oedipus the king thesis statement

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Oedipus Thesis Statements and Essay Topics

Below you will find four outstanding thesis statements / paper topics for “Oedipus” by Sophocles that can be used as essay starters. All four incorporate at least one of the themes found in “Oedipus” and are broad enough so that it will be easy to find textual support, yet narrow enough to provide a focused clear thesis statement. These thesis statements offer a short summary of “Oedipus” in terms of different elements that could be important in an essay. You are, of course, free to add your own analysis and understanding of the plot or themes to them. Using the essay topics below in conjunction with the list of  important quotes from”Oedipus” on our quotes page, you should have no trouble connecting with the text and writing an excellent essay.

Thesis Statement #1: Family as Defined in  Oedipus

To the character of Oedipus, his biological parents are not his real parents. He views his adoptive parents as his true parents. He interprets the prophecies based on his beliefs about his family. When he marries his mother and has children with her, he is both their father and their half-brother. Examine the definition of family as outlined in the mind of Oedipus. Does it make his deeds any more or less distasteful because he does not acknowledge his biological parents as his true parents?

Thesis Statement #2: The Role of the Prophecy

Throughout  Oedipus , several prophecies are brought forth. It could be argued that the reaction of his biological parents lead to the prophecies being fulfilled. Laius orders Jocasta to kill her son. She cannot do it, so she orders a servant to do it for her. The servant then leaves Oedipus to die from exposure rather than killing him outright. These actions contribute to the prophecy about Oedipus’ birth becoming truth. Additionally, each character interprets the prophecies based on his or her own beliefs and thoughts. Discuss the relationships between the prophecies and some characters’ beliefs about them.

Thesis Statement #3: Fate and the Tragic Hero

Many readers express pity for Oedipus at the conclusion of the play, as Oedipus did not mean to commit the crimes and misdeeds that befall him.  Some see Oedipus as a “tragic hero” whose one major flaw brings him ruin and sorrow, making the audience feel pity.  However, Oedipus almost seems to disregard the evidence of his crimes that Tiresias gives him.  Did Oedipus have any free will to avoid the tragedies in “Oedipus” or was he meant to live in exile because of his fate?  Does Oedipus have a major flaw that characterizes him as a “tragic hero”?

Thesis Statement #4: An Analysis of Jocasta

Jocasta is at the center of much that occurs within  Oedipus . When Laius orders her to kill Oedipus, she passes the unpleasant job off to one of her servants and does not make sure that it is done. Later on, she unknowingly marries that same son and bears his children. She is both grandmother and mother to them without realizing it. When Oedipus is seeking out the truth behind the prophecy about killing his father and marrying his mother, Jocasta realizes the truth before he does. She tries to prevent Oedipus from pursuing the knowledge. Analyze the role that Jocasta plays in the events of the story. How often does her influence or decision make a difference in how things happen?

Oedipus the King

Table of contents.

Tiresias says to Oedipus, “Creon is not your downfall, no, you are your own.” What is the extent of Oedipus’ guilt in his own downfall?

• “Oedipus the King demonstrates that the quest for truth only leads to self-destruction.” Discuss.
• What does the play have to say about fate and free will?
• “The play is about Oedipus’ search for his identity.” Discuss.
• “What should a man fear? It’s all about chance, / chance rules our lives.” Discuss Jocasta’s philosophy about life.
• Discuss the dual role of the Chorus.
• What do the choral odes have to say about the relationship between humans and the gods?
• What are Oedipus’ feelings about family?
• Evidence Bank

Oedipus the King is a classic Greek tragedy by Sophocles about the downfall of Oedipus, a heroic yet ill-fated character who was prophesied to slay his father and marry his mother. Oedipus finds himself caught in a dilemma between his determination to unwind the tangled threads of his history, or avoid undermining everything he knows about his life. The premise of the ancient play reminds audiences of the cruel nature of fate and the importance of making good decisions. Yet Oedipus himself is a complex character who does his best to exercise free choice within the restraints of his fate, which lends itself to the argument surrounding the extent of his guilt in his eventual downfall. To a large extent, Oedipus is responsible for his horrible actions that drive him to fulfil the prophecy given to him at birth, such as his violent nature which drives him to slay his father, as well as his incessant drive to seek the truth about himself. Yet as the ancient Greeks would have it, despite taking extensive manoeuvres to avoid his terrible future, Oedipus may have been a prisoner of his own fate and thus remain guiltless.

