The play “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles is a tragedy in which the main character, Oedipus Rex, killed his father and married his mother. Approaching the end of the play, Creon, now the King of Thebes, said to Oedipus, “Think no longer/That you are in command here, but rather think/How, when you were, you served your own destruction.” Creon is correct in this pronouncement. Three times throughout the play, Oedipus failed to take the advice of significant people in his life. His father, Polybus, the prophet, Teiresias, and his wife, Jocasta, all tried to advise him to stop pursuing the truth. His incapability to completely identify with what these three people were trying to tell him ultimately led to his destruction.
Oedipus’ first set of advice came from Polybus following a banquet in Corinth. After a drunken man approached Oedipus and declared that he was not his father’s son, Oedipus questioned Polybus. Polybus told Oedipus to dismiss the man’s remarks, that it was “the slanderous remarks of a fool”, but Oedipus’ curiosity got the best of him. He traveled to Delphi where the oracle told him that he would lie with his own mother and that he would be his father’s murderer. Petrified of killing Polybus, he fled from Corinth. While fleeing, he unknowingly killed King Laius, his real father, and subsequently, in Thebes, married Jocasta, his real mother. Once he made the rash decision to flee from Corinth, Oedipus set the prophecy of the oracle in motion, which is the opposite of what he intended. Had he just listened to Polybus, he never would have encountered King Laius, or married his own mother.
The Essay on Oedipus Versus Creon Gods Tiresias King
Oedipus Versus Creon At first glance, Oedipus and Creon are two very different people. But as time progresses their personalities and even their fates grow more and more similar. In Sophocles's play "Oedipus the King", Oedipus and Creon are two completely opposite people. Oedipus is brash and thoughtless, whilst Creon is wise and prudent. In "Oedipus the King", Oedipus effectively portrays the ...
The second set of advice Oedipus failed to listen to came from the prophet Teiresias. A great plague had befallen Thebes. The only way to end the plague was to exile or kill the murderer of the former King Laius. Hastily Oedipus decreed that whoever the murderer was, he would be banished from the city of Thebes. He called upon the blind prophet Teiresias to identify the murderer. Teiresias, knowing that Oedipus was the murderer said, “No; I will never tell you what I know.” Oedipus persisted with asking. Teiresias stated that he, the murderer, is the pollution of the country. Oedipus, being impulsive, accused Teiresias of being the murderer. To this Teiresias said, “That man you have been looking for all this time… That man is in Thebes… To the children with whom he lives now he will be brother and father – the very same; to her who bore him, son and husband – the very same.” In this conversation, Teiresias both hinted and directly told Oedipus several times that he was the one who killed King Laius. If Oedipus had stopped, and really listened to what Teiresias was saying, he never would have continued to pursue the killer of Laius. His main problem was that he did not understand, or he did not want to understand, what Teiresias was trying to tell him.
Finally, the third advisor Oedipus ignored was Jocasta. She advised Oedipus to discontinue tracking the killer. At this point, Oedipus has learned that Polybus was not his true father, and so he wants to learn his real father’s identity. A messenger from Corinth informs Oedipus and Jocasta that Polybus was not his father. At this point Jocasta realized that Oedipus was her son. She counseled him not to pursue discovering his birth father and exclaimed, “May you never learn who you are!” Jocasta said this in order to protect Oedipus. Oedipus reacted rashly. He accused Jocasta of only wanting her royal name. Again, Oedipus’ inability to understand situations had worked against him. Had Oedipus truly cared for Jocasta, he would have listened to her. Because he chose not to listen, he learned both that King Laius was his real father, and thus that he himself was King Laius’ murderer. Because Oedipus had decreed that the murderer of Laius be exiled, Oedipus was the agent of his own self destruction. He had to be dethroned and forever banned from the city of Thebes.
The Essay on Oedipus Gods Murderer Jocasta
Imagine killing your father and sleeping with your mother! This is what Oedipus did! Even though I read this story many times I am still shocked when I read the part of how Oedipus fulfilled his prophecy. It makes me tingle inside! I still can't believe that Jocasta did not know that she married her son! In the end when Jocasta committed suicide and Oedipus blinded himself I thought that by doing ...
Oedipus’ self destruction could have been prevented if he had listened to those who loved and advised him. Had he paid attention to what Polybus, Teiresias, and Jocasta all advised him to do, the oracle’s prophecy never would have come true. However, his character contained elements of curiosity and rashness which made it impossible for him to heed their advice. Intrigued by the remarks of the drunk at the banquet, he set in motion the sequence of events leading to his own destruction. At various points in the story he conceivably could have interrupted the unfolding events. Polybus, Teiresias, and Jocasta counseled a more careful measure approach. However, his rashness and curiosity impelled him forward until he had created his own doom.
