They later heard of an oracle that later in their lives Oedipus would kill Laius and marry Jocasta. Shortly after they heard this, they abandoned him on a mountainside with a shepherd. Laius and Jocasta wanted the servant to kill Oedipus. The poor shepherd didn’t have the guts to kill a little baby. The shepherd gave Oedipus to an old man; the old man knew the king and queen of Corinth.
Macduff flew to England to get aid for Scotland, leaving his family defenceless and in more danger than any of them could have imagined. The most surprising and tragic murder in this play would have to be the murder of Macduff’s family because this was the first killing were Macbeth choose not to kill the person who he was threatened by but innocent people that were connected to that person. It was also the first time that Macbeth had slaughtered a group of people at one time. Macduff would do anything for the safety of his country, his loyalty showed many times throughout this play and he was one character that moved all reader’s emotions. But when he hears of his family’s murder he feels responsible “I cannot remember such things were that precious to me….. Sinful Macduff, they were all struck for thee” (4.3, 264-267).
His men desert him when he goes to fight the dragon. “Although he wanted this challenge to be one he’d face by himself alone” (2642-2644) one loyal comrade raised his sword along side Beowulf. “That final day was the first time when Beowulf fought and fate denied him glory in battle” (2573-2575) Wiglaf, who stood beside Beowulf, was able to land a killing blow to the dragon. In the 3 battles that we read about in Beowulf, we see
Hamlet was destined to be damned the moment he was asked to avenge his father. There is the argument that it was Hamlet’s free will to kill Claudius based on the quote, “my thoughts be bloody or nothing worth.” Killing a King is punishable by lifetime imprisonment or even death. By killing Claudius, Hamlet will be admonished by the court and either consequence that he will receive is awful. The other option instead of taking Claudius’ life would be to disregard his father’s ghost and go on with life as normal. This option seems prime to many, yet when Hamlet dies he will be stuck in purgatory for not avenging his father.
Gloucester is also left with nothing because of his trust in his unnatural son Edmond and not in his natural son Edgar. Much like Lear, Gloucester also gives up his title and his land. King Lear lost a significant amount just by giving his kingdom away to Goneril and Regan; by doing this he lost his family, friends and his power. He lost his only real family when in the play, he says,
When Commodus finds out that he will not become emperor, he suffocates his father. After Marcus Aurelius' death, Commodus tells the Romans that he is the new emperor, but Maximus knows the truth. Commodus tells the soldiers to kill Maximus and his family before the power is given to the Senate. Before the soldiers could kill Maximus, he defeats all of the soldiers trying to murder him, and he escapes. Maximus goes home to see his wife and son murdered and hung in front of his house.
However, the more inquiry by the characters; the more negative the play becomes. The knowledge seeking begins before the play even starts. The former King and his Queen make a trip to an oracle, to make an inquiry about their future. What they find out is a very unfortunate truth. Their own son (who has not been born yet) will grow up, and he will kill his father (King Laois) and marry his mother (Queen Jocaste).
Macbeth, after becoming King and plunging further and further into evil, orders for Banquo to be killed, as in the mind of Macbeth, Banquo has gone from his dearest friend to it being that, “There is none but he/ Whose being I fear” (3.1.54-55). At the end of the play, the men he once called his comrades, his countrymen, are the once turned against him. Instead of being surrounded by troops of friends, he is surrounded by troops of enemies (Barnet xxxi). The ones that still did stick by his side were not his true friends though, as they were just, “constrained things/ Whose hearts are absent too” (5.4.13-14). In the end
“However, even before a name had been given to the infant, Apollo’s oracle foretold nothing but ill: he was destined one day to kill his father and then to become his mother’s husband. (Gee 194)” It just so happened that fate intervened once more. “When Oedipus became a young man he heard a rumour that he had been adopted … he therefore went to Delphi and asked the ministers of Apollo who his true parents where, but all he was told was that he would kill his father and marry his mother. (Gee 194)” Oedipus, thinking that the king and queen of Corinth are his parents, leaves in attempt to escape that destiny, to no avail. By leaving, he left behind his parents, family members and friends.
When Jocasta was married to Laius and pregnant with Oedipus, she received a prophecy from the oracle in Delphi. The oracle stated that, “…Laius’ doom would be death at the hands of his own son.” (Sophocles 228). The quote explains that their unborn child will grow up to murder her husband, the child’s father. By telling Jocasta this she becomes frightened for the safety of her husband, and they decide that the only way to solve the problem is to kill the baby when it is born. When Oedipus is born, he is taken out of the country, to a deserted mountain side.