Oedipus the king
The Riddle of the Stars Since the beginning of time there have been questions about fate and destiny. Man has always struggled with questions of predestination versus the impact of his own actions. In present times this debate continues and the modern man seems no closer to discovering the answer to this ageless riddle than did his ancestors. In times past, times when it was believed that the gods were heavily involved with the day to day life of man, this debate was most likely more perplexing and challenging. In Sophocles' Oedipus The King, these ideas of destiny and individual action place Oedipus in a paradox of contrasting views. Oedipus, King of Thebes, seems a kind and honest man. A fair ruler of his people, and a faithful believer in the gods, Oedipus reflects the essence of the nobility of the Greek people. When a plague falls upon Thebes, Oedipus is desperate to alleviate the suffering of his people. The King sends his brother in law to an oracle of Apollo so that the cause of the plague may be known. When Creon returns with news that the plague is caused by the god Apollo because the murder of King Laius has never been investigated and the murderer never punished Oedipus immediately
His honor and belief in the gods and his confidence in himself collide and the result is the destruction of a life that seemed worthy of reprieve. but to force the gods to act against their will- no man has the power. In his effort to discover the murderer of the previous King, Oedipus sends for Tiresias, a prophet of Apollo. In a fit of shame he gouges out his own eyes so that he may never see the results of his retched crimes. The fulfillment of the prophecy however, he sees as his own doing: I'd never have come to this, My father's murderer- never been branded Mother's husband, all men see me now! Now, Loathed by the gods, son of the mother I defiled Coupling in my father's bed, spawning lives in the loins That spawned my wretched life. When the blind prophet proclaims that Oedipus himself is responsible for the murder of King Laius, Oedipus is outraged and feels that there must be some conspiracy between Tiresias and Creon. Some questions should never be answered. Oedipus had no hope of success because the answer he saw was more than any man could bear. Oedipus also shows that he believes the actions of man are no match for the will of the gods: ". What grief can crown this grief? It's mine alone, my destiny- I am Oedipus. He fled his home land because he was told by Apollo that he would kill his father and marry his mother.
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