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Oedipus Rex
Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark. Better to live at random, best we can. This quotation, from Jocasta, illustrates the metaphorical blindness that afflicts many of...
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Oedipus Rex
In his discussion of the tragic hero, Aristotle suggests that such a person should either be of noble birth or an important person. Therefore, although it isn't absolutely necessary that Oedipus be...
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Oedipus Rex
The tragedy of Oedipus Rex was written by Sophocles and first performed sometime in the fifth century BCE. It is part of a trilogy that includes Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. Collectively they...
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Oedipus Rex
A hook in a play is a device that captures the audience's attention and keeps them interested in the story that is unfolding. In Oedipus Rex, the hook is the mystery of who killed Laius, the king...
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Oedipus Rex
Since the major conflict in Sophocles's Oedipus Rex arises from the question of who killed Laius, the former king of Thebes, and caused the plague and famine afflicting the people of Thebes, the...
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Oedipus Rex
A topic sentence goes at the start of every paragraph. It typically acts as a kind of miniature thesis statement, outlining the purpose of the paragraph to follow. These sentences need not be...
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Oedipus Rex
A topic sentence sets forth the central idea of a paragraph. In order to create a topic sentence, one first needs to develop a thesis for the paper as a whole and then topic sentences for each...
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Oedipus Rex
In general, the chorus is used to comment on the dramatic action and events within a play. The chorus is usually presented as a group of indistinct individuals, and they tend to speak as one....
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Oedipus Rex
While Oedipus is a great leader in his genuine concern for his people, his greatest flaws are his pride and arrogance in trying to solve the mystery of who or what is to blame for the plague. He...
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Oedipus Rex
Oedipus shows what a good king he is early in the play. The people of Thebes come to his palace, because so many of them are dying of the plague. They ask for Oedipus's help. Oedipus greets them...
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Oedipus Rex
Towards the end of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, a messenger from Corinth arrives at Oedipus's palace to give Oedipus news that King Polybus of Corinth, whom Oedipus believes is his real father, has...
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Oedipus Rex
Oedipus's hair-trigger temper is much in evidence in his interactions with Laius, Creon, and Tiresias. Towards all three men he displays various shades of anger and contempt. Eventually, Oedipus...
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Oedipus Rex
Throughout the play, Oedipus is motivated primarily by the desire to discover the source of the plague and protect Thebes. This was also his motive before the beginning of the play, in solving the...
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Oedipus Rex
In the opening scene of Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles in about 429 BCE, the people of Thebes go to Oedipus, their king, to appeal to him to end the famine and plague afflicting the people of...
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Oedipus Rex
At the beginning of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, the people of Thebes hold King Oedipus in high esteem. This is the man who rescued the city and its people from the terror of the monstrous Sphinx. They...
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Oedipus Rex
When the play begins, Creon has been sent by Oedipus to the oracle at Delphi to find out if anything can be done to stop a devastating plague that has been ravaging Thebes. When Creon returns, he...
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Oedipus Rex
Although some argument can be made for Oedipus's own free will and culpability in bringing the prophecies to pass, the play ultimately supports the notion that Oedipus, as well as the other...
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Oedipus Rex
As was often the case in Greek tragedy, the story of Oedipus Rex was not created by Sophocles (nor were its characters), but, rather, the entire play was derived from traditions within Greek...
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Oedipus Rex
We especially see the motif concerning sight and blindness in the dialogue between Oedipus and Tiresias. Tiresias is ironically a blind soothsayer or "seer." However, when Tiresias accurately...
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Oedipus Rex
It's hard to imagine accidentally conceiving children with your (surprisingly) biological parent, so I can understand why this prompt is difficult to think through. First, Oedipus did vow to exile...
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Oedipus Rex
When a messenger from Corinth arrives in Thebes, Oedipus is starting to believe that he might have killed Laius, the former king of Thebes, and evidence is starting to point in the direction of...
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Oedipus Rex
When the blind prophet Tiresias is brought to Oedipus, he shows great reluctance to tell the king what he knows about the murder of Laius. However, when the angry Oedipus accuses Tiresias himself...
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Oedipus Rex
It's possible that Oedipus might have had a thought early in Sophocles's Oedipus Rex that he had something to do with the murder of Laius, the former king of Thebes. CREON. (to Oedipus) Before...
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Oedipus Rex
An interesting aspect of Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles in about 429 BCE, is that it has no subplots. This conforms to what Aristotle observed about the best Greek tragic plays of the 5th...
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Oedipus Rex
The title Sophocles gives this play indicates several things about its focus and themes. To start, the myth of Oedipus has several stages, and the audience Sophocles was writing for would have...
