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The importance of greek mythology
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Oedipus the king is a play about a couple Laius and Jocasta who has angered the gods because they don't believe in fearing or respecting the gods. the gods set a prophesy upon their unborn son that he will kill his father and sleep with his mother. Not fearing the prophecy they had Oedipus, and gave him to a shepherd to kill but he ended up alive. the question is who's to blame when it comes to a chance to prevent his prophecy from being completed.
In the play Oedipus the king or Oedipus Max everyone has the blame relating to Oedipus’s fate. The four people I think who should get the blame are Jocasta, Laius, the shepherd, and Oedipus himself.
I think Jocasta has some blame because she angered the gods and even after the gods told her that if she had a kid, he would kill his dad and sleep with his mother but she still had a baby.After blowing the chance of changing the prophecy for Oedipus, she still could have saved him if she were to see the baby be killed so she makes sure that the baby was dead. Jocasta could have also realized the prophecy was coming true as soon her husband Laius was dead. Over all Jocasta should have feared and listened to the gods in the first place like every other Greek citizen.
Laius could have prevented the prophecy by not being so hot headed and
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let Oedipus pass and not cause a commotion for no reason and would have also prevented the killing of other innocent people who were following Laius . He could have not made the gods mad and listened to the gods before the prophecy was made. Also listening to the gods and not having Oedipus in the first place. The shepherd also has some blame also, if the shepherd had left Oedipus on the side of the mountain like Laius and Jocasta said so the prophecy might not have come true but, he kindly gave Oedipus to king Corinth as their adopted son. Last but not least the blame should also go on oedipus himself if it wasn't for him trying to avoid the truth and prevent his faith he wouldn't have stumbled across Laius (his father).
If it wasn't for oedipus genetics he wouldn't have been as hot tempered like his father and all those other people . Once he killed someone she should have realize it was his prophesy coming true he didn't have to realize that laius was his father but one of the other people that came with him. Later he slept with Jocasta whose husband happened to die the day oedipus was in a fight. Oedipus blindly married jocasta without fitting the pieces together to realize that his prophecy was coming
true.
Oedipus can be argued to be a sympathetic ruler of his people, "my heart must bear the strain of sorrow for all." (4). He shows a strong desire to rid the land of its despair. Yet as the reader captures a more in-depth glimpse into Oedipus' soul, we find him to be a jealous, stubborn, "blind", guilty, and sinful man. Oedipus' character outwardly seems to want nothing more than to find the guilty persons involved in the murder of Laius, yet when given obvious clues he turns a blind eye, not wanting to know the truth behind the prophecy.
take the boy out and kill him when he was still a child. The kind old shepard
The selfishness that Oedipus possesses causes him to have abundance of ignorance. This combination is what leads to his father’s death. After fleeing Corinth and his foster family, Oedipus gets into a skirmish with an older man. The reason for the fight was because, “The groom leading the horses forced me off the road at his lord’s command” (1336). Oedipus is filled with a rage after being insulted by the lord and feels the need to act. The two men fight, but Oedipus ends up being too much for the older man, and he kills him. What Oedipus is unaware of is that the man was actually his birth father and by killing him, Oedipus has started on the path of his own destruction. Not only does Oedipus kill his father, but also everyone else, “I killed them all” (1336). The other men had no part in the scuffle, but in his rage, he did not care who he was killing.
In “Oedipus the King,” an infant’s fate is determined that he will kill his father and marry his mother. To prevent this heartache his parents order a servant to kill the infant. The servant takes pity on the infant and gives him to a fellow shepherd, and the shepherd gives him to a king and queen to raise as their own. The young prince learns of the prophecy and flees from his interim parents because he is afraid that he is going to succeed. The young prince eventually accomplishes his prophecy without even knowing he is doing it. He murders his father and marries his mother unknowingly. While it may seem to some that Oedipus was destined to carry out his fate, it is also true that Oedipus’ personality led him to his fate.
Hubris is defined as excessive, personal pride. As Oedipus is about to learn the devastating truth of his origin and destiny, the chorus observes “Audacity sires the tyrant…” Creon accuses Oedipus of being irrational, and for allowing his pride to lead him into a journey that will affect his life forever. The greeks held reason to be the greatest gift of man, therefore a tyrant’s actions should be governed by reason. Hubris was not the essential cause of Oedipus downfall because of Oedipus’ prophecy, and Religious Incest. Hubris was not the essential cause of Oedipus downfall because of Oedipus’ prophecy.
Oedipus met the King Laius on a bridge and was too proud to let him pass
Since Oedipus had no knowledge of his birth parents, he cannot be accused of knowingly fulfilling the prophecy. He had no understanding of Laius as his birth father upon killing him. One might say that Oedipus is then guilty of murder regardless, but if he had killed in self defense, that cannot be true. Likewise, if Oedipus had no understanding of Jocasta as his birth mother, then he cannot be guilty of incest. Neither can he be guilty of defiling Laius’s marriage bed, as he did not know that Jocasta was the wife of the man he had murdered.
