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Aristotle has written that “poetry is a higher form than history.” He qualifies that history is the story of a particular event that happens at a particular time to a particular person or group, while literature is the story of what is universal in the human experience.
What timeless human experiences or behaviors do you find in your reading of Oedipus the King?
Please address comments to others by name so we can all follow along.
71 thoughts on “Week 7 Discussion”
In my reading of “Oedipus the King” I found that running away from one’s problems was a timeless and common behavior. Sometimes when the going gets tough we run, we run as far away from our issues as possible because we are afraid to face them. When “Oedipus” learned about his prophecy he couldn’t help feeling the absolute shock of it, why would anyone try to process such harsh and inevitable words when they can just run and start over. We must give him the benefit of the doubt because these were unique circumstances, and he had no way of escaping them even when he ran. Obliviousness is another timeless behavior displayed in the reading. When all the secrets were being told no one was beginning to look at the bigger picture and notice what was happening. For example, “Oedipus” wasn’t realizing that “king Laius” was his father and that “Jocasta” is his mother, and they gave up a baby years ago and made their servant get rid of it, only to have that baby return to them unknowingly. “Oedipus” isn’t realizing that he in fact killed his father and laid with his mother, which only makes him, and everyone involved in the situation oblivious.
Hi Giovanni Wright,
I liked how you focused on specific elements in your analysis. You finished your comment by writing, “those characters were not aware in this situation”(10). At least not until all the facts were laid out. It is contradictory, is it not? They all knew what they had done in the past. Jocasta knew she had another baby, and this baby would bring their doom. In the same way that Oedipus knew from the day he killed Laius and his servants that he had blood on his hands.
Hey, Giovanni definitely right,
Your way of analyzing the Oedipus Rex is superb. You narrated very amazingly about Oedipus and Jocasta who became victim of timeless behaviors. As it was predicated by Oracles Oedipus will kill his father and have incest with his mother. But in his obliviousness he married to a woman that is very equal to his mother’s age and killed a person while ignoring prophecy. So you well defined that obliviousness is timeless behavior for experiences of humans.
Hey Giovanni,
I agree with your analysis of the reading ” Oedipus the King” because it is realistic. You cite a great example from the reading to back up your point that people running from one’s problems is a common behavior. You rightly say Oedipus and Jocasta are victims of making timeless behaviors.
Alexsander, I am so glad to see you responding to a colleague, but it isn’t enough just to repeat what someone else has said and agree with it. (This goes for everyone). You need to enlarge the conversation in some way.
I particularly enjoy this reading very much. Not only for it to be a classical tragedy but also for the intense plot. What could be more timeless than human feelings? After all, this is what has made “Oedipus the King” an interesting play since 430 B.C.
Sorrow, sadness, fear, and love. Those are some examples of feelings the main character, Oedipus, experienced during the play. They are timeless because we, as human beings, experience all those emotions at least once in our lifetime. And based on artistic artifacts found throughout human history, such as pottery or paintings, we can conclude that portraying feelings and emotions was always an activity.
Think for a moment about a large vase painted with a scene from a battle in orange over a dark background, characteristic of the ancient Greek kingdom. That vase would be representing a historical battle and the accomplishment of those soldiers. Additionally represents feelings, such as proudness and perhaps sorrow for those soldiers lost in combat. No matter how much time passes, humans will continue to represent feelings because they are timeless.
Hi Deanne,
We are just a ball of emotions. Trying to get through the human experience in one piece. Oedipus experienced the lowest of the lows. And was not able to cope with his decisions effectively. His role as king left a big impact on the people of Thebes. To realize the truth of your existence, especially his introduction to the world, was just too much to process. And made the difficult decision of ending his life.
Hey Deanne,
That’s right, this classic tragedy contains many inherited experiences and behaviors, which is our learning book. Emotions are owned by everyone. You use examples perfectly to explain the emotions you want to express. Those cultural relics have already engraved the emotions in the history of the time, no matter how long they will be passed on and become eternal.
Deanne, I completely agree with you and think us as human beings with emotions can sometimes be a piece of work. We go through our troubles and we have our award winning moments. Oedipus goes through a lot of tribulations that causes him to make decisions that are not rationalized through others. He’s a king but he makes poor decisions. He desires, he’s selfish, he has lack of accountability, and has a big pride wall standing before him all of those behavioral acts leads up to his human experience of not knowing what to do and how to do it. You though made an perfect example on how you explained the emotions that are built up inside of the character.
Hi Deanne, I love your take on these timeless behaviors. I think sorrow, sadness and fear are the main emotion humans one could feel in such an awkward situation. I for one think that love isn’t, and I shouldn’t be an emotion that I feel comfortable using lightly in this context because of screwed up it was. Jocasta loved her husband but married and slept with her son who killed him. Did Jocasta marry Oedipus because of love or lust?
Hi Deane
It’s true this story contains many emotions and behaviors. The emotions belong to everyone and all experience the same emotions in different situations. Also the examples used connect super well with what you want to say; I personally love the example of an orange bottle on a dark background can represent feelings such as proudness.
