The events in Oedipus' life were results of his own actions. Like most humans, Oedipus had his flaws; his anger and pride led him to do irrational things. Oedipus was blinded by his faults and he could not see the truth of the world. Instead he blamed all of his misfortunes on the gods. According to Oedipus, the gods liked to play with Mans' lives and all calamities are a result of their meddling.

The first time Oedipus appeared he made a proclamation to get rid of the afflictions plaguing Thebes. This proclamation stated that the murderer of King Laios could state his confession and then leave Thebes without harm. Oedipus also said that culprit would be forced into exile from the city. Furthermore, anyone concealing the murderer is no worse than the murderer himself. Oedipus cursed the felon to live in a life of wretchedness. To seem more righteous, Oedipus adds, "And as for me, this curse applies no less if it should turn out that the culprit is my guest here, sharing my hearth." By these five declarations, Oedipus unknowingly caused himself to become an exile and to live a life full of suffering.

The proclamation illustrated Oedipus' ignorance of his past. He thought that Poly

Time and again different characters told him that his anger would bring him down. Both his mother and Teiresias warned his about this flaw; this just made him more mad and more set in his ways. How dared anyone try to tell him something is was wrong with the Almighty King! He was right and no one could tell him otherwise. This also leads into his pride, another weakness.

bos, the King of Corinth, had raised him. He left home and arrived in Thebes, defeated the Sphinx, and was rewarded by marrying Iocaste, the widow of King Laios. Later it was revealed to Oedipus that Iocaste was both his wife and mother. To add to the bad news, a man he had killed along the side of the road many years ago was in fact Laios, his own father.

Oedipus also condemned himself to a life of misery. By cursing the evildoer to a wretched life, Oedipus doomed himself. This causes Oedipus to learn the truth about his past. Iocaste, was filled with horror and grief and hung herself with a rope. Upon the sight of his poor wife/ mother swinging by the rope, Oedipus ripped the two broaches off of her dress. He plunged them into his eyes over and over again and shrieked, "No more, no more shall you look on the misery about me, the horrors of my own doing...From this hour, go in darkness!" He went through the rest of his life blind and always thought back upon the horrors that had occurred to him. Few of the people Oedipus had met along his exile helped him. His life was filled with hunger and fatigue.

The Oedipus Cycle is a great collection of plays with morals that you will never want to bury under your shelf. Sophocles saw all of the sins that were common during his lifetime and preached against them in a series of plays. He was smart enough to know that if you lectured agains

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1189
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)