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Oedipus Rex
An illuminating moment is the moment in a play when a lead character makes a critical discovery about themselves, about another character, or about their situation. In an ancient Greek play like...
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Oedipus Rex
Once Jocasta realizes that the prophecy came true and recognizes that she married and slept with her son, she runs to her chamber and hangs herself using her bed sheets. Jocasta is overwhelmed with...
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Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex Study Notes Robert Fagles edition Lines 1–337 Oedipus Rex, the second of Sophocles’s Theban plays, begins at the royal house of Thebes. Oedipus, the king of Thebes, enters accompanied...
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Oedipus Rex
Pathos: This is defined in Aristotle's Rhetoric as a speaker appealing to the emotions of the audience. In other words, an example of pathos in Oedipus Rex would be an instance when one character...
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Oedipus Rex
Just send me home. You bear your burdens, I’ll bear mine. It’s better that way, please believe me. Tiresias knows the terrible truth about Oedipus. He knows that Oedipus killed his father and has...
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Oedipus Rex
Oedipus and Jocasta have four children, two boys and two girls; Oedipus's children are also his half-siblings. Obviously this is a horrific truth, and of course neither Jocasta not Oedipus would...
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Oedipus Rex
The Greek philosopher Aristotle used the terms “catharsis” for the emotions that tragedy invokes in the audience. After feeling pity and fear for the characters who are affected by fatal events,...
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Oedipus Rex
Apollo never appears within the play in a tangible sense. He is, however, a constant presence in Oedipus' life. As we begin to understand as the play goes on, bad things tend to happen to those who...
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Oedipus Rex
When Oedipus summons the blind seer Teiresias, he demands that the prophet reveal to him King Laius's murderer, but Teiresias initially refrains from giving Oedipus the answer. Oedipus proceeds to...
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Oedipus Rex
Many sites don't show the exact date that a page was published. However, there is a way to cite a web page without having to show the date it was published. To do this in APA or Chicago, you put...
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Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Queen Jocasta of Thebes hears a prophecy from the oracle. This prophecy does not identify Oedipus by name. Rather, the oracle says that her son will kill his father and...
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Oedipus Rex
In Oedipus the King, the character of Oedipus has to face the weight of an overwhelming guilt that dooms him. Philosophically, Oedipus has to deal with the fact that while the actions that led to...
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Oedipus Rex
Oedipus the King (also called Oedipus Rex) is relevant to the world today in two main ways. First, it is a perfect illustration of Freud's theory of the Oedipal conflict, which states that a young...
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Oedipus Rex
First, Oedipus is not a king (a hereditary monarch whose power derives from traditional sources of legitimacy) during most of the play, but a "tyrant", a monarch appointed by the will of the...
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Oedipus Rex
A short definition of the word hubris is generally presented in two words: excessive pride. In the literary world and the world of the Greeks, this was also true but had one added element. This...
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Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is considered to be one of the best tragedies every written. It chronicles a very short period of Oedipus's current life; most of the tragedy centers around what happened...
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Oedipus Rex
This is a great question. In the most important ways, Creon is the opposite of Oedipus. For this reason, the qualities that Oedipus has in excess are highlighted. Oedipus is a strong leader who is...
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Oedipus Rex
This is an important question, since it implies a distinction between a chronological narrative and a plot. A chronological narrative merely reports a sequence of events in the order in which they...
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Oedipus Rex
The Aristotelian idea of catharsis depends on the audience experiencing the pity and terror of the protagonist's situation. Aristotle says that the protagonist should be a great man, better than...
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Oedipus Rex
By definition, as a tragic hero, Oedipus Rex is a man of noble stature who is good, albeit not perfect because he commits "an act of injustice" which leads to his downfall. What makes Oedipus noble...
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Oedipus Rex
But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind:You can not see the wretchedness of your life,Not in whose house you live, no, not with whom. These are the words of the blind seer Teiresias...
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Oedipus Rex
At the beginning of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, there is sterility and a plague at Thebes. This is presented to the audience through the dialogue between Oedipus, the king, and the Priest (1–67)....
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Oedipus Rex
One of Oedipus’ strengths as a King is his self-assurance. This has brought him the powerful position that he finds himself in, being universally respected and loved by his subjects. However, as...
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Oedipus Rex
It is important to focus on how the Odes that the Chorus offers provide a commentary on the action that has just passed. They clearly provide a much wider insight and context into the action of the...
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Oedipus Rex
Jocasta believes that humans can make their own destiny, while the Chorus holds true to the traditional Greek belief that the gods are in charge of everything and human beings are but the pawns of...