Oedipus is a man of great pride. But his encounters with people end with anger. And he was unable to see the error of his ways. A timeless habit for him and others is getting in the way of your own life. Being your own worst enemy. Unfortunately, not all leaders are meant to lead. Frustration from the civilians of Thebes is similar to disagreements of political views today. A king’s job is to ground the people and work toward equality.
We all have flaws, including world leaders. Was Oedipus’s flaws worth overcoming? Would his life had ended differently if he had changed? Everyone makes mistakes, but it’s what you do with the mistake that matters. Oedipus’s self mechanism was to attack, be heard, be seen. Amongst all the chaos of Thebes, he was unable to value the opinion of others, ask for help, and accept the help. And to literally blind himself from the truth.
Hi Ilana,
I like the questions that you asked in your comment and by my reading of Sophocles narrated that some human experiences and behaviors create ever-lasting impression to others. The character of Oedipus and Jocasta is an experience of timeless behaviors because oracles warned Oedipus that he would kill his father and incest with his mother. In spite of this severe warning he killed a person who is equal to his father’s age. On the other side he married to a woman that is equal to his mother’s age. So this is common error of human beings that they make some catastrophe that lead them toward the downfall and degradation. Fate and free-will is timeless human experiences that plays an important part in Oedipus Rex and in universal behaviors.
Ilana, what could be more true than your observation about Oedipus and how he “gets in the way” of his own life. I also appreciate your connection between Oedipus and world leaders of today. Pride and arrogance are the hallmarks of a tyrant, as the Chorus expresses in the play. I can think of several American politicians (and one in particular) who suggest some of the king’s worst traits.
Hey, Illana, I wanted to add on to your comment about pride as it of great importance to me.
Pride figures prominently in many Greek tragedies and is related to the Greek idea of hubris: a person’s disregarding of the limits preordained by the Gods. By attempting to escape the prophecy, Oedipus ends up fulfilling it. In doing so, Oedipus becomes guilty of hubris as tries to overcome his human limitations and rescind the prophecy. His pride lies in his conviction that he can defy the oracle and change the course of fate. Like her husband, Jocasta is guilty of pride and hubris in her attempt to alter or deny fate. But when she realizes that the prophecy has been fulfilled, she tries to shield Oedipus from the truth. Incapable of coping with the prophecy’s fulfillment she takes her own life.
Oedipus King is a very classic and popular drama. In Oedipus King I discovered that desire is an eternal human behavior. At any time. Many people will be dazzled by desire, they cannot resist the benefits. The one that impressed me the most was Oedipus killing his father and marrying his mother. Oedipus killing his father is an external act. The ‘desire’ is that Oedipus ‘married his mother’ after ‘killing his father’. It is a self-replicating life impulse creativity and desire for transformation. A mother’s support for the baby and the baby’s absolute dependence on the mother. Here the baby has this desire for the mother, and a closed loop of desire between the baby and the mother is formed. Because the father’s intervention made the child realize that he was in the position of the mother’s desire object, the closed loop of desire between the mother and the child was broken. This symbol of the father prohibits the child’s desire for the mother. Oedipus unknowingly married his biological mother and gave birth to two boys and two girls. Jocasta hanged herself after vaguely knowing the truth. After he know the truth, Oedipus punished and blinded himself. Although desire is tempting, it will come at a tragic price in the end.
Hello Shihao,
I really like the way you talked about desire here. Desire is a very tempting and a scary trait we have. And it depends on our self-control as well. I find the relationship between King Oedipus and Queen Jocasta very strange. I am unsure of what their “love” is about. In the end, their actions bring them to their doom, and even their children and family is affected. Although King Oedipus was a great king, respected by all his subjects, his actions bring trouble to the entire city of Thebes. In the end, his life turned out to be a lie, and he paid a tragic price for it.
Hey Shihao,
I like what you discovered and agree with your take. Desire is something that us as humans are attracted to due to the benefits. You cited a great example from the reading in which you said Oedipus killing his father in order to marry his mother. He couldn’t resist his love so he killed his father in order to receive the benefits.
Shihao, I have to admit to being a little confused by your discussion here: however, unbridled desire is certainly a common human behavior that can result in tragedy. Do you believe that unconsciously Oedipus desired his mother and wanted to marry her?
I particularly enjoyed the reading of the book wrote by Sophocles. Sophocles is superb in the art of narration of Greek tragedy with the complete elements of tragic plot. Oedipus became puppet in the hand of gods. Even he was warned about the prophecies of Oracles. Here it can also be analyzed that Oedipus tried a lot to avoid this uncertainty but his free-will and obliviousness lead him toward the degradation and downfall. As Oedipus said “as one stranger to the story as stranger to the deed”. In the same way unconscious deeds of men create timeless experiences. The reading of the Oedipus Rex also suggested that fate has an important role in the formation of a character. If fate is supporting you then nobody can defeated you. If your fate is against you than not a single person can escape you from problems. Human behaviors have timeless experiences due to free-will, fate and obliviousness. Sophocles is best in the formation of tragic plot and setting. Oedipus Rex is a work of masterpiece.
