them to be true and some see them as stories. The Greek god Apollo focused on fate, plagues, and healing. He was considered the most Greek god of all gods. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles uses the Greek god Apollo to show his influences on human life in how he controls fate, how plagues can change people actions, and healing in their lives all in a mythological view. Sophocles uses Oedipus as an example for being born into tragedy was his fate. Before Oedipus was born he was prophesied to kill his father and to marry his mother. Fate is an unpredictable circumstance as Jocasta says, “Why should anyone in this...
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...that fate and create their own. Both Minority Report, directed by Steven Spielberg, and Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, demonstrate human determination to create their own path. Humans crave the opportunity to shape their own destiny. When given a frightful or potentially life-altering destiny, humans decide not to simply accept it, but fight it. Humans are born with a fighting attitude. If given a destiny that is frightful, they will make every attempt to abolish that fate or at least delay that certain destiny from occurring....
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...In his Poetics, Aristotle outlined the ingredients necessary for a good tragedy, and he based his formula on what he considered to be the perfect tragedy, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. According to Aristotle, a tragedy must be an imitation of life in the form of a serious story that is complete in itself. A good tragedy will evoke pity and fear in its viewers, causing the viewers to experience a feeling of catharsis. Catharsis, in Greek, means "purgation" or "purification"; running through the gamut of these strong emotions will leave viewers feeling elated, in the same way we often claim that "a good cry" will make one feel better. Aristotle also outlined the characteristics of a good tragic hero. He must be "better than we are," a man who is superior to the average man in some way. In Oedipus's case, he is superior not only because of social standing, but also because he is smart ? he is the only person who could solve the Sphinx's riddle. At the same time, a tragic hero must evoke both pity and fear, and Aristotle claims that the best way to do this is if he is imperfect. A character with a mixture of good and evil is more compelling that a character who is merely good. And Oedipus is definitely not perfect; although a clever man, he is blind to the truth and refuses to believe Teiresias's warnings. Although he is a good father, he unwittingly fathered children in incest. A tragic hero suffers because of his hamartia, a Greek word that is often translated as "tragic flaw"...
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...theme of the paper and how it relates to the drama III. The Tragic hero definition and how that applies to the play IV. The big revaltion in the play that Oedipus sees V. Talk about Apollos power and the meaning of that and conclude to paper with that. The first criterion of a Greek tragedy is that the protagonist be a good person; doubly blessed with a good heart and noble intention. Sophocles reveals immediately at the start of the play that Oedipus is such a man. As is common in the Greek tragedy Oedipus is also an aristocrat. Born of the King and Queen of Thebes he is of true nobility. Oedipus on the other-hand believes his parents are the King and Queen of Corinth. Oedipus was abandoned as a baby and adopted by them. Because that information is known to the audience and not to Oedipus prior to the start of the play, it is a perfect example of tragic irony because when he declares that he will find the murderer he is the man that he pursues. Here he is told by Tiresias,” I say you are the murderer you hunt” (1235). The theme of Oedipus the King is not clear-cut. The theme in this tragic play seems to be you can‘t escape your fate. Contentment leads to ignorance as Oedipus lends fate a hand in his bitter end. This trait is touched-on in these lines spoken by Creon. “Look at you, sullen in yielding, brutal in your rage- you’ll go too far. It’s perfect justice: natures like yours are hardest on themselves” (Sophocles 1242-1243). Oedipus is a true hero in the...
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...was both a religious and civic occasion. Greek plays were only shown twice a year at religious festivals. These plays had deep meaning to them and portrayed an important myth or legendary event. One of the greatest and most popular Greek plays written is “Oedipus the King”, written by Sophocles. Although he never won a prize for the play, it has proven to be influential in many ways. Oedipus was born to the king and queen of Thebes, Laius and Jocasta. His parents were contacted by an oracle who told them that their son would kill Laius and marry his mother. Laius tied Oedipus’s feet together and gave it to a servant of the kind, the Sheppard, to kill. The Sheppard took pity on the child and gave him to another Sheppard to bring up on his own. This man gave the child to King Polybus and queen Merope of Corinth. Oedipus knows none of this and he thinks these two are his true parents. When a drunken man told him that they are not his parents, he went to Delphi to seek the truth. Apollo refused to reveal the answer to what he was seeking. However, he did tell him that it was his fate to make love with his own mother and shed his own father’s blood, he fled from Corinth. He ran towards a place where he would never see his parents again, so he couldn’t...
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...the tragic hero Oedipus is accused of. Identity and identity theft is an issue much of the modern world deals with as well through various scams. If a person is mistaken due to a lack of identity, another person may treat them differently whether they are a distant relative, stranger, or enemy. In the case of Oedipus, Oedipus did not know the true identity of his parents, leading to create mistakes he will take...
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