Oedipus

Rough Draft

I. Oedipus The King

A. Symbolism

1. –Oedipus: He is a symbol of what?

Oedipus, the King of Thebes symbolizes an excellent ruler with a lot of confidence who is much respected by the citizens of Thebes.

2. –Evidence: the Sphinx story

He saved the city of Thebes by solving the riddle of the Sphinx. Soon after, he became the king of Thebes where he married his wife, Jocasta.

3. –His confidence = pride = ignorance

After he saves the city from Sphinx, there is another plague. The citizens of Thebes gathers and asks Oedipus to take action and he replies that he has already taken action and has sent Creon to the Oracle at Delphi. Here, it symbolizes that he is confident and has pride in himself. He was the one who saved Thebes from the last plague. So he believes he can solve the current plague as well. But after Creon comes back and tells the story that Laius was killed by a band of thieves, Oedipus behaves rashly, which represents his ignorance.

4. –possible symbolism of the plague.

The plague itself represents how Oedipus is ignorant and is controlled by his fate. Before becoming the king of Thebes, he was told he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. He decides to flee from Corinth to run away from his faith but instead, he comes across with Laius, his father, at the crossroads and kills him. And after arriving at Thebes, he solves the riddle of the Sphinx and becomes the king of Thebes, where he marries his wife, Jocasta, who happens to be his real mother. Oedipus has the power to solve the problems, but he will always be controlled by his faith.

B. Oedipus’ quest for a solution:

1. –help from Delphi

Oedipus sends Creon to meet an Oracle at Delphi. Creon returns with a message saying the plague will end when the murderer of Laius is caught and exiled from the city. Here, Oedipus promises the citizens that he will find out who killed Laius and exile the murderer out of the city. He still doesn’t know that its himself who...