During the reading of the book “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles, I found that human errors are timeless behavior. The understanding of the book showed that some human experiences and behaviors are result of obliviousness. The character of Oedipus and Jocasta is an experience of timeless behaviors because Oedipus got warned by oracles through the prophecies that he will kill his father and incest with his mother. In spite of this severe warning he killed a person who is equal to his father’s age. He killed King Liaus unknowingly. On the other side he married to a woman that is equal to his mother’s age. Even Greeks have strong belief on prophecies but his common error of human being make some catastrophe that lead them toward the downfall and degradation. Fate and freewill is timeless human experiences that plays an important part in Oedipus Rex and in universal behaviors. In response to the Giavoni’s comment I asserted that free-will is also a major factor behind the Oedipus’ downfall because free-will is equally dominated in the human experiences. As well as we try to escape from the problems by ignoring our predestined fate but in the result obliviousness overcome the situation. Every human being make efforts in order to avoid ill-fate but in hurries he/she committed the timeless behavioral mistake.
In this reading, there is a number of human behaviors and emotions that we can relate to. The most obvious one would be oblivion. I think this feeling is very common but inconspicuous, especially to the one who is trying to figure out a problem. People often remain blind to what is right under their noses when they are set on solving a task, or trying to figure out an answer. Sometimes, even a simple math problem can cause oblivion to us. Similarly, King Oedipus has this trait as he is only human. Determined to find the culprit who killed the former kind, he remained clueless of what his subjects are trying to hide. He even threatened to harm those who were trying to protect him.
Another timeless behavior in the story is pride. Being one of the greatest sin of human nature, pride can sometimes bring us humiliation. However, it is also a very hard trait to get rid if we have made big accomplishments in our lives and people love us and appreciate us for it. King Oedipus was no exception. His achievements made him proud, and he is not embarrassed to show it. He is proud of who is he—a great king who saved the city of Thebes from the Sphinx.
Another human experience is shame and disgrace. Our actions not only can be our downfall; it can also have a big effect on the people we love. They will also be shamed by the society even if they are not at fault. Children’s actions can affect parents’ reputation, and parents’ actions can also determine the children’s fate. People might not always be grateful of how we have helped them, but they will not forget your wrongdoings. And our past will always follow us somehow.
Thin, thanks for this very good post. I like how remind us of how we will refuse to see certain truths or facts that are “right under our nose.” I’m also glad that you mention the shame element. This is component of “amplitude” referred to in Aristotle’s definition of excellent theatrical tragedy. The amplitude refers to the ripple effects of Oedipus’s crime. It not only affects his life but the lives of his family and the citizens of Thebes.
Hi, Thin
I found your post very interesting because you mention very important points that people in society still remain blind to which, is not seeing things for what they are. Oedipus has trouble seeing his subject’s real intentions causing his demise. Pride makes anyone blind and Oedipus who took pride in what he could do for his subjects and his place as king was full of pride. In the end, his actions weren’t what defined him as a person but still ended up hurting him in more ways than one.
The Oedipus King is a great reading in which I have learned many new things. A human behavior that I found out in this reading is obliviousness. Oedipus is so oblivious and blind in the decisions he makes to the point where he doesn’t even understand if the benefits is better or not. For example he made a decision to kill his father in order for him to be able to marry his mother. This decision makes him look oblivious in what matter and what you want. He should not have killed his father just to marry his mother because it is a very selfish act to do. Another human behavior I found out while reading this story is desire. Oedipus has many desires but one of them is he is determined to be a great king for the people of Thebes even if he has excessive pride it is for a good cause. But desire can be a bad thing for him as well. For example his desire to marry his mother ended up with him killing his father.
Alexsander, I completely agree with you and personally think it is a very selfish act to do and that, then plays an affect into the story that he doesn’t know how to take accountability. Doing an act such as marrying your mother isn’t ideal and killing your father is just a act of anger that lies beneath. The desire that he longed for creates these characteristics of him that makes him painted out to be a horrible person and not the best leader.
Alexsander, yes, several others have discussed the obliviousness shown in the play. I think it may actually be more like denial. The characters have an inkling about the truth, but they refuse to pursue it, pretending that they do not see it. Of course, the truths in this play would be hard for anyone to face.
I agree with exactly with what you are saying , also what I think is that one can say the selfishness that it is showing how he may be as a individual. Adding and making the impression in that the character is lacking in ability of believing the acceptance of responsibility. Being eloped with one’s own family member is definitely something no one ever see coming or want and murdering one’s relative a parent at that is just a move made with vengeance behind it that is probably the characters releasing everything they feeling that situation.This characters has the characteristics which resulted from of his ambition, making any person who look at him seem crude and evil.
What timeless human experience and behaviors I find in the reading Oedipus the King is that Oedipus is a human that holds a lot of pride to himself. When he places himself in situations it never is a good outlook to him because with his encountering with people it results into him releasing anger that builds up inside of him. With these problems and dilemmas Oedipus isn’t recognizing his mistakes with the encountering he is having. This is leading into a habit thats affecting his own life because he’s causing himself to be looked upon as becoming his own enemy he doesn’t know how to deal with the people around him let alone himself. With his way of leading and structure there are some questions that arose like could he have done things differently. The people were of people that needed help they were civilians they needed to be helped but was it a good job or Oedipus. With his pride and relentless attitude and the way he maneuvered he created a behavior that was unaccepted as king which caused him to go through experiments that made him question such position.
