Sophocles Oedipus the King as Nothing More Than a...

Sophocles Oedipus the King as Nothing More Than a Detective Story The play â€Å"Oedipus the King† is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles in the early days of antiquity and is based upon an ancient story in Greek mythology. It was written around a time when Rome was in power and Athens was the centre of the world. In this time, people believed that the Gods controlled all and that fate and destiny could never be escaped. Based on the title of this essay, I do believe that the play â€Å"Oedipus the King† contains some of the qualities that a detective story holds, however I do not think it entirely mirrors one. As with any story, a good plot is essential. It is just as important for the†¦show more content†¦Sophocles manages to intertwine a main plot and a sub plot into one, making the story easy to understand. The opening of the play begins with the terrible plague on the city of Thebes and all the troubles that have arisen as a result from that. Sophocles employs an ingenious method of having two storylines that run together to make one. No matter how abstract the combination may seem, the plague at the beginning of the play leads to the events at the end. All good tragedies need a good tragic hero and Oedipus is the quintessential tragic hero possessing all the qualities that would make him such. He has the fatal flaw, which contributes to the downward spiral of events and subsequently his own ruin. It is arguable just exactly what his fatal flaw is, it may be his short temper, his hubris (intentionally dishonouring behaviour), and possibly his homartia among other things. Homartia is usually taken to mean a moral fault such as pride and when things go wrong it is usually quoted as being the cause. A tragic hero must not be â€Å"pre- eminently virtuous and just† which again applies to Oedipus. This tragedy is of the calibre that it is because the audience may sympathise with him because for all his faults Oedipus can be seen as a good man. His destruction does not only come as a result of the bad action that he did, namely the incest andShow MoreRelatedFate and Ignorance in Oedipus Rex Essay2564 Words   |  11 Pages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Oedipus Rex is a story that can be interpreted on many different levels of thinking. The ancient tale has existed for centuries and has been subjected to countless forms of analysis. What is it that makes Oedipus the King such a fascinating story? Is it the suspense of a developing mystery that captivates the audience? Or perhaps the wonderful feeling the readers get after vicariously experiencing the horror Oedipus feels? And if not that, could it be that the reader is intrigued at SophoclesRead More A Rebuttal to E. R. Dodds On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex2978 Words   |  12 PagesA Rebuttal to E. R. Dodds On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex In On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex, E. R. Dodds takes issue with three different opinions on Oedipus Rex. I consider the first two opinions, which Dodds gleaned from student papers, to be defensible from a close reading of the text. The first of these opinions is that Oedipus was a bad man, and was therefore punished by the gods; Dodds counters that Sophocles intended for us to regard him as good, noble, and selfless. But