Alejandro Barrios
1)The oracles had prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and beget children by his mother. Is Oedipus therefore made to do these things? Is the play premised on the notion that Oedipus is bound or free-the puppet of fate or the creator of his own fate? Or some of each?
Oedipus was made to kill his father and beget the children by his mother due to the oracles. Therefore Oedipus was sent by his parents to die on a mountain side. The shepherd in charge of killing Oedipus didn’t have the heart to kill Oedipus. He then gave him to a shepherd in Corinth; the shepherd in Corinth gave him to the Queen and King of Corinth. As Oedipus was growing up an oracle told him he would kill his father and beget the children of his mother. Therefore Oedipus left Corinth and left far away and killed highway man as well as the Sphinx. Oedipus was named the king of Thebes and ruled the kingdom successfully but a plague was destroying the city of Thebes. Oedipus brother in law Kreon told him,” To take revenge upon whoever killed him” (P.1221) in order to get rid of the plague. Oedipus then order to killed the man that killed the prior king Laios. Laios was killed in the highway by a man. Oedipus had not known he was the one who killed his own father because he didn’t know the truth until he was told by Teiresias. However Oedipus was stubborn to believe him until he was told by a messenger. The messenger said,” Yes: King Laios who was king here years ago” (Pg. 1246) Oedipus then realized he was the one who killed the king. Therefore Oedipus is bound to what the oracle had said if he was kept alive. He couldn’t change his faith because either way he was bound to kill his real father. He tried changing his faith because he believed he was doing what was right but he ended up doing what the oracle had said. Sooner or later Oedipus was going to kill his father if kept alive and beget the children of his mother.
Alejandro Barrios
2)What is Oedipus’s primary motivation throughout the action of the play? What were his motives in actions prior to the play? What characters try to dissuade him from pursuing his purpose, and why do they do so? How do his subjects regard him?
Oedipus primary motivation in the play is to not fall into the plans faith has for him and rule Thebes successfully. Oedipus doesn’t want Thebes to fall due to the Plague they were in that moment. Therefore Oedipus seeded helped from others to guide to help his people. His primary role is to be a successful king by helping the people of Thebes pass through the difficult time of the plague. In the actions prior to the play Oedipus had killed some people at the highway and the sphinx as well. Oedipus was told by an oracle he would kill his father and beget the children by his mother. Oedipus then,” determined never to return to Corinth.”(Pg.1217) He was afraid and didn’t want to kill his father and left. When Oedipus became a king he was very successful and the people trusted him. However some characters dissuade him from his purpose of getting rid of the plague. The one character that really stood up to Oedipus and told him the truth was Teiresias. Teiresias spoke with the truth and told Oedipus,” I say that you are the murderer whom you seek.” (P. 1228) Although Oedipus cursed him and insulted him, Teiresias didn’t hold back to speak up to him and tell him the truth. The king was insulted and offended but at least he persuaded him to tell him what he had in mind. The subjects regard him as someone who truly cared about Thebes and the people in Thebes. In addition he truly cared about his daughters very much. Therefore he went to go kill himself on the mountain side. The people needed someone who isn’t afraid of his past and looks forward into the future.
Alejandro Barrios
7) Why does Oedipus blind himself? Is this an act of weakness or of strength? Why does he ask Kreon to drive him from Thebes? Does he feel that his fate has been just or unjust? Is his suffering, in fact, deserved? Partially deserved? Undeserved?
Oedipus blinds himself due to the fact that life played him bad cards. He then wants to leave and die in the mountain side. This is an act of weakness because he is looking for an easy wait out of it. He should be strong and fight through it. Giving up easily without trying is a sign of weakness. Oedipus prophecy caused him to blind himself as well. For instance, the prophecy said,” his doom would be at the death of his son own hands.”(P.1237) therefore King Laios send him to die at the mountain side. However the shepherd took him to the king and Queen of Corinth. They adopted him as their own son. Eventually Oedipus found out about the prophecy and left Corinth. To break the prophecy. However he killed his father by blood without knowing that was his father and became king with his mother as the Queen. As time passed he found out the truth and what had happened. His wife killed herself and“ripped from her gown the golden brooches that were her ornament, and raisedthem, and plunged them down straight into his eyeballs.” (Pg.1253) He them became blind as well. One can say it can be karma because he mocked Teiresias about his blindness. Oedipus is now blind too. Oedipus can’t stand to be alive for what he had done. He can stand to see himself and the person he is. His fate has been unjust because he didn’t deserve it. He didn’t do something bad to deserve it. He didn’t know he was killing his own father when he killed those highway men by anger. Life was unjust to him and he didn’t deserve this. Oedipus then pleaded to be taken to die at the mountain side. This is a sign of weakness.
Alejandro Barrios
In what sense may Oedipus be regarded as a better man, though a less-fortunate one, at the end of the play than at the beginning? What has he gained from his experience?
Oedipus became a better man towards the end of the play because he faced the consequences of his actions in a professional matter. Although he blinded himself with his wife’s golden brooches. It takes one to be very brave and mad to blind them. Oedipus was facing problems with his past and was able to manage the plague in the kingdom. He then found out the truth about his father and knew he fulfilled the prophecy. He then asked Kreon,” Drive me out of this country as quickly as may be…,” (P.1258). This shows his responsibility and caring feelings for the kingdom. Oedipus is willing to die for the people in his kingdom to rise once again. Oedipus became a better man, though he was less fortunate because he had very unlucky life. He was bound to fulfill the prophecy that was expecting him. Oedipus was a great man eventhough he was the reason of the plague. Oedipus didn’t know he was the reason or what he had done. He was more respectful at the end with Kreon and everyone else. Towards the end of the play choragus said,”“No mortal eyes but looked on him with envy, yet in the end ruins swept over him,” (p. 1260) Oedipus died although he was well respected and no one had a problem with him. He grew from this experience of a life time. He can tell what hew should do and what not to do. To me he is a better person.