Samijah, it’s interesting what you write about how Oedipus’s pride becomes so manifest that others begin to notice it. The Chorus begins to worry because the captain of their metaphorical ship is growing unstable. When Oedipus’s pride leads him to disparage the gods, the citizens grown very concerned and shocked.
The reading”Oedipus the King” which is such an intense plot has seemed spectacular to me since it is about tragedy which make the story super interesting. Fear is one of the timeless humans feelings that “Oedipus” ( the main character) has experiment. Fear is a timeless feeling since all humans beings experience more than once in life.
Timeless feeling are those that we have to feel a least once in life such as: sadness, happiness, worried and fear. And in this reading for me Fear predomintes because of the fear that they have to faced the truth that could change their life forever. really difficult situations and also simple situation cause a fear that make us blind from the reality and a big example is Oedipus which the truth that he kill his father and sleep with his mother could destroy him, also, that his parents abandoned him just to make him come back by himself. So in this situation for the fear that they all experiment in this momnet they prefer to run away and do like nothing is happen or making themself blind for the situation. Nothing can cause more fear that facing a truth but all of us has experience at least one time that we pass through a similar situation and here is where it become a timeless feeling or timeless behavior since it make you run away from the situation.
Ivanna, it’s interesting what you write here about fear. For me, one of the most terrifying aspects of this play is how fear begins to creep in. Of course, the plague is fearsome, but when the search for the murderer begins, fear also creeps in as the citizens looks around and wonder who among them is the guilty one. Then the fear becomes personal as the first seeds of suspicion are sown. The creeping fear of Jocasta is also very chilling. As the fear creeps in, the characters try to evade it, unwilling to face it. And who could blame them?
Hi Ivanna, I agree with what you’re saying about fear. Also facing the truth is something humans struggle with doing leading them to run away from their reality. Running from the truth only makes reality harder, more obstacles present themselves which occurred to Oedipus.
Throughout reading “Oedipus The King” I saw the constant behavior of trying to run away from your own problems. Running away from our obstacles is what people tend to do when you fear them. But truth is, by running away they never ever go away. Oedipus was trying to run away from his obstacles but that only resulted in more obstacles which were apart of his fate. Honestly there wasn’t no running from his obstacles which he didn’t know to be honest. Fear is a timeless behavior due to the fact that this is an emotion we undergo and can’t control and it occurs with many other emotions as well. Fear can contribute to one of the biggest error a human can make due to the fact that sometimes human fail to accept the reality and accept life for what is is which is why people tend to run out of fear.
Jesus Liriano, I agree that running from the problems make people more problem as we read in this story. We have to learn so many things from the level where we can see the king was making problems himself and running from them. Suppose he killed his father and he was sad about that which he can’t even ignore. He was not ready to accept the reality and he was running through his emotion where holding up emotion was not in his hand where we can learn that from the story. Because emotions are the only things to drive to the problems.
Hi, Jesus Liriano. I totally agree what you say. like most of comment mentioned that people try to running away from obstacles. When are we running away from obstacles, the result of that often is facing more obstacles. And emotion is also timeless human behavior. Emotions can often influence us to make good decisions. Especially, it is bad idea to make decisions in a bad emotions.
Oedipus King Sophocles, Translated by David Grene, is a tragic play where king Oedipus was suffering from the issue made from his childish action like he killed his father to marry his mother where his step is not as to be a good king. Also, the entire people were tired of the king’s habit, making them trouble makers. Where the pride of a king and his anger is also the controversy, in this story, the king was so greedy where to get power. He can go to any selfish act no matter other people are hurt. I learned so many things from this story. How people can do anything to be something to show the society and make their power. Obviously, this is human nature to be greedy but going to that instinct is too much like someone likely to kill his father to marry his mother. I feel bad about the king because his son killed him. I enjoyed reading this story.
When we are talking about the universality of human experiences, we can think of our personal traits, characteristics and the ways we approach certain matters. We can definitely find such universal experiences in “Oedipus the King”. The first moment that draw my attention was the disagreement between Jocasta and Oedipus about prophecy. Nowadays, some people believe in prophecies. Maybe, not in a form of an unavoidable destiny but people still go to “fortune-tellers” to find out about their future. There are other people who strongly disagrees on such or related matters. I can also associate this with groups of people who believe in astrology and those who – don’t. The reason, I mentioned this is because I have heard a lot of conversations where one tries to convince the other whether future can be predicted or not – it can resemble the conversation between Jocasta and Oedipus.
Another universal experience is the relationship between father and daughters. We can see how Oedipus is worried about his daughters who may be neglected, pointed at and insulted because of their family history. We can definitely see how much father loves his daughters (Creon also mentions it) and worries about their future.
Hello Mariam,
You bring up a good point. As in human nature, humans will find a way to relate in order to better understand a person, story, or situation. We draw out things we see in ourselves in others, and it is interesting to read different perspectives of what they got out of the play. The unpredictability of the future has always been a human experience. Throughout time we have found different ways to feel more secure and to better understand the future for their own peace of mind. Humans will also have debate, which you saw with the disagreement. With how complex humans are, seeing eye to eye all the time is unlikely to occur.
