Here we are in this reading of the Greeks “Oedipus the King”. Here is a man that was sent away at birth to be killed but never was. He was the child of Jocasta and Laius’s. He was sent away because of one of these Greek prophets told his parents that he foreseen when he grew to be an adult, he would murder Laius’s and marry Jocasta. Well as faith has it the prophecy came true. Oedipus ends marrying Jocasta who is his mother. Over time the truth comes out and Oedipus is driven to feeling of human shame. Jocasta couldn’t live anymore like this, and she takes her own life. This story of incest not only hurts her but him also. As king how can he rule his kingdom. It seems that tragedy in his life ends up killing him years down the road. So, we look to learn if they didn’t have this prophecy would life still happened as it did.
Daily Archives: March 9, 2022
This can be considered timeless because the story deals with issues that today would not be viewed favorably by people. In one of these events, the play shows us about the deepest fears of patriarchal society, such as the case in which a son murders his father and marries his wife. When Jocasta, trying to calm Oedipus, tells him that many men have dreamed of killing his father and marrying his mother. This refers to and deals with the incest taboo, which is found in all cultures. It is something that today we could see as complete madness without any doubt. There has never been a taboo as powerful, as entrenched, as ancient as that of incest. Marriage between close relatives is prohibited throughout the world. In many countries, sexual relations between very close relatives are also prohibited. Many people have never even asked themselves the reason for the ban: it is seen as natural that there should be no erotic relationship between the father or the mother with the daughter or the son, or between siblings. The idea that these relatives form a sentimental and erotic couple, permanently or briefly, horrifies us, without asking ourselves the origin of that horror.
Oedipus the King has a lot of timeless human experiences. One of most, being the tragedy between family because of secrets. Another timeless experience would be the copulation of mother and son which to this day their names are remembered, Jocasta and Oedipus, as the Jocasta and Oedipus complexes. The Jocasta experience being the incestuous sexual desire of a mother towards her son and Oedipus complex being the opposite of where son has an unconscious sexual desire for the mother. Another timeless experience would be, the blatant fear and paranoia of people and what they are willing to do in order to not feel that anymore, as in Laius trying to kill Oedipus. As fate would have it, Oedipus ended up fulfilling the destiny that was prophesized in the end. Oedipus would have probably ended up fulfilling his fate either way even if Laius didn’t do what he did or didn’t hear the prophecy because of fate which in itself is a timeless human experience. Fate ends up happening even if you try to control the outcome as is with Oedipus and killing his father and all that led up to it including Jocasta’s death and Oedipus blinding himself left to wander.
Oedipus the King illustrates timeless human experiences by bringing a universal unconscious fantasy and physical relationship between mother and son to life. Human beings are compassionate and emotional irrespective of the misunderstanding among them. Jocasta illustrates the latter ideology at the end of the play when trying to soothe Oedipus against banishing Creon from the city. In addition to the latter trait, Oedipus the King effectively reveals the deepest fears in a patriarchal society. Many societies across the globe embrace the idea of respecting one`s parents. Disrespecting parents is a taboo in many communities. The play illustrates the deepest fears of a son murdering his father and marrying his mother. Additional fear evident in the play is fear of not assuming control over one`s life. Since the creation and fall of humankind, people have been exploring their environments to gain control and learn more about them. In the attempt to control his destiny and personal condition, Oedipus embraced a personal exploration journey.
In the reading of “Oedipus the King”, timeless human experiences or behaviors I found was since birth Oedipus didn’t know about his real parents and he ended up killing his father and marrying his mother (Jocasta) who he didn’t know about it till it was revealed after. This led to Oedipus accusing Creon of Laius’s death and planning his exile or death, to Jocasta killing herself after finding out the truth that she’s Oedipus mother and wife on her own, and lastly, Oedipus dying from all the misfortune he’s had and from my take of the Chorus saying “he has passed the final limit of his life secure from pain.” (1728). Oedipus’s real father Laius and Jocasta sent their kid to be killed after a prophet told them that their baby will kill him and marry his mother, even after trying to change destiny, it still happening, proceeding to show that you can’t always force a change on an incident because it’ll end up happening again. Changing the outcome also caused plenty of people to get hurt in the process.
