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Oedipus Rex
More than 2,420 years old but still studied today, the play ‘Oedipus Rex’ tells a tragic tale of mistaken identities, inescapable fates, and horrific human misdeeds. Contributors typically compare and contrast the play’s characters, storytelling techniques, and subject matter with similar pieces of literature from the same and different settings and time periods.
3,240 Questions
The play "Oedipus Rex" explores the idea that while Oedipus is fated to fulfill a prophecy, he also plays a role in creating his own destiny through his choices and actions. Oedipus's tragic downfall is a result of a combination of his predetermined fate and his own decisions, highlighting the complex interplay between fate and free will.
No, Theban King Creon doesn't talk about the same types of gods and laws as does his niece Antigone. The King takes the perspective of an all-powerful ruler. He therefore relates to Zeus, the king of the gods. Despite and yet also perhaps because of his predilection for Zeus, the King thinks that he can enact and enforce his own manmade laws without reference to the higher moral authority of the gods, and without concern for the costs to his people. In contrast, Antigone takes the perspective of a living human being who will spend much more of her time in the world of the dead than in that of the living. She therefore relates to Pluto and Persephone, the rulers of the realm of the dead. Because of this respect for the underworld god and goddess, Antigone chooses obedience to god-given justice, morality, rites, rituals and traditions. She chooses disobedience to manmade laws that conflict with the god-given. Her concern is with the respectful treatment of the dead and with recognition of the pain and suffering of the loved ones whom the dead leave behind.
Antigone isn't a goddess even though she's the great great great great great granddaughter of Poseidon, sea god and brother to Zeus, king of the gods.
Oedipus' misfortune was that he killed his own father, and slept with his mother.
Are verbal abusers sometimes loners and mistaken for being shy?
Yes in most cases. But not in all cases.
How is oedipus a better leader than creon?
Oedipus demonstrates a stronger leadership style than Creon through his proactive approach to solving Thebes' crises and his deep commitment to the welfare of his people. He actively seeks answers to the plague afflicting the city, showing determination and accountability. In contrast, Creon tends to exhibit a more passive, authoritarian demeanor, prioritizing order and his own authority over empathetic engagement. Oedipus's willingness to confront difficult truths, even at great personal cost, underscores his dedication to his role as a leader.
Creon is guilty of hubris. Funeral rites are the laws of the gods, by denying one of his nephews a proper burial he is defying those laws.
The characters in Oedipus Rex may be thought of as representing different what?
Ethical positions; worldviews<---apex--->
Yes! He fails to take advice from the chorus and his son, Haemon.
Rebellious versus cowed are the terms that summarize the different ways in which Antigone and Ismene deal with perceived injustice in the play "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).
Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone and her sister Ismene learn that their brother Eteocles will have his god-given right to a proper Theban-style burial honored as a defender of Thebes in the recent civil war of royal succession. In contrast, their brother Polyneices will have that right denied as a traitor to Thebes. Ismene focuses on the fact that one brother will receive his proper due and that it is not her right to question the ways of the men who rule. In contrast, Antigone focuses on the discrimination against Polyneices and about what she can do to resist an unfair law that she considers illegal in contradicting divinely-expressed will and Theban traditions.
King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth raise subsequent Theban King Oedipus as their own son and heir.
Specifically, as a three-day-old infant, Oedipus is supposed to die by exposure to the wildlife and weather outside Thebes. This measure is intended to prevent him from growing and fulfilling his unenviable fate to kill his father and marry his mother. But the shepherd who is entrusted with the task instead gives Oedipus to a fellow shepherd from Corinth. The Corinthian shepherd returns home and hands Oedipus over to the childless Corinthian monarchs.
Where does Oedipus want to go once he leaves Thebes?
Oedipus wants to go to the place where his parents tied and dumped him off in the mountains. He wanted to die in that very place.
What does Oedipus do when he realizes that he has fulfilled the Oracle's prophecy?
Stabbing himself in the eyes with the brooches from Theban Queen Jocasta's robe is what Theban King Oedipus does when he realizes that he himself has seen to the fulfillment of the Oracle's dreadful prophecies. Specifically, his parents, Theban King Laius and Theban Queen Jocasta, are told that any son of theirs will grow up to kill his father and sovereign. Oedipus subsequently is told that he will marry his own mother.
Laius and Jocasta think that they prevent the prophecy that they receive by planning to have the three-day-old infant left to die on a hillside. The grown-up Oedipus thinks that he prevents the prophecy that he in turn receives by running away from what he thinks is home in Corinth, to what he thinks is a fresh start ... in Thebes. Everything that the family does to try to prevent such an unenviable fate only makes the prophecies more of a dreadful reality.