Oedipus the King, a timeless Greek tragedy penned by Sophocles, unfolds the tragic descent of Oedipus, a heroic figure ensnared in the ominous prophecy of patricide and matrimony with his mother/incest. Confronted with the formidable choice between unraveling the intricacies of his lineage and preserving the foundation of his perceived reality, Oedipus grapples with a profound dilemma. The narrative serves as a poignant reminder of the inexorable cruelty of destiny and the consequential significance of judicious decision-making.Oedipus, a character of intricate depth, endeavors to wield volition amidst the constricting threads of his foretold destiny, thereby fueling debates about the degree of culpability in his eventual downfall. While Oedipus bears considerable responsibility for the grievous deeds that propel him toward the fulfillment of his preordained fate—such as his proclivity for violence leading to the slaying of his parents—he also exhibits an unwavering determination to unveil the veracity of his existence.Yet, adhering to the ancient Greek ethos, Oedipus, despite his concerted efforts to circumvent the ominous prophecy, remains ensnared in the inexorable web of fate, prompting contemplation about his potential innocence. In essence, Oedipus, despite his extensive manoeuvres to avert a calamitous destiny, emerges as a captive of his predetermined path, thereby challenging conventional notions of guilt and culpability.

Oedipus’ violent and aggressive nature, as shown by his various impulsive actions, can be said to be a defining factor which led him to the actions of his downfall. Even considering the audience’s knowledge of his horrible fate, there is no question that his nature lends itself to his questionable actions. For example, Oedipus testifies to Jocasta that the man he killed, Laius, was “accompanied by a herald”, thus announcing to the world that he was a king. Yet Oedipus, despite having been raised as royalty himself, does not hold himself back in the slaughter of Laius, the herald, and multiple others. This can be interpreted in several ways: either his impulsivity and pride led him to rashly kill Laius and his followers, thus cementing his guilt in his own fate, or that the threads of fate led him to make that decision in that moment. Either way, there is little doubt that it was simply part of Oedipus’ nature, as there is little other justification for his violent actions. In a similar way, his dogged determination to uncover the truth of his past turns him hostile and abusive, revealing his hubris; when Tiresias does tell him the truth about what he seeks, he does not listen as he is consumed by paranoia. His aberrant character flaws are thus determinant of his guilt in his own downfall.

Oedipus’ propensity for violence and aggression, manifested through impulsive actions, emerges as a pivotal factor contributing to his eventual downfall. Despite the audience’s awareness of his inexorable fate, there is an unequivocal acknowledgment that his inherent nature propels him towards morally ambiguous deeds. Notably, Oedipus, while recounting to Jocasta the slaying of Laius, explicitly highlights the regal stature of his victim, accompanied by a herald. Paradoxically, even though Oedipus himself was nurtured in royal surroundings, he fails to restrain his carnage, perpetrating the ruthless murder of Laius, the herald, and others. This dichotomy invites interpretations that either his impetuosity and pride precipitated the hasty annihilation, cementing his culpability in his tragic destiny, or that the inexorable threads of fate coerced him into that fateful decision.Moreover, Oedipus’ unwavering commitment to unraveling the truth of his origins transforms him into a hostile and abusive figure, laying bare the depths of his hubris. When Tiresias imparts the veracious revelation he seeks, Oedipus, ensnared by paranoia, remains deaf to reason. His anomalous character flaws thus serve as decisive elements substantiating his complicity in the tragic unraveling of his own fate.

In addition to his violent nature, Oedipus’ incessant seeking of the truth also leads him to his downfall. As the play opens, the audience learns that Oedipus is at the height of his success, as he had already become a great ruler of Thebes, revered by many for “defeating the Sphinx”. This only lends itself to demonstrate the great downfall that he will face at the hands of his own curiosity. Later, when Jocasta tells the tale of Laius’ death to Oedipus, he begins to doubt himself, in that he is indeed the murderer he is seeking. However, despite understanding the consequences, this does nothing to stop the momentum of his investigation. Oedipus refuses to consider Jocasta’s advice that he “live at random, best we can” and according to chance. Instead, he is so fixated on getting to the bottom of the truth by calling for the old shepherd who saved him when he was a baby. Oedipus is aware of the consequences, that “if he refers to one man, one alone, / clearly the scales come down on me: / I am guilty”. Even as the shepherd, like Tiresias, demonstrates reluctance to tell Oedipus what he knows, he insists that the truth must come out. Moreover, when Jocasta collapses in despair, Oedipus remains fervent in his determination to discover his true identity, proclaiming that “I must know it all, / must see the truth at last”. In the end, it is this unwavering confidence and determination for the truth that ultimately leads him to his downfall.

