Greek Literature
Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, angered Apollo by killing the God's favorite snake. As punishment, the descendants of Cadmus lived under a curse prophesized to each generation by Apollo's oracle. According to the prophecy, if Laius, king of Thebes, had a son by Jocasta, his queen, that son would kill his father and marry his mother. In response to this prophecy, Laius had a rivet driven between his infant son, Oedipus' ankles, and instructed a household servant to leave him on Mt. Citheron to die from exposure to the elements. Instead, the servant pitied the infant, and without revealing his identity, gave him to a Shepard. In turn, the Shepard gave Oedipus, to Merope, the wife of Polybus, king of Corinth. They named him Oedipus, which means "swollen foot," for the wounds in his feet.As a young man, Oedipus was taunted for not being the true son of Polybus. Deeply troubled, Oedipus consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi about the accusation. But before he could ask this question, the priestess, Pythia, drove him away from Apollo's shrine, declaring that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Horrified, Oedipus fled Corinth, the home of his supposed parents, in attemp
Oedipus asks Creon who this man is, and He says that it is the murderer of Laius, who was king before Oedipus came along. Oedipus questions how he may do this, and Creon replies that he should banish the murderer, who is killing the city. The Thebans had no time to seek the murderer. The irony in it is that the blind Teiresias saw more than Seer Oedipus did, so Oedipus blinded himself. The Delphic Oracle:The oracle of Apollo at Delphi, which the Greeks call the navel, or the center of the world, was where the Greeks and foreigners alike traveled form all over the Mediterranean to eek the advice of the god who knew all things and who always spoke the truth. The priest asks Oedipus to find strength to rescue the city of Thebes. Creon tells the citizens that Oedipus has accused him to be the killer. Creon's priority was to find someone who could save Thebes from the Sphinx by solving her riddle. Not far from Delphi, Oedipus met a man in a chariot whose charioteer demanded that Oedipus move aside. Teiresias comes, and gives Oedipus a speech because Oedipus taunts him for being blind. This play deals with the conflict of a fall of a hero. Oedipus makes a speech and asks if any man knows the murderer, and that he will have no punishment, but will help to save the city of Thebes. Finally, after Teiresias and Oedipus fight, and Teiresias says that the murderer is here, and that soon, he'll have blindness for sight, be proven both brother and father to his children, and to his wife both son and husband. Oedipus opened an investigation, and the play begins. Jocasta asks her husband to spare the life of her brother.
Common topics in this essay:
Background Cadmus,
Delphi Greeks,
Jocasta Laius',
Thebes Oedipus,
Teiresias Oedipus,
Dramatic Irony,
Delphi Oedipus,
Eventually Oedipus,
Isthmus Oedipus',
Apollo Teiresias,
oedipus king,
tells oedipus,
dramatic irony,
murderer laius,
save city,
jocasta tells oedipus,
city affect,
polybus died,
jocasta tells,
marry mother,
oedipus kill,
city thebes oedipus,
king laius killed,
oracle apollo delphi,
father marry mother,
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Acceptance Essays