A timeless human behavior which many people do or we all have done at a point in time in our life wether younger or older is running away from one’s issues which is a timeless and frequent tendency, according to my understanding of “Oedipus the King.” When things get rough, we sometimes do not stick around or try to find a way to escape from our problems because we are frightened of the end result and maybe just beginning the journey itself . When “Oedipus” first learnt of his destiny, he couldn’t help but be taken away from thing he learnedly ; In a state of thought as in why would anyone strive to comprehend such dreadful and assured words when they can simply cut there losses run away and restart? We must give him the benefit of the doubt because these were extraordinary circumstances from which he had no possibility of escape, even if he tried to flee. Another eternal habit depicted in the reading is obliviousness. No one was ready when all the secrets were revealed even in the end when every in there own way showed many peoples reactions whether in awe, understanding, confusion and so much other reactions.
Oedipus the king was a great read, Oedipus’s character showed a timeless behavior of selfishness because even in the story when it was discovered that in order to stop the plague the murderer of the previous king would have to be found, Oedipus cared more about how finding the murderer will make people praise him rather than saving all the people that we’re dying to the plague. In the Story, Oedipus, says “S: I will bring this to light again. King Phoebus fittingly took this care about the dead, and you to fittingly. And justly you will see in me an ally, 165 a champion of my country and the God. For when I drive pollution from the land I will not serve a distant friend’s advantage, but act in my own interest.” This shows that Oedipus wanted to be seen as a god and was only interested by what could benefit him. Another timeless behavior portrayed by Oedipus will have to be naiveness because he was unaware of the gravity of the situation he brought upon himself. He didn’t realize that he had done exactly what the oracle said he would do by killing his father and marrying a woman close to his mother’s age.
Hello Rances, I agree with you that Oedipus was very selfish and that ultimately lead to his down fall. It was his pride his selfishness that made him go down. He couldn’t accept the fact of his past and because of this the people of Thebes were the one left with the plague. Also I think that’s the downfall for any ruler and leader of a country or kingdom they always have so much pride and once that is destroyed the ruler is destroyed as well.
My thoughts exactly Oedipus shown through out the play that how much his selfishness created his own undoing. In the end of the play he met his ultimate demise due to his way of handling thing and how he led his life. To reject what made you who you are today which also becomes apart of you is one also rejecting themselves.Now leading the life he did and rejecting himself and trying to push it all in the back as if he wasn’t another person before he became who he was it all came down crumbling down leading to where he was.
One timeless human experience that I found in the reading of “Oedipus the King” is his emotion of fear. Oedipus was so scared of the fact that he will be the one to kill King Laius who turns out to be his father and is also fearful that Jocasta is his mother. He is frightened by this and shows it throughout the reading for example “Oedipus:Yes, I’m afraid that Phoebus may prove right. MESSENGER: The murder and the incest?” lines 1139-1140. This quote shows his fears and the terror he has inside him. Fear will always be a timeless human experience no matter what you do you will always feel fear multiple time in your life. This goes for people in the past and future even if your a king you can always feel fear just like any other person. Oedipus goes through this fear a lot and as well as the citizens as they fear the deadly plague this reading provides a how bunch of example of fear.
Hi Antonio, I agree that fear is a timeless emotion portrayed in Oedipus. I think a world without fear is almost impossible. Strangely enough, though when its caused by events in life it’s almost always viewed to be a negative, people enjoy experiencing fear sometimes to the point that we, today, produce horror films. Fear can be also be brought upon by something as harmless as a exam coming in one of your classes soon. The fear in Oedipus is much more pronounced and real, but definitely anyone can experience fear, and we all do very often.
Hi, Antonio
I agree that fear is an emotion that everyone has experienced at least once in their life, and people usually think that fear is always a bad thing but I believe that fear had the ability to give a person courage. If Oedipus was willing to face his fears, he wouldn’t have feared the backlash of everyone finding out about him murdering his the previous king and incest.
A timeless human experience I found in Oedipus the King is that of self-discovery. Earlier in life, Oedipus didn’t know his true identity at the expense of his presumed parents, Polybus and Merope. Stemming from when a drunken man accuses Oedipus of not really being his parents’ son, Oedipus becomes fixated on his roots, as he works towards another discovery: the identity of Laius’ killer. When Apollo gives Oedipus the terrible prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, he leaves Corinth forever – but by doing so he unwittingly brings his fate upon himself. Oedipus’ desire to seek out his real parents and true identity is a sign of natural curiosity in all humans. Jocasta attempt to remain blind to her real identity and insist oracles are silly. However, she continues to pray at the altar, revealing her budding self-discovery to the audience. Realizing the truth, she takes her own life and Oedipus blinds and exiles himself. Both reach their terrible fate through self-discovery.
Hi Gamby, I agree. I think you bring up a good example of a human behavior that is both seen in this story, and in everyday life. In the story, both Oedipus and Jocasta have their own examples of self-discovery. In Oedipus’ self discovery at the end, he realizes his mistakes, and says, “now I am found to be a sinner and a son of sinners” (1574-1575). This realization of who he is and where he has come from is harsh, and Oedipus asks to be banned from Thebes.
