Oedipus Rex Tragic

A detailed Summary of Oedipus Rex Tragic


Oedipus has a "tragic flaw" that leads to his demise, and efforts to attribute one to him to him seem forced . In his quest to uncover the truth and rid Thebes of the plague, he exhibits all the heroic qualities that made him the savior of Thebes during the Sphinx's reign of terror. Oedipus as a victim of a fate he could not control. He had enormous control over the events of his "destiny" through the numerous decisions he makes. He chooses to believe the oracle and leave Corinth. (The play is in fact a comment on the role of oracles and religion in the climate of the intellectual revolution going on in 5th century Athens.) He chooses to kill Laius. He chooses to marry Jocasta. He chooses to forcefully and very publicly assume the mission of discovering the identity of Laius' killer. He proceeds on this mission and chooses to ignore the warnings of Creon, Jocasta, the messenger, the shepherd, of anyone that attempts to stand between him and the truth. And he chooses to


May in this case the play seems to be sending through a universal message and that is not to tamper with predetermined destiny that the 'gods' set us. However in Oedipus' case it is his ARROGANCE!! That gets him into the mess. It a question at the time the play was written and it seems to be questioned now and that is there some kind of divine power or is our lives purely ruled by our selves? Do we control ours' destiny.

If the play seems, in part, to be saying that we cannotr avoid our destiny, it leaves unanswered the question of whether we deserve that destiny or not. Certainly Oedipus does not choose deliberately to kill his father and marry his mother, even though unknowingly everything he doesleads to this end. Then why does he deserve to suffer for his actions? There are two answers. First, the flaw in Oedipus' character (pride and stubbornness) in insisting on discovering who he is and the anger he shows in the process bring about the final disastrous revelatio

Some common words found in the essay are:
King Oedipus's, Thebes Sphinx's, Creon Jocasta, , Oedipus' ARROGANCE, fate play, Rex Play, kill father, tragic flaw,

Approximate Word count = 657
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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