However, despite these interpretations, it can also be said that Oedipus was merely a prisoner of his own fate, indicating that all the questionable actions he took were merely part of his destiny, no matter how hard he tried to avoid it. Through this interpretation, Oedipus is guiltless as there was no way to avoid his fate. Many attempts to avoid Oedipus’ tragic fate appear in the play, yet he still fulfilled it regardless. Jocasta and Laius cast him out as a mere infant; Oedipus exiles himself from his adopted parents in fear that ill would befall them (and not his birth parents). Yet it is fate that drives him towards Thebes and to the crossroads where he slew Laius, where there was no reason to kill Laius, but he was driven to do so anyway. Fate rewards him cruelly with Jocasta as a wife after besting the Sphinx. Lastly, fate drives him to pursue the truth of his past, driving home the final punishment of exile and blindness set by himself. There appeared the illusion of free will in his choices, but Oedipus was ultimately driven to make horrible choices which resulted in the fulfillment of the prophecy. Hence, Sophocles presents the cruel reality that even though characters may take extensive manoeuvres to avoid committing the crimes of their fate, they will be compelled to commit abhorrent acts in order to fulfill their destinies.

Overall, Oedipus himself is a complex character: the extent of his guilt depends on how much the audience places value on his personal choices or the prison of his fate. It is true that his nature lends itself to the interpretation of his own guilt in his actions. However, given the context of ancient Greece where individuals were commonly understood to be prisoner of their own fate, there may have been no way for him to avoid the consequences. Hence, while Oedipus was ill-fated from birth, Sophocles aimed to imbue audiences with the moral that one’s choices are highly important to the outcome of their lives.

“ Oedipus the King demonstrates that the quest for truth only leads to self-destruction. ” Discuss.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Oedipus — The tragedy of Oedipus

The Tragedy of Oedipus

• Categories: Oedipus Oedipus Rex

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Published: Dec 18, 2018

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Table of contents

Hook examples for "oedipus" essay, "oedipus" essay example.

• An Unavoidable Fate: Step into the world of ancient Greece, where the gods wield power over mortal lives. Join me as we unravel the timeless tragedy of Oedipus and the inexorable grip of fate that leads to his downfall.
• An Intriguing Quote: Sophocles wrote, "Fate has terrible power." Let's delve into how the concept of fate and Oedipus's unwavering quest for truth drive the narrative, ultimately culminating in a tragic revelation.
• The Complexity of Self-Discovery: Explore with me the theme of self-discovery as we follow Oedipus's relentless pursuit of the truth about his identity. Together, we'll dissect the consequences of his actions in the face of an inevitable destiny.
• The Tragic Hero's Journey: Oedipus is the quintessential tragic hero. Join me in analyzing his noble qualities, tragic flaws, and the catastrophic consequences of his choices, all of which contribute to the profound impact of his story.
• A Timeless Tale of Hubris and Irony: Despite its ancient origins, Oedipus's story remains relevant today. Explore with me how themes of hubris, irony, and the human struggle against destiny continue to resonate with modern readers and thinkers.

Works Cited

• Jankowski, T. (2013). Oedipus Rex: a classic example of a tragic hero. Student Pulse, 5(05), 1-3.
• Kinyua, K. (2019). Oedipus Rex as a tragic hero : a critical analysis. Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research, 1(1), 30-36.
• Knox, B. M. (1979). The hero and the chorus in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus. Greece & Rome, 26(2), 104-117.
• Laios, K. (2018). Oedipus Rex and the tragic hero. Humanitas, 1(1), 23-38.
• McDonald, M. (2015). Oedipus Rex: a tragic hero revisited. Journal of Hellenic Studies, 135, 39-51.
• Pickard-Cambridge, A. W. (1953). The dramatic festivals of Athens (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
• Podlecki, A. J. (1966). The political background of the Oedipus Tyrannus. American Journal of Philology, 87(3), 225-244.
• Segal, C. (1982). Oedipus Tyrannus: tragic heroism and the limits of knowledge. Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 29(1), 93-105.
• Sophocles. (1954). Oedipus Rex. In R. Fagles (Trans.), The Three Theban Plays (pp. 33-99). Penguin.
• Webster-Merriam. (2022). Hubris. In Webster-Merriam Dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hubris

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The Oedipus casebook: reading Sophocles’ Oedipus the King

Daniel hogg , cranleigh school. [email protected].

