Posted: April 20th, 2022

Oedipus the King

FINAL DISCUSSION
What is the point of reading Oedipus the King, a play which is approximately 2,400 years old?
Does such an “old” play have anything of value to say to us today? 

Are the issues explored in “old” plays relevant only to the times in which they were written, or do they remain relevant to us today? 

On another note … in Oedipus the King, who is the biggest victim? 

Can you make any connections to other literature we have studied, to the contemporary world, or to your own experience?
Respond to the prompt in approximately 250 words.

Instructions for grademiners: This is a one paragraph.
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Oedipus the King
Oedipus the king is a play by Sophocles. It depicts the life and tragedy of the king of Thebes. Oedipus became king after defeating the monster of sphinx, he got Jocasta the queen as a wife. He grew in Corinth’s and escaped to avoid fulfilling the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. The point on reading this play is that it’s not only interesting but it also depicts how fate plays a role in our lives. It also shows how great pride and ignorance leads to the downfall of even great figures.
With our growing economy and technology, we believe we can control many things with our research. But just as Oedipus we end up where we didn’t want. In our society, many kids who grow up in abusive homes, tend to marry abusive people, just like as he ran from Corinth to avoid the prophecy without his knowledge he was actually fulfilling it. It tells us how strong the force is to repeat what we desperately try to escape.
The issues are relevant even today, as Oedipus was blinded by pride and killed Laius, even in today society many people come to fall due to pride, the blindness to see the actual truth is still faced in our society too, in today’s society we can also see children trying to save their parents just as Oedipus did. In this play Oedipus is the biggest victim, as an infant, he was abandoned in a mountain, and as an adult tried to save his parents, yet fulfilled the prophecy and ended up blind, losing everything.
Unlike other literature as Agamemnon, we can see that Oedipus is not dead and his suffering does not end with the play, he became blind and his suffering continues even as seen from the chorus. This relates to the contemporary world, as we can also see individuals who bring misfortune to themselves in the quest of knowing the truth. The blindness to know the truth and ignorance pursuits to protect their pride without listening to people leads to their fall. Fate plays a big role in our lives, just as we try to avoid some situations only to find ourselves facing the same thing u tried hard to escape from, just as Oedipus.

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