Oedipus Journey Essay

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Brittnne Bennett Bennett 1Mrs. BardEnglish Honors25 January 2014The cursed journey of Oedipus By conducting a thorough reading of Sophocles play Oedipus the king, one will easily view Oedipus as caring, getting ahead of himself, and seemingly on a personal journey. In the process of this journey you come to, and understanding that there is more to this apologue than it appears. Due to the fact that, Oedipus goes through a life changing journey; Between his biological family, people who he considered his family, and himself. The decision that he chooses to make will either bring him peace or misery. The story commences with a toxic plague tormenting the city of Thebes. The Priest approaches Oedipus his king, and begs him to help cease this curse. Being a considerate and understanding king who loves his people Oedipus was already one step ahead. At that point Oedipus had sent his brother-in-law Creon to talk to the god Apollo, to grasp and understand as to why this was happening to his people. In return, Creon had suggested to Oedipus that he talks to Tiresias, "The man who sees most eye to eye with Lord Apollo." (Will 17) In doing so, it doesn't end well as Oedipus felt betrayed by his brother-in-law; for sending a false prophet. Leading him to accuse Creon of wanting to steal the throne. As this predicament rises the chorus leader state's that " Quick decisions are not the safest." (Will 35) Bennett 2 Due to the fact that Oedipus says " When a plotter moves against me in speed and secrecy, then I too must be quick to counterplot. If I take my time and wait, then his cause is won, and mine lost." ( Will 35) Feeling betrayed and fearing his power maybe at jeopardy , ... ... middle of paper ... ... by running into actions instead of thinking things through, he ended up learning that there is always a consequence to the choices you making in life. In the long end he was cursed from the beginning to the end where he finally met his own faith. 8 SOURCESBooks•Bloom, Harold. Oedipus Rex. New York :An imprint of InfoBase. Publishing, 2007•Will, Frederic. Oedipus The King. New York: A Division of Simom & Schuster Inc•Grant, Michael. Greek and Latin Authors, New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1980Websites•Cox, Michael W. " A critical Analysis of 'Oedipus The King." Discovering Authors. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 29 jan.2014•"Oedipus Rex" The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy". What Every American Needs To Know. E.D. Hirsch, Jr, Joseph F. Kert and James Trefil. 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton mifflin, 2002. General One file. Web. 29 Jan.2014

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