Sophocles intentionally gave certain flaws in character type to Oedipus—he intended a downfall. That was the purpose of all ancient Greek drama: it was meant as “a dramatic reminder of [their] own mortality”. Sophocles used his plays in order to force people to learn at other’s mistake. Oedipus is a perfect example. His tragic flaws, persistence and ignorance caused his inevitable doom
under our modern laws. It was every Greek's duty to harm his/her enemies, and as far as Oedipus knew, King Laius was an enemy. & nbsp; Queen Jocasta wasn't exactly guiltless, either. The great Queen had also. tried with King Laius to kill their son, and had no respect for the prophecies. of Apollo: "A prophet? Listen to me and learn some peace of mind: no skill in. the world, nothing human can penetrate the future. She was also the other half.
In Sophicle's Oedipus The King, Oedipus plays the lead character in the play. Oedipus plays blindfolded throughout the play. His character that he betrays is typical of those who honestly believe they have no part in the situation that occurs. I agree with Bernard Knox that Oedipus is responsible for the tragic outcome of the play. Oedipus's investigation of the death of King Laius is the reason for the tragic ending.
Oedipus is guilty because, despite knowing the prophecy that he will commit parricide and incest, he yet kills an elderly gentleman and sleeps with an elderly women. The choice was his, and this accounts for his guilt.
He says to have moved away from his origin birth home in order to deflect a prophecy he heard as a child. His actions of killing Laius or marrying Jocasta carry no motive, suggesting there is no desire for him to intentionally fulfill his destiny. Rather it is his escape from who he thinks are his parents, which cause him to commit the opposite intentions. This is evident as it says, "He unpinned and tore away the golden brooches from the robes which she was dressed in, raised them up and struck at his own eyeballs, yelling something like, 'You 'll not look on the disgraceful things I 've done or have had done to me. In darkness now you 'll look on those I ought not to have seen, and not know those I yearned to know". Immediate guilt and Jocasta 's death force Oedipus to punish himself for his crimes, showing his morality is still intact. Recognition of his acts makes him reverse his viewpoint, evoking pity. Additionally, the third omniscient narrative also helps the reader sympathize with his position as it states "He was a mighty king, he was the envy of everyone who say how lucky he 'd been. Now he 's struck a wave of terrible ruin. While you 're alive, you must keep looking to your final day, and don 't be happy till you pass life 's boundary without suffering grief." But his unwillingness to listen to even loyal men such as Creon who
For Oedipus, prophecy is not the main source of his fall towards society; rather, his hubris blinds himself from recognizing his personal sin in the world, thus leading to his demise. Sophocles even skillfully uses a metaphor through the words “ as led by a guide” to further explain the “supernatural being” that ultimately decides the tragic fate of the family of Oedipus. In addition, through the death of Jocasta, the reader is immediately attuned of Oedipus’ raging moment of violence and will be petrified by the overwhelming power of the gods, thus realizing the importance of being cautious before making a final choice. Indeed, after an individual settles on a decision, the gods take control of the person’s fate, hurling numerous consequences to him if he makes the wrong decision. Moreover, as Oedipus suddenly becomes the unintended victim of the gods through his sinful decision to execute Laius, he is forced to relinquish his predominate impetus for pridefulness in exchange for a heart of deep realization and forgiveness. At the end of the play, Oedipus sacrifices everything in order to remove his guilt through the consequences of his atrocious actions witnessed by the gods. After Oedipus realizes the astringent fate he was destined to encounter through his sinful murder of Laius, he immediately attempts to take responsibility for his
To destroy Oedipus, the gods granted the power of prophecy to oracles that delivered these prophecies to Laius and Jocasta. As a result, they kill their child to get rid of him and his terrible prophecies. Unfortunately, these prophecies came true because Oedipus didn’t know his real parents. If he had known his real parents, he wouldn’t have killed his father and married his mother.
Sophocles demonstrates in the play Oedipus the King that a human being, not a God, ultimately determines destiny. That is, people get what they deserve. In this play, one poorly-made judgment results in tragic and inescapable density. Oedipus fights and kills Laius without knowing Laius is his father. Then, Oedipus's pitiless murdering causes several subsequent tragedies such as the incestuous marriage of Oedipus gets into the flight with Laius. However, Oedipus's characteristics after Laius's death imply that Oedipus could avoid the fight as well as the murder of his father, but did not. Ultimately, Oedipus gets what he deserves due to his own characteristics that lead him to murder Laius: impatience, delusion, and arrogance.