Oedipus the King

Throughout history there have been many great tragedies written. To better understand a tragedy one must first know the rules of a tragedy. In every story or play there must be a noble hero, who inturn has a tragic flaw. The time period of most tragedies is within a twenty-four hour period and teaches an important lesson. Something bad, that causes chaos, happens to the hero to change the route of the story. The entire tragedy goes from order to chaos or a reversal of fortune takes place. This is known as peripateia. Oedipus the King follows all of these rules. Everything from the hero to the important lesson learned is in this tragedy written by Sophocles in 425 B.C.

Oedipus the King takes place within a twenty-four hour period like most tragedies. The history line of the story is much longer but the actual events happen in one day. There is no concrete evidence of this, but by reading and looking for small clues one can tell. For example the phrase the next day or that morning or anything of that nature is never mentioned in the play. So one must take it as all of this happened in a short amount of time.

In the tragedy Oedipus the King, the noble hero is Oedipus. He fits the qualities that a tragic hero must

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When the story goes to chaos is when Oedipus starts to believe that he was responsible for his father’s death and starts to investigate it further. You mu!

rderer! You plotted to kill me, plotted to steal my throne?” “You advised me to send for that wizard, did you not?” Since Teiresias has accused Oedipus of bringing the curse to Thebes, Oedipus is outraged and without hesitation accuses Creon of setting the whole thing up to take his throne. When Oedipus finds out for himself the prediction of his life, he tries to prevent it himself by leaving what he thought to be his home country. Oedipus’s hamartia, tragic flaw, is his outrageous and quick temper. The story line and plot are so dramatic that the reader gets caught up in the action. “Your infantile riddles! Your damned abracadabra!” Because Oedipus does not understand or like what the prophet has told him, he attacks his knowledge. This is where the play takes a dramatic turn from organized to!

chaos. Why? How brazen of you to come to my house. “Am I to bear this from him? – Damnation take you! Out of this place! Out of my sight!” He once again shouted anger toward Teiresias after being told about his father in an indirect way.

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The peripateia that occurs is the fact that everything the Oracle in the story predicted came true. He feels loneliness and hatred for himself. A person who goes through life believing he or she can alter their future is sure to be disappointed.

Approximate Word count = 870
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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