Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King

Introduction

Oedipus the King by Sophocles pertains to a tragic drama because it describes the suffering of the protagonist due to the misfortune of which he has no control. Despite this fate seeming as self-inflicted, this play reflects Oedipus the king as a prominent king torn by the destiny and fate of the gods. The ancient Greek world lacked the understanding of many issues, and used these gods to give reasons why things happened with mythologies portrayed by three goddesses responsible for human life, the Destinies. The goddesses' responsibilities in controlling human lives are reflected well in this play. Fate is clear and proves to the Greeks that no matter how hard the humankind struggles to change a fate, it is already predestined. Thus, this tragedy deals with hurting and anguish triggered by human disobeying divine will. This essay seeks to prove that this play is the perfect model of such tragedies because it reflects unavoidability of a person's destiny, and hero's powerlessness over the course of events.

This begins with the King of Thebes, Laius receiving news from the prophet that his own son would murder him. This saw Laius pierce the child's ankle, and ordering the servant to leave him in the wounds to die, and later, the boy now named Oedipus meaning "swollen feet" had the King and Queen of Corinth raise him although later he would learn of his background and disappear from the region. He encountered Lauis with four other men and killed them all. Later he met the Sphinx who asked him some riddles, and when Oedipus answered them, Sphinx killed himself making Oedipus a hero and king.

However, plague hit the region and in an attempt to stop it, Oedipus consulted a prophet who assured him that the plague would only end if the people of Thebes drove out Laius murderer who was within the city. This prophet angered Oedipus when he claimed that this king polluted the city. Unfortunately Oedipus unknowingly married his own mother Jacosta,who was Laius wife. During this time Jacosta to Oedipus that the prophet prophesied earlier that Laius would be killed by his own son, a prophecy everyone doubted since the society knew that the highway robbers killed Laius. Oedipus recalled his experience when he killed some men. In addition, he learnt on how a shepherd handed a small boy to a messenger who gave it to the king of Corinths, and this is when he understood that he did not only kill his own father, but also married his own mother. On learning this, Jacosta committed suicide, while Oedipus blinded himself by piercing his eyes.

Oedipus is a man full of self-respect, overconfidence, and self-belief, but this does not stop his tragedies. He knew of his intelligence, that is why he challenged Sphinx when he answered the riddles, and his success made him a king and husband to the queen. He decided to investigate the murder of Laius showing self-confidence and pride in order to safe his people. When he heard that the king of Corinths died not from his own hands, Oedipus celebrated thinking that the prophecy was wrong. However, the celebration did not last since he learnt later that he was the son of Laius whom he killed with his own words meaning that the prophecy had happened.

His pride, intellect and overconfidence led to his downfall because now he seemed to have lost everything including sight, wealth, wife, and children. This meant that no matter what he did, he would not escape destiny because the eventual end of not only the conditions within but also beyond his control conspired resulting to fulfillment of what prophesied before his birth. A person may argue that if Oedipus pride and self-confidence did not force him to investigate the truth, he would still own his wealth, wife, sight, and children. In addition, it seems that this king inflicted his own tragedies. He happened to trigger the events that happened in his life. However, Oedipus may be innocent considering that he did not choose to be taken