Preview [Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]

‘The empirical question of who killed Laius is, Sandor Goodhart writes, “less important than the universal matrix of scapegoat politics” concealed behind it.’ So begins Mark Anspach in his preface to The Oedipus Casebook , a text, translation and collection of essays about this most revisitable of plays. The text itself is a reprint of the OCT of Lloyd-Jones and Wilson, including the full apparatus criticus. The translation by William Blake Tyrrell is new and forceful. The essays are well chosen to provoke debate: I can see the book forming the basis of a successful semester’s undergraduate course on Sophocles, or for master’s students reading their way into some of the bigger ideas around the poet, the play and tragedy itself. While a reader who knows the play will feel quickly at home with this book, a student with no background in Greek theatre will require the support of a plainer synopsis of the actual context of performance or indeed the plot of the play.

The strength of the book lies in the choice of invigorating essays for the main, ‘casebook’ part of the collection. Some of the essays have been translated into English for the first time, others edited to make them more accessible to a monoglot readership. Part one, ‘The Ritual Background’, contains classic discussions of ritual, tragedy and sacrifice by Walter Burkert, Jan Bremmer and Marie Delcourt. Part two, ‘King and Victim’, comprises five discussions on parallels between Oedipus and ritual victims. Part three, ‘Oedipus on Trial’, consists of six analyses about whether Oedipus really did commit the deeds of which he is accused. Mark Anspach has done brilliantly to combine a wide range of scholarly interests, from Burkert and Delcourt’s anthropological history to Terry Eagleton’s literary criticism, while maintaining a clear, common thread in the strong emphasis on the context of ritual, the scapegoat ( pharmakos ), and the superficiality of Oedipus’ guilt for the crimes with which he is associated.

Particularly exciting is the way that the book plays with ideas of time, place and responsibility. Do we need to understand when and under what circumstances Sophocles composed Oedipus ? Should we, like Girard, avoid dwelling on the ‘specific historical context in which the play was written’, preferring, like him, ‘to stress its universal import’ (Anspach, p. 222)? Or do we deny something fundamental about the play if we refuse to admit its specificity to the mid-late fifth century in Athens? Does, as Vernant asks (p. 300), the Oedipus ‘do anything but reflect a structure already given in [contemporary] society and in common thought…[or] call…it into question?’ Helene Peet Foley then goes on to explore how Oedipus’ role as a scapegoat fits with his status as leader. In this way Anspach opens the mind of the reader to the possibility that Oedipus’ performs the role of scapegoat in the community. But did Oedipus even kill Laius? Anspach presents divergent views about Oedipus’ responsibility for the death of Laius, from Sandor Goodhart, William Chase Greene, Rick Newton and Frederick Ahl. These writers show how the commonplace understanding that Oedipus was the son of Laius and killed him at the crossroads is actually based on far shakier testimony than a surface reading might suggest. Karl Harshbarger goes further, by asking what responsibility is borne by the chorus for the death of Laius. Anspach’s playful selection rewards prolonged study, showing us, as Vernant says, how the Oedipus has ‘lent itself to so many counter-readings’ (p. 301).

The Greek text is accompanied by an original facing translation by Wm. Blake Tyrrell and four and a half pages of explanatory endnotes. The translation does what it sets out to do: it is punchy, functional, close to the original Greek, and so a good support for a student trying to pick apart the language; as a consequence, it can on occasion lack some of the smoothness that might be desirable in an English-first course or as a text for performance. There is plenty of opportunity for students to analyse different translations within the same book. Compare Tyrrell’s version of the crucial lines 122-23:

‘Bandits, he kept saying, bandits happened upon and slew him not with the strength of one but with a throng of hands.’

with Harshbarger, who uses Grene’s 1954 version (p. 381):

‘…the robbers they encountered were many and the hands that did the murder were many; it was no man’s single power.’

or with Goodhart, who translates as follows (p. 398):

‘He said that bandits fell in with them and killed them, not with a single strength but with a large number of hands.’

