Oedipus the King Essay -- Greek Tragedy Oedipus King Essays

Oedipus the King The antediluvian Greeks were famous for their tragedies. These dramas functioned to ask questions about the nature of man, his position in the universe, and the powers that command his life (Greek 1). Brereton (1968) stated that tragedies typically involved a lowest and important-looking disaster due to an unforeseen or un significantized affliction involving people who command respect and sympathy. It often entails an ironical change of dowry and usually conveys a strong impression of waste. It is always accompanied by misery and emotional distress (20). The play, Oedipus the King, by Sophocles definitely demonstrated the constitutionistics of an impressive disaster unforeseen by the protagonist that involved a character of respect, included irony, and was accompanied by misery and emotional distress. Tragedies usually history a disaster that was unforeseen by the protagonist. To qualify as a disaster this event must have striking circumstance s (Brereton 6). The spectators of the disaster feel a deep sympathy for the protagonist because the decision make by this character was done without intending evil ( rising T-349). In Oedipus the King, Oedipus chose to leave Corinth to oppose the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Even though this appeared to be an appropriate decision, it was wrong. In the process of leaving Corinth, Oedipus came across his real father at a three-road intersection and during a scuffle killed him. subsequent he married his mother, Iocast, fulfilling the prophecy. Oedipus did not know that this was his adjust father or mother because he deliberately made the decision to leave Corinth opinion that Polybos and Merop were his parents. The disaster that occurred her... ...t of the play. The play spoke of the downfall of Oedipus from respected king (someone of status) to a penniless, blind, exiled peasant who was scorned by the kingdom. At the end of the play, Oedipus and his family suffered the disgrace of their true reality. Works Cited Brereton, Geoffrey. Principles of Tragedy. Florida University of Miami Press, 1968. Greek Tragedy. http//www.stremnet.nf.ca/hblake/tragedy1.html (23 Nov. 1999). Irony. The American Heritage Dictionary. 1969. Mandel, Oscar. A Definition of Tragedy. refreshful York University Press of American, 1982. Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York Longman, 1999. 1255-1294. Tragedy. New Stanford Encyclopedia. 1998. Tragedy. The World Book Encyclopedia. 1998.