Oedipus Husband

558 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Oedipus the king sophocles text

A Husband and a Son
Oedipus the King is a play that was written by Sophocles around 430 B.C. in Athens, Greece. It depicts a tragedy where Oedipus as a baby was abandoned on the mountains by his own parents. Oedipus the King shows us that there was a reason behind the parents’ decision. They have been told a prophecy that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother. Since they have received the prophecy from the gods, the king and queen have no choice but to protect themselves. Somehow, through all the hardship that Oedipus has endured, he still managed to become a king who struggles to find an answer. In the play, Oedipus shows determination, intelligence, and anger.
Throughout the play, a plaque threatens to destroy the whole kingdom of Thebes. Oedipus, the king of Thebes, is determined to find a solution. The first step to solve this mystery is to send brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle to learn what to do. When Creon returned, he instructs Oedipus to find the murderer of Laius, the king who ruled Thebes before Oedipus. Then, the discovery and punishment of the murderer …show more content…

Before he was king, Thebes was held captive by a supernatural being called a Sphinx. This Sphinx gives a riddle to the citizens of Thebes and tells them that whoever can solve the riddle will be rewarded. One day, Oedipus comes into the city of Thebes and solves the riddle when no one can. As a reward forhis intelligence on solving the riddle, Oedipus becomes the king of Thebes. From that day, Oedipus was praised for his intelligence. In the play, the citizens of Thebes come to Oedipus for his help, and they recall the day he solved the Sphinx’s riddle. They reason to Oedipus that if he can solve a riddle from a supernatural being that he can surely solve this mystery and get rid of the plague. His intelligence soon becomes anger when Tiresias, the blind soothsayer of Thebes who he sent for to help him solve this mystery, confronts

Show More
Related

  • Theme Of Honor In Oedipus Rex

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus Rex is a Greek play written by Sophocles. The play is set in Thebes; Thebes is infected with a plague that is killing its crops and unborn children. This plague is caused by the prophecy. The prophecy states that Oedipus would kill his father and wed his mother. Laius threw out Oedipus when he was a baby to avoid this fate, but he failed because Oedipus was not killed. Oedipus was raised as a prince in Corinth. One day he was told the prophecy and feared that he would kill his father Polybus. While running away from Corinth to escape the prophecy, Oedipus killed Laius. When Oedipus arrived in Thebes, he freed the people from the sphinx. He was named king and married Jocasta. Towards the end of the play, Oedipus finds out that he had fulfilled the prophecy and is exiled from Thebes.

    Read More

  • The King's Pride In Sophocles Oedipus The King

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sophocles’s dramatic play Oedipus the King takes place in ancient Greece. It focuses on Oedipus, the king of Thebes. As the plot unfolds, Sophocles reveals that Oedipus, Jacosta his wife/mother, and his father Laius have tried to change the course of events that have been foretold to them. The oracles make it clear to Laius, and later to Oedipus, that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Regardless of their attempts to alter the future, the foretold events develop outside of their control. These events lead to an unhappy ending for each of them. Mythical creatures, oracles, prophets, and gods all have a hand in shaping Oedipus’s life. Although the prophecies of Apollo’s oracles set key events into motion, it is Oedipus’s tragic flaw of excessive pride that leads to the eventual fulfillment of the prophecies.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: Does Oedipus Satisfy the Definition of a Good Man?

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his first dealings with the city of Thebes, Oedipus found them under the curse of the Sphinx.  He actually gained his position of King of Thebes by rendering unto the city a great service, namely the salvation of the city from the Sphinx's plague.  Aristotle praised the type of cleverness and practical wisdom Oedipus exhibited in his solution to the riddle as being a component of overall goodness.  If it were not for Oedipus virtuous action in saving Thebes, the citizens would have suffered untold disasters at the merciless hands of the Sphinx.  After proving his worth as a good man and his concern for the citizens of what was seemingly a foreign city, Oedipus was well liked by the people of Thebes.

    Read More

  • tragoed Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex) - The Archetypal Tragic Man

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Greek mythology, the Sphinx, a creature that is part woman, part bird, and part lion, caused famine and disease in Thebes that could be ended only when someone solved her riddle.  Oedipus traveled to Thebes and answered the riddle correctly.  The citizens of Thebes consider him a hero because he restored harmony to their kingdom.  Sophocles alludes to the riddle of the Sphinx several times in his play, Oedipus Rex.  Since the riddle is a metaphor for Oedipus' life, it is ironic that he was able to answer the question.  His revelation of the riddle of the Sphinx further supports the perspective of Oedipus as the archetypal tragic man.

    Read More

  • The Intention of Oedipus in Oedipus the King

    1161 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus Rex, also known as Oedipus the King, is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times. The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would slay him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, bore a son, he exposed the baby on Mt. Cithaeron, first pinning his ankles together (hence the name Oedipus, meaning Swell-Foot). A shepherd took pity on the infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife and was brought up as their son. In early manhood Oedipus visited Delphi and upon learning that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother, he resolved never to return to Corinth. Travelling toward Thebes, he encountered Laius, who provoked a quarrel in which Oedipus killed him.

