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Oedipus The King

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Oedipus The King
11/2/10

Oedipus "Book Report"
Title: Oedipus The King
Author and Date: Sophocles
Main Characters * Oedipus- Oedipus is the son of Laius and Jocasta. He is the husband of Jocasta, his mother. Oedipus is the well liked king of Thebes. He is smart, acts fast, and has many great achievements. One of those achievements is the solving of the sphinx’s riddle that liberated the people of Thebes. Throughout the play Oedipus acts fast when his kingdom is sick, when he is attempting to put the blame on the death of Laius, and when he is trying to find the truth of his destiny. * Creon- Creon is a somewhat a politician in Thebes and is Oedipus’ adviser. In the play, Creon is a business man that tries to deal with Oedipus in a more professional …show more content…
The citizens of Thebes come to Oedipus to beg him to relieve them from this plague. Oedipus had already sent Creon, brother-in-law and another ruler of Thebes, to the Oracle to find answers. The answer is that they must find and banish the murderer of the former king of Thebes Laius. Oedipus asked the advice of the blind prophet Tiresias about who is the murdered. At first he does not want to tell Oedipus. After a few insults and accusations, he finally tells him that he is the murderer. Oedipus then becomes paranoid and orders Creon to be banished. Jocasta, Oedipus’ mother/wife and sister of Creon, begs him not to. After much more teasing of not knowing his own parents, Oedipus then asks for the truth about his parent. After several more observations and questioning, Oedipus and Jocosta find out that the tragic fate of Oedipus was always impossible to hide from. Jocasta then kills herself while Oedipus blinds …show more content…
The swollen foot of Oedipus. Oedipus got this swollen foot because his ankles were pinned together and then he was left in the mountains. After he was released he had to live with a limp for the rest of his life that symbolizes the marking that fate left on him so it would be fulfilled. The restraints symbolizes that Oedipus had limited ways of living his life because of Apollo’s prophecy. 2. The Three way crossroad is where Oedipus killed Laius, his father without realizing it. This has a deep symbolization of decision making, free will, and fate. This symbol shows that no matter what road Oedipus choose, it would always lead him to the same fate.
Two Or Three Sentences On Style The style of Oedipus the King is a tragic drama style that increases the readers desire to find the answers at the end of the story. This tragedy also helps put emphasis the themes of the play.
One Or Two Sentences On Dominate Themes/Issues/Philosophy The dominate theme in Oedipus the King is fate versus free will. The free will that Oedipus thought he had when he ran away turned out to go in favor of his fate, which shows that fate is the ultimate end.
Four Short Quotations Typical Of The
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