Oedipus Rex Essay Examples and Research Papers

Sophocles’s, Oedipus Rex, is a story of fate. Oedipus, the new king of Thebes, set out his brother-in-law Creon to find the cause of a mysterious death of the old king, Laius. Creon reports back to Oedipus stating that once the murderer is brought to justice, Thebes can go back to normal and everyone can…

Oedipus Rex explores numerous themes, including Oedipus’ quest for identity, the nature of innocence and guilt, blindness and sight, and the abuse of power, however, the divisive question of whether humans enjoy free will or if they are victims of fate is the most powerful and fascinating theme discussed in the play. The author, Sophocles,…

Oedipus Rex, one of Sophocles’ seven remaining plays, is a perfect example of a tragedy. Tragedy, defined by Aristotle in his work the Poetics, “is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude”(Aristotle, sec. 1, part VI). What Aristotle meant in saying this is, tragedy is a representation of…

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something that the characters don’t. This adds suspense for the audience because they know what is going to happen to the character, but they can’t stop it. Dramatic irony is used in the play Oedipus Rex to give a greater dramatic effect. Specific instances of irony have effects…

Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy which tells the tale of King Oedipus, a man who sets out to find King Laius’ killer and ends up finding out more about who he is and what he has done. He finds that all along it was he who had killed King Laius, who turns out to…

In Sophocles “Oedipus Rex” and in the Homer ” The Odyssey”, the two main characters Odysseus and Oedipus both have similar traits like temperament, hastyness, and a reckless behavior. Both Odysseus and Oedipus are both arrogant, which lead them to their own demise. Odysseus and Oedipus’s emotions are what usually cause them to be hasty…

In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus the King, there are Oedipus continually tries to abscond his destiny, and in a bigger sense, edification. Only by trying to escape his fate does he realize that his efforts are futile. Likewise, in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, the prisoner struggles to comprehend his old life and assimilate with his…

Oedipus Rex, a play written by Sophocles, has a truly in depth meaning. Sophocles did not only write the play just for entertainment puposes, but there was a value lesson behind the story. The lesson, in which, shares its simliarties and differences to “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato. The understanding of the two…

The themes of sight and blindness in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles are definitely expressed many times throughout the entire play. The play by Sophocles expresses the themes of sight and blindness from two entirely different angles. One angle that it is shown/expressed in is physical blindness. This is for the reason of Teiresias being actually…

Oedipus Rex is regarded as a Greek tragedy par excellence presented by ancient Greek playwright, Sophocles. The background of the play involves the story of King Laius and Jocasta who were informed by the oracle that Laius will be murdered by his own, but instead of facing their destiny they tried to escape it. They…