There are rich teaching possibilities here, and so the absence of an index locorum is felt especially keenly in this instance; nevertheless, the material is there, and a careful reader will find helpful cross-references in the endnotes. The book does in fact end with a short index, but it lacks, for example, any references to keywords such as ‘Jocasta’ or ‘ritual’ and is not divided by nomina or loci. There is no bibliography or guide for further reading beyond what is already contained in the endnotes for each article. The preface, at four pages, sets out the rationale for the book concisely, but readers new to the play will need to dig around in the essays for their grounding in elementary information such as time and place of performance, details of the myth, the relationship between theatrical performance and religion, and so on.

The editor and his team have not taken an obviously consistent approach with elements from outside the English language. Take Burkert’s article, originally published in GRBS 7.2 (1966). Some of the Greek has been transliterated and some glossed, though by no means all. An intelligent student will undoubtedly deduce what the Dionysia are, but won’t get much help from the editor in doing so. German, too, is translated, sometimes clearly (p. 131: keine Vorform der Tragödie, sondern eine neue Erfindung), sometimes less so. Where Burkert (p. 134) writes “spielend ersonnene aitia ,” “Konstruktionen, keine Überlieferung”, the gloss is ‘strikes the note of playing aitia , a fabrication, not a tradition’, changing the syntax of the German and with no explanation of what aitia are: fine for the Classicist, but surely obscure for the non-specialist. A quotation from Ziegler (page 136) is not translated at all, though the sense is arguably deducible from the context; perhaps also in the case of Meuli’s example of ‘Schädel- und Langknochenopfer”. Latin, incidentally, is not translated, whether common in academic English (reductio ad absurdum, p.139), or not ( dux pecoris , p. 137; cf. agnus castus , Bremmer p. 170). This extends to points that are reliant on a technical distinction beyond those without Latin training, such as “But to follow them up seems to lead from obscurum to obscurius ” or, indeed, four continuous lines of Latin from Diomedes and Euanthius (p. 136). Footnotes are moved to the end of the article but are otherwise left largely untouched, even where Greek is used. To be sure, other explicatory endnotes have been added to individual articles by the editor. Similarly in the reprint of William Chase Greene’s TAPA 1929 article ‘The Murderers of Laius’, single words such as anagnorisis are transliterated and glossed (though the Greek is misspelled, p. 363), while extended quotations are left in Greek. French is also left untranslated, from the simple ‘condition humaine’ (Burkert, p. 147), to phrases that will be obscure to those without the language, such as ‘bien étonnés de se trouver’ (Bremmer, p. 170). In all, the inconsistency in dealing with non-English might be irritating but will hardly be insurmountable for the scholarly reader. Non-experts might find themselves flummoxed at times, and so these decisions make the collection a little less accessible than it would ideally be for what I perceive to be its target audience of students and their professors.

These criticisms notwithstanding, reading this book is a joyful and enriching experience. The editor has selected a wonderfully rewarding, challenging and coherent group of essays and placed them alongside a cogent and helpful translation. No student who reads this book will be left in any doubt about the brilliance and depth of the Oedipus, nor will they be short of tools for probing and analysing Sophocles’ play. I recommend it enthusiastically, especially to those designing a college course on Oedipus the King .

Authors and titles Preface Acknowledgments Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, Greek text edited and annotated by H. Lloyd-Jones and N.G. Wilson, translated into English by Wm. Blake Tyrrell Part One. The Ritual Background Greek Tragedy and Sacrificial Ritual, by Walter Burkert Scapegoat Rituals in Ancient Greece, by Jan Bremmer The Exposed Infant, by Marie Delcourt (translated by Malcolm DeBevoise) Part Two. King and Victim Imitating Oedipus, by Mark Anspach Oedipus and the Surrogate Victim, by René Girard Excerpt from Sweet Violence, by Terry Eagleton Ambiguity and Reversal: On the Enigmatic Structure of Oedipus Rex, by Jean-Pierre Vernant Oedipus as Pharmakos, by Helene Peet Foley Part Three. Oedipus on Trial Excerpt from Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling, by Michel Foucault The Murderers of Laius, by William Chase Greene The Murderers of Laius, Again (Soph. O.T. 106-7), by Rick M. Newton Who Killed Laius? By Karl Harshbarger Lêistas Ephaske: Oedipus and Laius’ Many Murderers, by Sandor Goodhart An Anonymous Namer: The Corinthian’s Testimony, by Frederick Ahl Index

Building a Thesis Statement

The heart of any essay is its thesis statement; the heart of any thesis statement is the subject-verb-object core of the main clause.  Take the following steps to build your thesis statement from the heart outward.

