Oedipus

The core meaning of Oedipus is no matter how hard you try you cannot escape your fate and it is ultimately your destiny. Oedipus, unbeknownst to him, was part of a prophecy where he would kill this father, King Laius, and then marry his mother, Jocasta. As a child his father sent him out to die in fear of the prophecy. But Oedipus never dies and instead is raised by a different family in another city. Oedipus without knowing his prior life and the prophecy goes on a journey where his true life is ultimately revealed to him and he fulfills the prophecy.

A contemporary play, which also explores this theme, is Romeo and Juliet. In this the audience knows the fate of both characters from the beginning of the play. Through out the play we see events, which lead, no matter what, to the death of both Romeo and Juliet. The audience as much as they want cannot intervene to give that one piece of information that Juliet is just in a deep sleep. Their fate is set in stone and we can only watch from an outside perspective.

During Oedipus the indicting incident is the plague, which has broken out in the city of Thebes. Oedipus’s journey starts out to rid the city of the plague. In order to do this he must “uncover the murders of Laius put them to death or drive them to exile”. This leads Oedipus to find the truth about him self and his life. From this he slowly uncovers his past and the truth about who he really is.

Without a doubt Oedipus is the protagonist of this play, his thirst for knowledge and trying to solve issues lead him on a path to his fate. Even after numerous warnings to forget about finding the truth, he still is persistent about finding out the truth. This leads to his downfall and is another step on his journey towards his destiny. If he had just stopped questioning his life he may have prevented the prophecy but his persistence and ego to fix problems get in the way. He is also the tragic hero of this play.

The moment of peripety is at the end when...