Oedipus Rex

Yes, the play "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.) indicates that fate, not choice controls life.

Specifically, Antigone chooses to disobey a human law and honor a divine law. Either way, she will be punished for disrespect: through a death sentence in this world by breaking the human law or through consequences in the afterlife for all time by breaking the divine law. In reaching her decision, Antigone brings up the divine curse that directs and ruins the lives of all her ancestors and of her and her siblings.

It is from the Theban shepherd's eyewitness testimonythat Oedipus learns about his true identity in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Theban shepherd is present at every critical moment in the lives of Theban monarchs Jocasta, Laius and Oedipus. He rescues the infant Oedipus from his parents' assassination attempt and transfer him to the Corinthian royal household. He sees Oedipus kill Laius and then marry Jocasta. He finally and reluctantly tells all.

Yes, Oedipus is separated from his children in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, disgraced Theban King Oedipus asks to meet with his young daughters, the sister Princesses Antigone and Ismene. He does not ask to meet with his sons, the twin brother Princes Eteocles and Polyneices. He is supposed to be placed under house arrest pending divine indication of whether he is to be executed or exiled. His brother-in-law and royal successor, King Creon, therefore separates father from daughters immediately after the meeting is over.

Doing "...many things against my will..." is a quotation that shows how Creon in Oedipus' foil in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Creon declares that he does not want to rule alone as sovereign of all Thebes. He favors the joint power sharing arrangement whereby he gets what he desires without having to work for it. He insists that as sole king he must do what he dislikes, most likely more often than what he likes.

Creon therefore may be seen as King Oedipus' opposite or foil. In contrast to Creon, Oedipus prefers to lead. He seems to have no problems with being the most visible authority figure in all Thebes.

That he give her a proper burial is what Oedipus asks of Creon regarding Jocasta in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta hangs herself once she realizes that King Oedipus is not only her second husband but also her son and therefore both father and half-brother to their four children. Her body as that of one become abhorrent to the gods and to mortals is left on the bedroom floor where Oedipus puts her in order to remove her golden brooches with which to blind himself. In a chilling foreshadowing to the burial/non-burial controversy in "Antigone," Oedipus trusts that Creon, his royal successor and Jocasta's brother, will honor her divinely guaranteed right as a Theban to proper below-ground burial and funeral rites.

That Polybus is dead is the news that the Messenger brings from Oedipus' homeland and that the death is from natural causes is the reason why Jocasta is relived in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus fears his fate as his father's killer. But the Corinthian messenger lets Oedipus' wife Queen Jocasta know that Oedipus' presumed father, King Polybus, is dead from illness and old age. Jocasta welcomes the news since Oedipus is far away in Thebes and therefore cannot be said to bring about his father's death in Corinth.

That he knows his true identity is a reason why Oedipus is a better man at the end of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus fights all of his life against the realization of his fate as his father's killer and his mother's husband. He ultimately finds out that all his choices are made from the starting point of a flawed perspective. He knows who he is, what he is up against and what his options are.

That he is brave, compassionate, responsible and righteous are ways in which Oedipus is an admirable character in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus demonstrates bravery in his encounter with the monstrous Sphinx. He exhibits compassion in his interactions with his citizens and with his daughters. He expresses responsibility in his persistence in investigating Laius' murder even when he becomes a prime suspect. He manifests righteousness in his struggles against a horrifying fate.

Jocasta, Laius and Oedipus are examples of reversals in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta experiences reversal when she realizes that her husband is her son and hangs herself. Laius faces reversal when he loses his life by starting a senseless fight over right of way in the Delphi-Daulia intersection. Oedipus undergoes reversal when he realizes that his wife is his mother and he loses his wife, sight, job and home in quick succession.

Comments and conversations in the episodes and songs in the odes is the structure of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the play begins with an introductory episode to acquaint the audience with the characters and the themes. The prologue is followed by the parados, which is the first ode sung as chorus members make their first onstage appearance. The parados is followed by an alternating arrangement of episodes and odes. The fourth ode is followed by the exodus, which is the fifth and final scene.

That he must find and punish a killer who may turn out to be himself is the crisis of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, a crisis is a point at which a critical decision on the order of life and death must be made. The crisis is foreshadowed when Theban King Oedipus promises that he will make or break himself in tracking down King Laius' killer. It occurs when Oedipus keeps realizing more and more that he may be the suspect.

Examples of foreshadowing and of irony relate Oedipus' "hamartia" and Creon's description of him as not known for idle words in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, "hamartia" may refer to an error in judgment. Theban King Oedipus says that he will make sure that execution or exile is the fate of Laius' killer even if the guilty person is found to be a member of the royal household. Creon knows that Oedipus, his brother-in-law and royal colleague, says what he means and means what he says. Ironically, the killer is found to be a royal, and the punishment will be carried out, but in an unexpected quarter.

The Theban shepherd gives the baby Oedipus to Polybus' messenger in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Theban shepherd is Theban Queen Jocasta's most trusted servant. She hands her three-day-old son, Oedipus, over to the shepherd to kill and thereby prevent Oedipus from growing up to his prophesied fate of killing his father. The shepherd then gives Oedipus to a Corinthian shepherd who fosters the infant into the childless Corinthian royal house and who later becomes Corinthian King Polybus' messenger.

If he has no intent or previous knowledge then Oedipus is clear of guilt in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus commits five criminal acts right in a row when he kills Laius and four of the king's five member escort party. He commits the first murder in self-defense. He most likely commits the next four murders in self-defense since he is outnumbered. He then goes on to commit incest with Laius' widowed queen since Jocasta is his mother. But Oedipus has no idea of the incest since he believes his foster parents, Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope, to be his biological parents.