1.       Build the core.   Choose a noun (or short noun phrase) that describes the main subject of your essay.  Make sure it covers the whole of your subject, but no more.  Then choose a verb that describes both precisely and comprehensively what your subject does in your essay.  Then choose a noun that is the main recipient of the action.  Put the three together in that order. Your objective is to put as much information as possible in the core.  For instance, here’s the core of a thesis sentence in an essay about Oedipus Rex . “ Oedipus Rex explains fate.”

2.       Add to it. Add clauses or phrases to your core to make it a full, descriptive, and interesting sentence.  You can add material before or after the core to concede something, to explain a cause and effect relationship, or to explain a consequence.  For instance, here’s the Oedipus Rex thesis with material added before and after: “At first glance, Sophocles’ most famous play appears to make its hero the victim of circumstance; nevertheless, Oedipus Rex explains fate as a function of character, not fortune.”

3.       Sharpen it. Look for vague, weak, or otherwise unsatisfactory words, phrases, and clauses in your thesis and make them more specific through either substitution or modification.  For instance, here’s the Oedipus Rex thesis sharpened: “Although Sophocles’ most famous play subjects its hero to deception, bad luck, and the crimes of his parents, Oedipus Rex nevertheless reveals fate to be primarily a function of character, not fortune.”

4.       Make your categories with key words. Look at the key works in the sharpened version: “ hero ,” “ deception,” bad luck,” “crimes,” “fate,” “character,” and “ fortune.”   The key words in italics are all potential sections for the body of the essay, especially if you design your thesis to analyze your subject according to defined categories. Not every thesis will list the main sections of your essay perfectly neatly, but almost every thesis will suggest useful divisions in your essay.

5.       Create a title by writing a noun phrase that contains a clear description of your subject and indicates something about your approach and thesis.  “Sophocles’ Idea of Fate” isn’t bad, but “Sophocles’ Idea of Fate in Oedipus Rex ” is better, and “Doomed by Character: Sophocles’ Idea of Fate in Oedipus Rex ” is even better than that.

Psychological Theories of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King Analytical Essay

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Psychology and literature are united by a common intent in searching for the universal answers. Philosophy and literature helps to understand the motives of the heroes’ behavior and psychology explains how the poetry affects human emotions.

One of the greatest tragedies of Sophocles, Oedipus the King touches upon a deep psychological theme of the parents-son relations which lately was called the Oedipus complex and the theme of faith as a main key of the human’s life movement.

Based a myth, the story begins before Oedipus’ birth when the oracle predicted Laius the King of Thebes the death from the hands of his son in case if he marries with Jocasta. Nevertheless, Laius disobeys the prediction and after the birth of his son, fearing for his life, orders to kill the child. Oedipus was left in the mountains but didn’t die. A Corinthian shepherd found the boy and cared about him.

He took the boy to the Corinthian king Polybus who gave him the name of Oedipus and cared about him like a father. Suddenly, after many years, Oedipus learns that he was adopted. Asking Oracle about the solution, he is informed about a destiny to kill him father and marry his mother. Trying to avoid the faith, Oedipus leaves his home and goes to another place. However, the destiny can’t be changed.

Running away, he travels down a road. He meets a group of people included his real father Laius. Oedipus kills all of them on the road after the arguments. Obviously, Oedipus couldn’t know that one of the men he killed was his real father. Therefore, the first prediction comes true.

Oedipus comes to the City of Thebes, marries the queen and becomes a king saying that his “spirit grieves for the city, for myself and all of you” (Sophocles). Seeing his responsibility, Oedipus tries to find the king’s murder. He lives happily with his wife for years and has four children.

The will of man vs. the will of the Gods as a key characteristic of the whole Greek literature is clearly described by Sophocles. In spite of a will of the protagonist to avoid the prediction, faith is more powerful issue as an instrument of the Gods. Trying to find the murder of Laius, king Oedipus needs to ask the Gods. There is no solution in ancient Greece that can be found without Gods’ help.

Oedipus asks Oracle from Apollo to help his investigation. And Oracle commands them “to drive the corruption from the land, and don’t harbor the murderer any longer” (Sophocles). Oedipus learns that he is that murder and his wife, in fact, is his mother. Thereby, the whole prediction has come true. Oedipus is a good ruler and honest and decent man.

