When Oedipus asks why this case was not investigated the people respond that they were too busy trying to solve the sphinx’s riddle. Oedipus vows that no matter what the cost is, he will get to the bottom of it, both because it harmed Thebes and Laius was noble and loyal. Oedipus calls upon Teiresias, the blind prophet, and forces him to reveal what he knows of the murder. Teiresias reluctantly tells Oedipus that he killed his father and sleeps with his mother. Oedipus accuses him of lying on Creons behalf so Creon could kill Oedipus and take the throne.
He says that the man who killed the former king of Thebes is among them, it is a blind who could see before, a beggar who was rich, he is brother to his own children, son and husband to a woman who bore him, and son and killer to his father. The climax is the point when Oedipus knows the truth, that he is the murder of the King Laius and his father, and married his own mother, Queen Jocasta. For this fatal answer of Tiresias, Oedipus starts blaming Creon that he is the one who brought Tiresias. Now as he announced in the beginning that the killer will be punished and banished from the kingdom, he must do it. Oedipus blinds himself as a punishment and Jocasta hangs herself, after telling the truth that
Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles about a man who tries to escape a prophecy from coming true but ends up fulfilling it instead. Oedipus, the protagonist, is destined to kill his father, Lauis and to marry his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus soon discovers that all this time he has been in denial and leads to his own destruction, gauging his eyes out. With this, Sophocles, knowing that his audience already knows the outcome of the play, uses that knowledge to create situations that involve verbal, dramatic, and situational irony that keep the audience on the edge and also to develop the characters in the play. Accordingly, this play sends a strong message of fate and free will to the audience.
The first character flaw responsible for the tragedy is king and queen of Thebes’ (Oedipus’ parents’) belief in an oracle about their son. The prophecy told by this oracle said that their son would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. In order to try to prevent this from happening, Iocaste and Laios pierced the child’s feet, tied them together, and instructed their servant to leave the child in the wilderness to die, which is the second character flaw. In the text, the shepherd explains everything to Oedipus. “If you must be told, then…/They said it was Laios’ child/I was told to get rid of it/It was said that the boy would kill his own father”(56-62).
Another example of predestination is set here by the author. After getting the news, Oedipus determined to find out his real father. Oedipus could not accept the foreknowledge set by the gods. He ran away from Corinth in search of his parents and on the way he kills his father without knowing his real identity. He tried to run away from his fate but ultimately he ran into it.
Oedipus has sent Creon, his brother-in-law, to the house of Apollo to ask help from the oracle. And now, Creon returns with the instruction: Thebes will be cured of the plague, as soon as the killer of the previous king, Laius, is caught. After hearing this, Oedipus vows to find out the murderer and punish him. With the suggestion from chorus, Oedipus also summons the blind prophet Tiresias for help. When Tiresias arrives, he claims that even though he knows the truth, he is reluctant to answer.
Hamlet pursues his failures by holding off his intentions to kill Claudius, unsuccessfully claiming his love for Ophelia, and the accidental murder of Polonius. All the aforementioned events ultimately lead to the tragic events in the play. King Hamlet’s questionable death results in Claudius’s reign over the Kingdom. Through the appearances of the former ruler's Ghost, the accountability of King Hamlet’s death, Claudius becomes the main suspect of the King’s death. Hamlet decides to kill Claudius to seek revenge over his father’s death.
Plot Outline Oedipus the King A plague has stricken Thebes. The citizens gather outside the palace of their king, Oedipus, asking him to take action. Oedipus replies that he already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle at Delphi to learn how to help the city. Creon returns with a message from the oracle: the plague will end when the murderer of Laius, former king of Thebes, is caught and expelled; the murderer is within the city. Oedipus questions Creon about the murder of Laius, who was killed by thieves on his way to consult an oracle.
“Oedipus’ Tragic Hero Characteristics” Oedipus The King is Sophocles most recognized work. The story revolves around the king of Thebes, Oedipus’ quest to discover and eliminate the cause of the plague that has stricken his land. Oedipus discovers that his past his very different from what he had imagined and how most “kings” were born and raised. Oedipus, being a true tragic hero starts his own downfall, has many flaws that hinder his situation and lead him to self-mutilation and rejection or simply a downfall. Oedipus was brought to Thebes to be king after Laius’ unsolved death.
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.