Hello Gamby,
I really admire your choice to mention self-discovery. It is a destabilizing revelation to uncover that the parents you have grown to love and know are not, in fact, your biological parents. Evidently, Oedipus experienced an identity crisis that threw him into a state of fear and confusion. First when he uncovered the truth in Corinth, and again when he seeks out the identity of Laius’ murderer.
Today identity crises plague our society. Everyone is trying to figure out who they really are in order to fully express their uncovered identity. One thing that helps in this process is knowing where you come from. Specifically, the ethnicity of your parents. Sadly, Oedipus was deprived of clarity on this subject until too late in his life. Indeed, he suffered an ill destiny once he came to know who he truly was.
One of the timeless human behaviors I see in my reading of Oedipus the King is the enticement of fear, or falling into the trap of fear. In the reading, Oedipus is speaking to a messenger in regards to his fear “that Phoebus may prove right” (1139). The messenger then responds saying, “Do you know that all your fears are empty?” (1143-1144). This is one example of how in the story, Oedipus is controlled and influenced by his fears. Another example of this is when Oedipus is talking about his deceased father to Jocasta, and after his long explanation of his feelings, Jocasta responds, “That I told you before now” (1097), meaning that she had been through this with him before. Oedipus then acknowledges this, however admitting that at that time he could not hear her, as he “was misled by [his] fear” (1098). These are a couple examples of how Oedipus’ emotions, thoughts, and therefore choices were affected by fears that consumed him.
As disease spread over the land of Thebes like a raging fire, the people of the land we thrown into great misery and mourning. This is a timeless human experience that occurs every time different countries suffer epidemics. Today, we witness how the coronavirus has seized the lives of millions. Desperate for salvation, the priest and people make pleas to the king and gods to heal their land. Amid widespread peril, we can all relate with the sorrow-stricken citizens of Thebes who cry lament over the plight of their fellow citizens. We too find that we have special love for our countries and our fellow countrymen.
A timeless human behavior would be the practice of placing one’s faith in a god. Like the people of Thebes, many today share the hope that somewhere up in the heavens, an immortal and all-knowing deity resides. Despite hardship and tribulation, the people of Thebes cried out to their gods for mercy and salvation. As a believer in Yahweh- the God of the Bible- I can relate with the people of Thebes. When there is trouble and confusion, I cry out to God in heaven to for wisdom and that He keep I and my beloved safe.
Hi Anna, You have a very well written post and I liked that you quoted the moments throughout the play that show the point you are making. One of the timeless human behaviors I noticed throughout the play was the Kings need to run away; which I believe is a result of his fear. The king fears an outcome so much he chooses to run from his problems instead of confronting them head on. There were many moments throughout the play in which I saw the king use fear as an excuse to run away from his problems and consequences, like when he says, “…they will never see the crime I have committed or had done upon me!” (1459). He fears more of what people will think of him rather than dealing with the fact of what he has done and chooses to run away from his duties as king and leave his children behind.
Sophocles’s text, while set in ancient Greece, holds relevant lessons for the present day. The plot, while surrealist by modern standards, triggers an array of human emotions in the protagonists involved that echoes things felt in more contemporary times.
The townsfolk, personified by the chorus, have almost blind faith in their king Oedipus, as he freed their city from the Sphinx. The prophecy told by Teiresias, incriminating their beloved leader for the murder of their previous king, is said to come from the gods. Their willingness to negate this divine evidence, and to want to discredit the messenger instead, is very similar to people nowadays defending politicians or celebrities they like against credible accusations. This cognitive dissonance they express is something all of us have struggled with at one point or another in our lives. So is Oedipus’s instinct to rationalize and try to find a scapegoat in Creon, instead of listening to the word of the gods.
Later on, when further evidence surfaces, Jocaste understands before Oedipus what the reading on the wall foretells, and urges him to stop digging. She would have been content to continue living blind to the truth. When the whole story emerges, she cannot bear it and takes her own life. Oedipus literally blinds himself in a fit of despair, but alas he cannot figuratively blind himself from the truth, and is forced to endure a tortured existence with the knowledge of his own wrongdoings. The chorus echo this discomfort, wishing they didn’t know. This highly symbolical turn of events reminds me of the old adage that “ignorance is bliss.” If I don’t personally relate to the deterministic fate described in Oedipus the King, I do know what it is to push uncomfortable thoughts away (blinding myself) so as to go on with my life.
Hi Anastasiia, great post. I agree Jocasta had a more “ignorance is bliss” mind state while Oedipus was blinded by his pride and desire for knowledge. Pride seems to be another timeless human condition as that can also be attributed to cause of the tragedy. In the end however it was a combination of everything and everyone that lead Oedipus down that path, the truth of fate is undeniable.
