Themes in Sophocles"s Oedipus the King.

             Sophocles"s Oedipus the King is a classic Greek tragic play. There are many themes in this play. They cover almost everything from fate and destiny to betrayal and incest. The main theme of the play is, as it is in most Greek literary works, that one cannot escape one"s fate. It is usually the method by which you try to escape that leads you directly to it. .

             The being of the play depicts a scene of somber and restless citizens waiting for the king to find a way to rid their fine city of plague, famine, and death. Oedipus listens to his "children" speak and does feel for them. He has already sent Creon to Apollo to plead for help from the gods. Creon arrives almost simultaneously as Oedipus states this. Creon arrives with news that "the gods command them to expel from the land of Thebes an old defilement they are sheltering. It is a deathly thing, beyond cure. They must not let it feed upon them longer"(1258). This defilement is referring to when Thebes"s former king was murdered, they must find the murderer and kill him at once. Oedipus declares this person or these people to be found and executed at once. However, first they must find the killer. The crime happened so long ago, that they wonder where they will find clues. Creon tells Oedipus that King Laios was killed by a band of highwaymen on his way to pilgrimage. !.

             The people of Thebes did not try to hunt the men, or man, down because the riddling Sphinx song was perplexing everyone in Thebes. So in turn the murders went unsolved. After this, Oedipus goes on to say that the man, or men, who committed this crime, will be cursed. Later in the story we find out that he is cursing himself. After inquiring into the matter, they come to find that there is one remaining witness. Oedipus summons for him immediately. In the mean-time Creon sends for the prophet Teiresias, a person they say that "is the holy priest In whom, alone of all men, truth was born"(1263).