Oedipus Rex
In their effort to explain the ways, works and forces of nature, the ancient Greeks created the Gods. Whether they were concrete, abstract, or merely a creation of one's imagination, we will never know. It is known, however, that in life back then the Gods were everything. Their power was unquestionable. These omniscient, omnipotent beings controlled the fate of every man and woman whether it was in the aspect of life, death, love or war. The play Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles demonstrates the Greek belief of Gods in this very manner, but in particular, fate was represented as uncertain and unchangeable.The play Oedipus Rex is about a King of Thebes who unknowingly came to power by marrying his mother. At that time, plague and pestilence gripped the city of Thebes and its King, Oedipus was vigilant on finding the source, said to be an "unclean man polluting the soil". His vigilance led to his downfall, and his quest ended by him finding out that he killed his father and married his mother. The reader is told in the prologue that Oedipus was actually dest
However, his sudden downfall from hero to zero highlighted the uncertainty of any mortal's fate and the huge contrast that existed when a mortal is compared to a God. Thus, here the power of the Gods is emphasized. One of Oedipus Rex's themes is man vs the Gods/fate. The clash between Creon and Oedipus also in the first stasimon (lines 512-662) is therefore symbolic of the conflict between man and the Gods and further reinforces the theme. And it is because of this fact that Sophocles' demonstration of fate heavily applied to the audience. On the other hand, the Gods represented by Sophocles were merciless and at times even cruel. The amazing thing about what Sophocles has done is that he has demonstrated this theme by making all of the main characters (except for Creon) defy the Gods. Creon was called the "mouth of God" (line 85) by Oedipus, clearly showing Creon's affiliation with the Gods. It would've occurred to an audience back then that the Gods favoured Oedipus highly through his saving of the city from the Sphinx. In those times, fate was seen as uncertain. It is because Oedipus was victimized and punished for sins he wasn't aware of that I feel that the Gods have been represented as merciless. This uncertainty was mirrored through the sudden change in the Gods' favour for Oedipus. The event marked Oedipus as someone whose physical and mental traits closely resembled that of a God.
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Acceptance Essays
