Eras Communicate Together Through Oedipus

Eras Communicate Together Through Oedipus

“A tragic play should make the audience feel both pity and fear. The
play Oedipus the King, by Sophocles does just that.” This quote was
stated by Aristotle about the play Oedipus the King. Aristotle had
often documented the tragedy of this play in his writings as an
incredible calamity. This is an incredible achievement for the play,
because Aristotle was one of the most well known, accomplished Greek
philosophers of all time, as well as being a student of the renowned
Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. It is likewise regarded
with equally high esteem in today’s literary circles. Sophocles’
Oedipus Rex has withstood the test of time because of the theme -
there are no boundaries for fate, but there are for free will.
Furthermore, the relationships in the play and Oedipus’s role as a
tragic figure captivate the audiences regardless of the time period
in which it being read.
“You are fated to couple your mother, you will bring / children
into the world that no one can bare to see / you will kill your
father, the one who gave you life! I heard that and ran, I abandoned
Corinth (Sophocles, Ln. 873-876).” This quote was spoken by Oedipus
when he informs Jocasta of his dreadful past. This ties into the
theme of the endless boundaries of fate and the border line of fate,
because Oedipus is telling Jocasta about how he heard his impending
fate from the Oracle and tries to run away from Corinth in fear. When
Oedipus learns that he is fated to kill his father and marry his
mother, he can only think of running away, in order to protect his
parents and to prevent the prophesy from coming to pass. This is
dramatic irony, because the audience knows that Oedipus, while trying
to flee from his parents in Corinth, is actually running toward his
fate by going to Thebes where his biological parents are located.
Oedipus later finds out that even though he escaped his fate when he
was born...

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