While the tale of King Oedipus is thousands of years old, there are still many timeless themes that we still experience today. One of these is the universal condition of suffering. Yes suffering, that is still around. King Oedipus’s fate was decided by the gods a long time ago and while his life did have many triumphs, ultimately in the end was a tale of tragedy. The story unfolds when the king find’s out that he is responsible for the death of his father and then discovers that the mother of his children is none other than his own mother. Upon discovering this truth Oedipus is filled with misery and suffering but not just him, Jocasta as well. She takes her own life upon finding out and Oedipus in shame, gouges his own eyes out. None of this would’ve occurred if it wasn’t for the human condition of suffering. All of the events that transpired that lead to the tragedy was in the past and already done. However it was the guilt and shame that we feel as humans that lead to the tragic actions. If suffering wasn’t a universal condition Oedipus would not have felt any guilt about killing his father or sleeping with his mother. There wouldn’t be much of a story, he would’ve simply just looked at it as facts and realized it’s in the past and there’s nothing he can do about it. However we are creatures of emotions and feelings, the universal condition of suffering will always be with us, it existed 2,500 years ago and will still exist in another thousand years.
During my reading of “Oedipus the King”, the timeless human experience and behavior I noticed the most was the king’s anger and need to run away from his problems. There were many moments throughout the play in which I saw the king express his anger and both he and Jocasta refused to accept their problems and consequences. The queen took it as far as ending her own life; whether it was because of guilt or refusal to accept the consequences of her actions is uncertain to me. Certain lines from Jocasta made it seem like she knew the truth but would not tell Oedipus, like when she stated, “O Oedipus, God help you! God keep you from the knowledge of who you are!” (1222) Oedipus then shows his need to run away from his problems when he states, “…they will never see the crime I have committed or had done upon me!” (1459). Oedipus then shows one instance of his anger when he begins to threaten the herdsman with pain and death as well as when he explains the story as to why he killed his own father.
Hello Shadai,
I agree with your point. I find that the king’s and queen’s reactions are interesting to contrast indeed. Both characters struggle with accepting the truth but respond in different ways. Jocasta acts defensively, attempting to shelter Oedipus and herself from the dreadful revelation. Oedipus takes the offensive and tries to shift the blame on the prophet, then on Creon. She is willing to continue living blind passively, whereas he frantically strives to find a blindfold. Once the truth is out, she takes her own life, and he gouges his eyes. Both behaviors are still pervasive among people confronted with uncomfortable knowledge nowadays.
In my reading of Oedipus the King, one of the major timeless human experiences I identified was conflict. One conflict takes place between Oedipus and the crowd, particularly Tiresias who blames him for the ongoing plague. This conflict between those in power, and those below, takes place constantly all around the world. There are always problems, people suffering, and people in power who are possibly, but not always, responsible for those problems, and I would say that they are very often at odds. Another conflict that takes place is between Oedipus and himself, as he tries to escape his fate and the problems he is dealing with. This is another relatable conflict that I believe all of us, at times, feel that we struggle with. Perhaps not the fate element as much, but definitely trying to escape from problems.
Along with conflict, Oedipus also demonstrates timeless emotions such as fear, sorrow, and pride. These emotions go hand in hand with conflict, though, and are often either causes or results of it.
One timeless human experience portrayed in “Oedipus The King” is our nature to be self destructive. Throughout the story, Oedipus is scared he will fall into his fate of bedding his mother and killing his father. Oedipus disconnects himself from his roots in order to run away from his fate. His perspective on life had led him to fall right into it. He thought himself wise and all-knowing. Not only did he not think his roots affected him, but he felt he was in complete control of his own life story, and outside forces could not penetrate his defenses. People with wisdom would realize that there is a lot in life you can not control. He gave himself a limitation for growth and learning, which ended up holding him back from escaping his fate. Often, humans have themselves as their biggest enemy. Not being open minded and closed off can limit pathways to the future. Humans all feel the weight of uncertainty that comes from the unknown future. Oedipus avoided it instead of being proactive and facing it head on.
From “Oedipus The King”, I find that people run away from problems and pride leads to downfall are timeless human behaviors. That is true. When we face problems that we don’t want to solve, we often try to avoid it. Especially, the problems we never face before. It is like in “Oedipus the King”. The result of Oedipus running away from problems is that he faces more problems than before. In fact, when we overcome the problems, we will feel happy and have sense of achievement. Pride leads to downfall is timeless behavior because human is ambitious. When human have huge achievements, they often forgot original intention. Then, pride leads them to the wrong way. At the end, they will not get anything. There are more timeless human experience and behaviors that we can find in “Oedipus the King, such as oblivious, fear, and destiny.
An immortal human encounter I found in Oedipus the Ruler is that of self-revelation. Prior throughout everyday life, Oedipus didn’t have a clue about his actual character to the detriment of his assumed guardians, Polybus and Merope. Originating from when a smashed man blames Oedipus for not actually being his folks’ child, Oedipus becomes focused on his underlying foundations, as he runs after another revelation: the character of Laius’ executioner. At the point when Apollo gives Oedipus the awful prediction that he will kill his dad and wed his mom, he leaves Corinth always, however thusly he accidentally brings his destiny upon himself. Oedipus’ craving to search out his genuine guardians and genuine character is an indication of normal interest in all people. Jocasta endeavor to stay heedless to her genuine personality and demand prophets are senseless. In any case, she keeps on imploring at the special raised area, uncovering her sprouting self-disclosure to the crowd. Understanding reality, she ends her own life and Oedipus blinds and outcasts himself.
