Elvis Presley and King Oedipus

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King Oedipus was born and then abandoned by his biological parents, he was raised by foster parents, who treated him as their own son. His extreme obsession about wanting to know about himself is what brought his downfall because as he tried to escape his fate about the prophecy, the more the prophecy was fulfilled and things got worse for him. The story of Oedipus shows us clearly that we cannot run away from destiny since if the gods know about our future, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to reverse what the gods have foretold for us.

Elvis on the other hand was born into a poor family. His father was a tobacco picker, who was once imprisoned for cashing a fake check. His mother made sure that he was well exposed to gospel music and religion. He performed the ballad “Old Shep” in which he won the singing contest when he was only 10 years old, and on his 11th birthday, they bought him a guitar as his present. With the guitar, he was able to play two songs as a gift to his mother. With his hard work, he was able to come up with “Love Me Tender”, which was his first movie and from there, his fame begun (Clayton 23). Elvis rose from nothing, from a poor family to being a successful star and the king of rock and roll, which lead to his downfall.

Looking at the differences between these two people, the first outstanding difference between them is the kind of family that they were born into. Oedipus was born to very rich parents while on the contrary Elvis Presley was born to poor parents.

“Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta king and queen of Thebes” (Sophocles n.p.). He was born to a royal family. The king and queen bore him after staying for a long time without children until they had to consult the gods abou...

... middle of paper ...

...f his deeds and he had to live in exile together with his daughters. This was a fulfillment of the prophecy predicted by the gods about how his life was going to end.

Works Cited

Clayton, Marie. Elvis Presley Unseen Archives. UK: Parragon, 2005. Print.

Clayton, Marie. Images of Elvis. UK: Parragon, 2007. Print.

"Elvis Presley." Biography of Elvis Presley - Life of Elvis Aaron Presley - Elvis Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2011.

"Musical Hero." Elvis Presley Biography - American Singer and Actor. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2011.

"Myth Man's Homework Help Center Oedipus The King." King Oedipus Homework Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2011.

"Oedipus the King by Sophocles." Oedipus the King Summary. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2011.

Sophocles. Oedipus The King. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Classical tragedy, Greek and Roman - Google Books. Web. 15 May 2011.

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