Essays on Oedipus

In literature, blindness serves a general significant meaning of the absence of knowledge and insight. It serves this same purpose in Sophocles’ classic tragedy, Oedipus Rex. In this piece, blindness manifests itself in three ways: intellectual blindness, which is the refusal or inability to accept knowledge; physical blindness, which is being without the physical sense…

Greek tragedies were often seen as the foundation to literature not only for the Greeks but also on a universal scale as well. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex was one of the more infamous tales because of its provocative and unorthodox nature. The tragedy features a man on a quest to prevent the events of his prophesized…

An analysis of dramatic elements in Oedipus the King and Hamlet Aristotle has written numerous treatises about a variety of topics, one of which is his treatise on Poetics.  In this treatise he discusses poetry and the construction of epics, but the treatise focuses heavily on the creation and the definition of a tragedy, especially…

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DOWNFALL OF OEDIPUS, IS IT FATE OR FREE WILL? In Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus is responsible for the tragedy of his downfall. Oedipus is presented with a series of choices throughout the play, and his arrogant and stubborn nature push him to impulsively make the wrong decisions, the…

In Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex, first performed sometime in the 430s B. C. E, the scene opens in front of the palace of Oedipus, King of Thebes. As Oedipus enters, he finds many children and priests praying to the gods. Oedipus questions the oldest of the priests as to why they are praying. The priest…

At one time in our lives there is a moment that we may think of ourselves as better than someone or something else. There may also be a point when making a decision leads to a great error in judgment. In the play Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, both of these characteristics can be seen…

There are many legendary heroic poem narratives have been passed on from coevals to coevals in the Grecian civilization. Even though each narrative has different results. every heroic poem character has certain characteristics in common. Odysseus in The Odyssesy and Oedipus in Oedipus the King are great illustrations of heroic poem heroes with a assortment…

In literature, tragedy is usually expressed as an extremely cataclysmic event that causes the protagonist to fall into despair. According to Arthur Miller in his academic essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man”, tragedy is a factor in life that can happen to everyone from the common man to kings and queens. Miller’s representation of tragedy…

D.T. Suzuki, a renowned expert on Zen Buddhism, called attention to thetopic of free will in one of his lectures by stating that it was the battle of”God versus Man, Man versus God, God versus Nature, Nature versus God, Manversus Nature, Nature versus Man1.” These six battles constitute an ultimatelygreater battle: the battle of free…

Analysis of the Protagonist in Oedipus Rex             Though there has been much debate over who is actually the protagonist in Sophocles’ tragic play Oedipus Rex, the general consensus among scholars is that Oedipus himself stars as the protagonist in this play as a part of his role as the tragic hero.  “Rather than configuring…