Subjects:
hundred plays, but only seven of them have survived the
centuries in their entirety. Certainly the best known of his
surviving plays is "Oedipus Rex." The plot of the play
hinges on the element of irony. Irony can be defined as "a
combination of circumstances or a result that is the
opposite of what is or might be expected or considered
appropriate," (Guralnik, Webster's, 1968, p. 745). Irony is
one of the prevailing and defining characteristics of the
The first event that sets the whole tragic tale in
motion is when Laius, King of Thebes, is told by a prophet
that any child that is born to him and his queen, Jocasta,
will murder him. Therefore, when a child is born to him, he
pierces the baby's ankles with a spike, ties them together,
and has a servant leave the child on Mount Cithaeron to die
from exposure. This is ironic because if Laius had not
attempted to murder his own child, Oedipus would not have
been found and raised by strangers. He would have known
Jocasta was his mother. Ironically(and disgustingly, Oedipus
marries her and produces several children). Also, without
. . .
Sophocles(231-245)
It could be said that this intense interest in his
daughters indicates that Oedipus had a sexual attraction for
his children that completed the incested cycle of his
family. They are men, they will find some way to live.
Nevertheless, suspicions should never be ceased because of
the complexity of the poem.
Oedipus- ”As for my sons, you need not take care of
them. There is a deeper meaning to the play than
that of some weird sexual conspiracy. If this is true, another piece of irony is added to
the fire that overwhelmed Oedipus and led to his demise. The Irony seems to point him in this positive
direction even though he suffered hardships getting to the
enlightenment. According to Green, Frank states that "in the
persona of Jocasta, he 'rapes his own eyes with her
phalluses' " . This is going a bit overboard
There appears to be a lot of focus on the symbolism of
eyes and seeing.
Having unknowingly killed his father, Oedipus journeys
on and encounters the Sphinx. Throughout the play,
those who show exreme pride in their own intelligence or
ability are always brought down by the invisible hand of
god. But, here
again, a human is trying to avoid what is clearly
predestined.
Essay's Topics
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