As Hamlet tries to convince his mother that Claudius is a bad guy she doesn’t believe him and Hamlet ends up accidentally killing a messenger (Polonius) Although Hamlet is pretending to be mad, people are starting to think he has really lost his mind even more so because of Polonius’s death. The King Claudius attempts to send Hamlet away but fails and Hamlet returns. The son of Polonius, Laertes, had come back from school to avenge his own father’s death. Claudius blames the death on Hamlet and devised a plan with Laertes to finally kill Hamlet for good. Hamlet and Laertes duel in a sword fighting match with Claudius’s intentions on Hamlet dying.
When a young man, Oedipus had heard a drunken man at a feast cry out that he was not the natural son of Polybus and Merope. He first approached his parents to see if he was their natural son, and they said he was, but he was not at peace, so he went to the Delphic oracle to ask if Polybus and Merope were his natural parents. The god did not answer his question, but stated that he would kill his father and marry his mother and have children with her. Oedipus decides to run away from Corinth, and after he
Oedipus, son of Laius, born with destination preset to Corinth where he was delivered to King Polybus and Queen Merope by a messenger. Since Polybus and Queen couldn’t have any children, they gladly accepted Oedipus as their child. Growing up Oedipus later found out that Polybus and Merope are not his real parents. He has also learned from the Oracle that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Another example of predestination is set here by the author.
In Hamlet, Hamlet senior ghost from the grave (purgatory) tells his son Hamlet, that he was poisoned by his brother Claudius and too seek revenge on the current throne holder. King Claudius does not ask for his son to be careful for his life but just want’s him to fulfill his own revenge he cannot carry out. This show’s how King Hamlet’s self centered character is not a supportive role to young Hamlet. In The Lion King however, King Mufasa returns as a ghost figure as well to tell his son Simba, to stay strong and return to pride-rock to rightfully take over his throne currently taken over by his murderous uncle Scar. Here shows King Mufasa care for his son Simba, and how he only wants him to mature and succeed.
In his heart he truly believes he is the biological son of Polybos and Merope. Blindness is displayed through Teiresias; the blind fortune teller who informs Oedipus that the King and Queen of Corinth are not his real parents, and that Iokaste and Laios are. It’s also displayed in himself; not only figuratively, but literally as well. He gouges himself in the eyes with Iokaste’s gold brooches and takes his own sight. The purpose of seeing and blindness being a major theme in this play is to show the readers or watchers that the truth may be right in front of their eyes, and they still may not fully be able to see what’s right in front of them.
The servant that took the baby felt bad, so he gave him to another servant that he met on the path. The small child was then taken to the city of Corinth. There he was named Oedipus and raised by King Polybus and his wife. When Oedipus went to the Oracle at Delphi to see if Polybus and Merope were his true parents, he only received the prophecy that he would kill his father. Oedipus left Corinth, murdered the Sphinx, and married Jocasta; the prophet was right.
Over the centuries, people have wondered if there is such a thing as divine intervention, a sacred power that determines the fate of an individual. In Oedipus Rex, we finally see the conclusion of the prophecy made at the beginning of the Oedipus Trilogy. As Oedipus tries to hunt down the man who killed Laius, the audience already knows that it was in fact himself who did it. The audience at the time still believed in prophecies, so they would have expected Oedipus to kill his father and marry his mother. Sophocles seems to even mock the believers a few times, by telling the audience how there is no point in struggling against what is meant to happen, In Oedipus Rex, we finally see the conclusion of the prophecy made at the beginning of the Oedipus Trilogy.
Oedipus is the son of Laius and Jocasta, king and queen of Thebes, but little does he know that his father was cursed by Apollo. Apollo prophesied that any son born to Laius would kill him, which is why when Oedipus was born Jocasta gave the boy to a servant and told him to dispose of it on the nearby mountain. This led the audience to become attached to Oedipus because of the sorrowful occurring that he is going through, but the servant didn’t do as told. He instead, gave the baby to a shepherd from Corinth. This concerned the audience because they know about the oracle, while Oedipus doesn’t.
In the Theban Antigone by Sophocles, the author reveals a theme that the laws of the Gods are greater than those of man. The beginning of this play shows king Creon refusing to bury Polynice on account of him attacking Thebes, this begins a conflict with Antigone; Polynice’s sister who believes that she must bury her brother sending his soul to the heavens even though fully knowing the consequences of her actions could lead to her own death, Creon discovers this treason and sentences Antigone to death, despite the numerous objections by his son Haemon and the blind prophet Theresis. Through the use of conflicts and tragedy Sophocles reveals a theme that is relevant even in a modern society. Sophocles uses the interpersonal conflict between Antigone and Creon to represent that upholding the laws of the Gods are higher than the laws of man. Creon sets laws that he believes no man is bigger than while Antigone believes that
When Oedipus was born his King Laius – his father -- was told that he is doomed to perish by the hand of his own son. So King Laius had Jocasta kill him off, but she could not do it so she had a servant do it. The servant never killed the boy and instead left him in a field to be left to the fate of the gods. A shepherd brings the boy to Corinth and he is then raised by the childless King Polybus as if he were his own. He learns that he is not the biological son of the king, but his “parents” deny it; blinding Oedipus from the truth.