However, according to the ancient Greek literature, nothing can change the faith. King Laius has to be killed by his son and this happens by chance in such random situation. Nobody can prevent this to happen, if there is a faith that Oedipus has to be a murderer of his father.

The heroes have no control over their lives. Perhaps, nowadays, an idea of the absolute faith seems quite bizarre, but for the ancient people such attitude was completely reasonable.

Segal says that “the play is a tragedy not only of destiny but also of personal identity: the search for the origins and meaning of our life, our balance between “one” and “many” selves” (4). The theme of self-injury and suicide are also connected to the family until the end. Oedipus rightly feels guilty and blinds himself. Sophocles sees only one possible conclusion based on his idea of moral and faith.

This physical change also is a symbol of the internal transformation of the protagonist which comes from the place of king to blinded and abandoned old man. This idea is similar to the biblical story of Samson. The family betrays Oedipus. However, the protagonist accepts this situation just because he is sure of the predictability of his life.

It seems that the solution can’t be found and the terrible mistakes of the past will always follow Oedipus’ family. Realizing an impossibility of the change of past, Oedipus can’t achieve other good things, he doesn’t see any perspective.

The awful crime of his past destroyed his life forever. Looking back on the life, Oedipus sees that things could be prevented. However, it is the faith and, perhaps, everything would be the same even in case of choosing the way and events.

Obviously, the psychological theory of the Oedipus complex had not been known in the ancient Greece. The psychoanalytical approach of this problem appeared only at the beginning of 20th century. However, such complicated topics and psychological motives of the heroes’ behavior were quite popular among Greek.

The conception of the Oedipus complex was produced by the German psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud. He sees Oedipus as a story of the hidden sexual impulses that lead man to dangerous situations (174).

Basically, this conception is stated on the sexual attraction to the opposite sex parent and angry attitude to the parent of the same sex. Exploring the psychological stages of personal development, this theory describes a boy’s feelings for his mother and jealously and anger toward his father. A boy sees the life as a competition between him and father for possession of mother.

The Oedipus complex represents the universal unconscious sexual attraction to the child’s parents (Goodrich 182). Nowadays, this conception is a key top of the psychoanalytic theory.

Although this theory is called after the tragedy of Sophocles, the main psychological motives of the heroes’ behavior are the hopelessness and conscious subjection to the faith and Gods’ will. If Oedipus has suffered from the complex, he wouldn’t run from his family. He loves his foster father and wants to avoid the prediction. Oedipus’s example is rather a story of the meaningless of life.

He lives in a tragic universe where nobody can understand his horrible suffering. Oedipus begins with pride and looses it becoming ashamed and abandoned. He can’t bare his meaningless life and blinds himself. However, Oedipus is the only one who can blame him.

He did everything to prevent the tragedy and fatal end. Sophocles clearly defines his protagonist as a hero archetype which starts from the state of knowledge and sacrifices his life in order to help his family.

Sophocles doesn’t give us the final answer about a future of the protagonist. The story has no moral lesson. Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King discovers several psychological motives of the human’s behavior where the most acceptable solution is the resignation to the faith and Gods’ will.

Works Cited

Freud, Sigmund. A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis . Trans. S. Hall. New York: Horace Liveright, 1920. Web.

Goodrich, Peter. Oedipus Lex : Psychoanalysis, History, Law . US: University of California Press, 1995. Web.

Segal, Charles. Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge . New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Web.

Sophocles. Oedipus Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Kolonos, and Antigone . Trans. R. Bagg. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2004. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2019, July 3). Psychological Theories of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. https://ivypanda.com/essays/psychological-theories-of-sophocles-oedipus-the-king/

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IvyPanda . 2019. "Psychological Theories of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King." July 3, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/psychological-theories-of-sophocles-oedipus-the-king/.

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Psychological Theories of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King." July 3, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/psychological-theories-of-sophocles-oedipus-the-king/.

Oedipus the King argument thesis statement

val0512 1 / -   Oct 26, 2012   #1 This essay argues for the claim that the lessons of Oedipus the King are relevant today Oedipus the King is a prominent king torn by "fate" and the destiny of the gods. There are common lessons to be learned by Oedipus and his catastrophic story. Learning to react emotionally and mentally different regardless of the circumstances, the critical mistakes in being judgmental and self-righteous, and the repercussions of acting without enough information. These are lessons that everyone could benefit from Does my thesis statement state my position on the issue? Thanks