This play of Oedipus the King was an interesting play to read. It showed the King’s character development in many ways. The King was soaring high. The timeless experience that stood out to me of how he was this loved King who had it all. The citizen’s admiration, a family. He found out that he killed his father and married to his mother. His whole behavior changed, and everything came crumbling down. Tragically, this ripple effect caused his mother to hang herself. It is tough when you’re in a situation like that and sometimes you feel like you’re not able to get yourself out of this hole you’ve dug yourself in. The mother couldn’t face the fact that this has come to light, and she found this as her only way out. I think that it showed that no matter how high you are, there is no such thing as perfection.
Daily Archives: October 7, 2022
There are many Timeless human experiences or behaviors you would find In the second half of Odepius The King Sophocles, one of those being facing the death of a loved one everyone have experienced this for centuries and is bound to at some point in their lives and will react differently to it depending on the person. Oedipus reaction was strucking his eyes when he saw his wife/mother after she committed suicide by hanging herself after that he then wanted to isolate himself in the mountains until he dies. Another Timeless human experience is parents mistakes befalling onto their children like how oedipus killed both of his parents and now his children have to live with being inbred and the children of a murderer “1685 your father killed his father and sowed the seed where he had sprung himself and begot you out of the womb that held him these insults you will hear. Then who will marry you? No one, my children; clearly you are doomed 1690 to waste away in barrenness unmarried.”
What timeless human experiences or behaviors do you find in your reading of Oedipus the King? We all agree that Oedipus’ most admirable traits are his determination, commitment to truth and justice, and his desire to be a good king to Thebes’ people. When he hears that the devastating plague Thebes is a result of Laius’ murder being unpunished, Oedipus stops at nothing to discover the truth about Laius’ murder. He seeks to enforce justice for the murder of Laius. Despite being warned by the blind prophet Tiresias that Oedipus will be upset by the true identity of Laius’ murderer, Oedipus still stays committed to his search for the truth. We can definitely say that Oedipus’ determined search for the truth on behalf of his people ultimately leads to his downfall and tragic end. Even when Oedipus discovers the horrifying truth that he is, in fact, the perpetrator of the crime, he does not deny it or attempt to hide the truth. Instead, he acts as a great and loyal king to the people of Thebes because he sacrifices himself for the higher cause of his people’s wellbeing. he is strong and determined in his search for the truth at any cost, he bravely faces and accepts his guilt.
While reading Oedipus the King there are mentions of timeless human experiences and behaviors. One of those would be the societal fear of killing their father and marrying their mom. Most people in society would think that it would be one of their greatest fears for that to happen. In all cultures, there’s an incest taboo that this story would relate to in the real world. Another behavior that is mentioned in the passage is that we would not have control of our own lives rather a more significant and greater force is making these things happen. The fear that we do not control our own lives is something that most people would be afraid of. I myself think that if I didn’t have control over my own life what’s the point in doing anything if it’s all predetermined and you wouldn’t be able to choose for yourself. There are other behaviors that are exhibited in the passage but these are the ones that I have seen.
While reading about Oedipus Rex whose importance is capital for Western civilization. In addition to being a masterpiece from the theatrical point of view, I understood that Jocasta also influences as a protagonist of this reading since she is his mother. His experience or his timeless human behavior gave me a lot of intrigue as I read because he talks about where we come from and that makes me think of a family tree; although his wife asked him not to continue with the same investigation. Reading about the couple that the mother commits suicide when the marriage comes to light and suicide is generally associated with an individual act, with a very clear purpose despite the fact that there are ways to prevent it, it is usually difficult because perhaps not everyone has support powerful enough to prevent it. Oedipus orders an investigation and urges the people to hand over the culprit.
In the play Oedipus showed many emotions but the one that stood out to me was his curiosity and strong will to find out the truth about his birth even if he knew it might end up badly. In the play his wife Jocasta tries to stop him from going any further to seek the truth after he learns that he was adopted by Polybus. She says things like, “O be persuaded by me, I entreat you; do not do this” at this point she probably already knew the truth and didn’t want Oedipus to find out since it was such a bad thing. Oedipus however was too curious and fixated on the truth of the matter that he disregarded Jocasta’s care and in the end she was resigned to telling him that he was, “…unhappy Oedipus…”. He wasn’t satisfied with what he already had/knew and ended up destroying his family for it.
When the play opens, Oedipus and the Priest are speaking about the sickness that is plaguing the city “The town is heavy with a mingled burden of sounds and smells, of groans and hymns and incense…” (Lines 3,4 spoken by Oedipus), a Blight is on the fruitful plants of the earth, a blight is on the cattle in the fields, a blight is on our women that no children are born to them; a God that carries fire, a deadly pestilence, is on our town (lines 26-30 spoken by the priest). Sickness is a timeless human experience to varying degrees from individual influenza to the l typhoid fever outbreak of NYC in 1906 lest we forget our own recent pandemic outbreak of 2020 from the year of 541 to present day humans have always experienced some sort of plague/epidemic or mass sickness. Another experience is death and murder. Murder is the oldest crime in history, and we’ve all been exposed to it either via firsthand experience or secondary through media such as news. Death takes many forms including suicide (which has a yearly average of 800,000 deaths documented globally). Death is the only constant in life. In the play Oedipus Rex kills King Laius, Oedipus’s Wife/Mother dies by her own hand after she learns of the incestuous relationship she had with her son.
After reading the rest of the story I got a better insight and understanding of the king’s personality. He as an individual was just a human being made out of flesh and mortal and with many flaws of his own. While he might not be the wisest king, but one of his biggest flaws is that he was so conceited. His arrogance was ironically blinding for him and I think it’s one of the timeless problems for the humanity. Both his and queen’s reactions that followed after they learned the truth illustrated how emotionally undeveloped they are. Additionally their decisions also highlight a universal issue of being selfish, because no matter of how hard the situation or the circumstances sometimes might be, one should be capable of caring of how their actions going to affect others. Jocasta takes her own life without giving a thought about her children and not taking the responsibility to stay and help them cope with the aftermath of their mistakes.
Oedipus the king has many emotions and behaviors, one that stood out to me was when Creon was worried that the King accused him of a serious scandal that tarnished his character. He goes on to say that he can’t live with the burden which sounds like a guilty conscience in the moment. Creon goes on demanding evidence for what he is being accused of. The reaction by Creon made me feel connected to the drama that unfolded. It is normal human behavior to feel offended and request for evidence for such serious claims. I admired that there was so much wisdom and emotional intelligence when Creon asked the King to Reflect on the situation. Creon’s character radiates strength which I admire a lot. The self-awareness that he acquires within shows his maturity and discipline as a person with great integrity.