Hello Adonys, that is very good example of timeless human behavior. Oedipus needed to find out about the murderer and along the way, he unintentionally investigated his origins. However, I think that searching for our identities is something that we all strive for. It does not have to be our origins because in most cases, things are not that complicated. We always want to know who we are, where we come from and how do we end up here, in this particular moment. We always question ourselves “is life under our control or is it being controlled by the fate?”. The paralel that we can make is that we always want to know more about ourselves.
A timeless human behavior I found in Oedipus the King is the feeling of pity, In the play, Oedipus shows a sign of pity when a group of citizens led by a priest, the priest then describes that a plague is messing up their city. The priest then begs him to help. Oedipus then shows his sympathy and concern by announcing that he sent Creon to the oracle in an effort to end the plague. Another timeless human behavior shown in the play is fear, In the play, Oedipus fears that he is the one who killed King Laius. Oedipus then finds out that King Lauis was in fact his father, this means that Oedipus Wife was also his mother. Oedipus fears the truth therefore he tries to overlook all the clues that are given to him in the play.
Hi Clothel, I like the choice of words pity and fear. I agree about those being timeless behaviors in this book, but I would like to add that I noticed you spoke about the behavior in the beginning-saying it was pity-then the end, saying it was fear. Even thought this isn’t a comparison, it’s a good way of pointing out the simple behaviors throughout the story. Also, our responses are quite opposite because I spoke about the positive behaviors such as dedication and trusting, so this goes to show that Oedipus, or any literary work, can have many different perspectives.
Pitiness can easily be seen in different scenes. Oedipus does feel pity at the beginning when he sees priest and the children asking for help. Another moment I think would be the ending , where Oedipus faces the reality and becomes so helpless towards his fate. I think you can see that chorus pities the man who was their leader, the king. Another feeling that you have mentioned is dear – indeed this is timeless human feeling. I would say that whenever we fear, we try to escape the reality by not looking into the problem. It takes so much power for us to overcame that urge of escaping and actually take care of the problem. I can say that Oedipus was powerful in that perspective, since he tried to do everything to find out the truth – despite the fact that he realized he might have been the murderer.
While reading “Oedipus The King” written by Sophocles, I noticed the ongoing behavior of trust and dedication. Trust seemed to go both ways with the king and his people. They were so dependent on him which led to the dedication he put into finding this murderer. I also noticed the behavior of keeping one’s word. The king stated things like, “Whoever he was that killed the king may readily wish to dispatch me with his murderous hand”(lines 168-170). Obviously, this being said will make people depend on him more to be the hero and to bring the city back to normal, but ironically it ended up different. He turned out to be the one that killed his father and married his mother. With this information he stuck to his word, and gave himself punishment. My point in this is to show that no matter how unexpected it was, he still did exactly what he said he would do, hence, keeping one’s word. With the help of his fellow citizens, he found the murderer and punished him (himself).
Jocasta says much the same in the play when, trying to soothe Oedipus, she tells him that many a man has dreamed of killing his father and marrying his mother. As such, it deals with the incest taboo, which is found in all cultures. It also deals with patriarchal society’s deepest fears: that a son might murder his father and marry his wife.Beyond that, it deals with the Adlerian* fear of not being in control of our own lives, of being manipulated by forces larger than we can understand. And, finally, it deals with a more mundane fear we all have: that in acting for all the right reasons, we may do precisely the wrong thing. Adler was a student of Freud’s who broke off from him. For Freud, the basic human motivators were sex and death; for Adler, it was security and power..
Reading ‘Oedipus the king’ I felt like the story was about people who are powerful but not sensible enough and has a lot of conspiracy in between and problems to be resolved.There are many lessons I learned from oedipus and his tragic story.Such as, Arrogance doesn’t take you anywhere and the grave mistakes in being judgmental.And the after affect of taking decision too fast without proofreading or thinking.Overall, the story was filled with emotion among all the characters.And I really liked how everything unfold.
A timeless behavior that I found while reading Oedipus is the pridefulness of Oedipus himself, that eventually led to his downfall. Throughout the tale, he is constantly shown to disrespectful towards anyone who he views as below him, and at one point, is even disrespectful towards the gods. He assumes that Creon is envious towards his king position and was ready to exile him before Jocasta is able to calm his wraith. And at the height of his huburis, he delves too deeply into the prediction and uncovers a truth that not only affects him, but affects everyone around him for the worse. Had he not killed the man at the crossroads, this tragic story would had never started. But in the end, the rise and downfall of Oedipus was himself.
One timeless human experience in Oedipus the King is Oedipus willpower, when Oedipus discovers that the plague destroying Thebes is the result of Laius murder, he goes to considerable efforts to discover the truth. Oedipus dedication to justice is likewise honorable. Although the prophet Tiresias warning that the true identity of Laius killer will hurt Oedipus, Oedipus remains determined to his pursuit for the truth. This demonstrates Oedipus great character is an unshakable dedication to justice.