    Read More

  • Sophocles' Oedipus the King as Nothing More Than a Detective Story

    1986 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sophocles' Oedipus the King as Nothing More Than a Detective Story. The play “Oedipus the King” is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles in the early days of antiquity and is based upon an ancient story in Greek mythology. It was written around a time when Rome was in power. and Athens was the centre of the world.

    Read More

  • Oedipus

    582 Words  | 2 Pages

    Firstly, Oedipus meant very well, as a ruler. All of the events that were described to unfold under his rule seemed to have the best intentions. Oedipus had no control over the fate of Thebes, nor the fate of Laius.Yet, with all of this grief, Oedipus still listens to the advice from Creon, that was received from Apollo, and chose to look into who murdered Laius to lift the curse off Thebes....

    Read More

  • An Intellectual and Emotional Response to Oedipus the King

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    The play's plot, in a nutshell, develops like this. After solving the riddle of the Sphynx, who had kept Thebes under a curse of some kind, Oedipus is invited to become king of the city. He marries Jocasta, the widow of the previous king, and they have two children. When the play begins, Thebes is again under some sort of curse, and Oedipus tries to find out its cause so that he can rescue the city. He is told that the cause of the curse is that the murderer of the previous king is still in the city and has gone unpunished. In the process of searching for the murderer, Oedipus discovers that it is he, himself, who is responsible and that he is actually the son of Jocasta and her previous husband. Horrified by his sins of incest and murder, Oedipus claws out his eyes. Jocasta commits suicide because she is so disgraced.

    Read More

  • Relevancy of Oedipus in Today's Society

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus believed that he could take on the Sphinx and rid Thebes of the plague. The plague was the god’s example of the fault in human condition. Children and mothers were dying and the world was at war with itself. The plague showed that the mortality of being human is a death sentence. The riddle of the Sphinx defines human limits. The first stage is that of a baby, the second is when you are your strongest, and the third stage is when you are old an dying, and there is no way to avoid this cycle. Oedipus fails to recognize the third stage of the riddle in himself even though it is staring him in the face in the form of Teiresias.

    Read More

  • tragoed Comparing Tragedy in Hamlet and Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex)

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    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. This is the beginning of the prophecy coming true. In short Oedipus obtains the throne, Marries his mother and has kids with her. Oedipus' fate has come together without him even realizing what is going on. Eventually he is told what has happened and asks to be banished by his uncle/brother-in-law Creon. The tragedy in Oedipus' life began with his birth and the realization by his parents that his whole life was doomed.

    Read More

  • Oedipus: A Victim of Fate

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus was a victime of fate, his futur was foretold by an Oracle, he had no way of knowing that his wife was his mother nor that the stranger he killed was his father. Oedipus could not prevent his own downfall. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, he became king when he cured the city of a deadly plague. He cured the plague by solving the riddle of the mythical creature, the Sphinkx. Now the city is suffering from another plague and as king Oedipus must solve the riddle of this one.

    Read More

  • Who Is King Oedipus The King

    484 Words  | 1 Pages

    King Oedipus came to Thebes many decades ago, shortly after the passing of late King Laius. Once believed that he had been murdered by a group of robbers, it has been discovered that at the three-way crossroads between Corinth, Delphi, and Thebes, it was none other than King Oedipus himself who murdered the King and his men. Thebes may thank an unknown messenger from Corinth, an unknown herdsman from Cithaeron, and the prophet Tiresias for this newfound revelation.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Oedipus the King

    465 Words  | 1 Pages

    The priests of Thebes have come to Oedipus to stop the plague that is killing the people of Thebes. They revere him for his knowledge, since he solved the riddle of the Sphix many years before and became the king. As the reader is introduced to Oedipus, they are given many facts about his life so that they become familiar with this man who has done great things. But Oedipus learns from his brother-in-law, Creon who he had sent to Delphi, that Apollo has placed this plague upon Thebes until they "Drive the corruption from the land, don't harbor it any longer, past all cure, don't nurse it in your soil - root it out!" ¹ Oedipus swears an oath before the priests and the chorus (which represents all people of Thebes) that the murderer would be found and driven from the land.

    Read More

  • Light And Dark Imagery In Oedipus The King

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus, who is the main subject in the play, is an interesting character. The very first lines that are spoken are said by Oedipus himself. When he enters the scene, he seems as if he is very confident person, as he says “everybody everywhere knows who [he is]: Oedipus. King” (11). When being presented as a confident person, it would seem as if the character has everything going for them and have no flaw. But this does not prove accurate with Oedipus. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus asks lot of questions, as if he has no idea of what is actually going on. One of the very first questions that Oedipus asks is that “why are you kneeling? / What can I give you? / how can I help?” (14-16). Oedipus was sent to Thebes to help aid with the plague that the city has been struck with as the former King, Laios, and promises to find the murderer and curse him with the same plague that ...

    Read More

More about Oedipus Husband

Open Document