Oedipus The King

5 Pages 1190 Words

-----means new paragraph------I thought Oedipus the King was a good story. I think it was smart of Sophocles to pick out the most significant, life altering phase in Oedipus’ life to bring to the stage. I also really respect how Sophocles took the myth of Oedipus and put all of the details of the story into it. I think it’s somewhat amazing how he took something that supposedly happened and gave the people exact dialogue and specific feelings. I realize that Oedipus the King is only a myth and that all Sophocles needed was a creative mind, but I still respect him. ----------------------
Being as Oedipus the King’s storyline was already laid out, I can’t blame Sophocles for some of the events I didn’t agree with. First of all, I know I shouldn’t laugh at this myth because the ancient Greeks actually believed it, but I did. The Sphinx was a monster with the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of a bird. I just think it’s weird that someone would actually make up a story with something like the Sphinx in it. It sounds like something out of a science fiction story, and I just don’t like science fiction. Next, why did Oedipus gouge his eyes out? I understand why Oedipus would do something so drastic in the instant he learned the foul deeds he committed, but I thought he would have killed himself just as his mom/wife Jocasta did. That is, until I realized in a way he wanted to suffer because he believed he deserved it.--------------
Finally, there was one part of Oedipus the King that I didn’t like and can blame on Sophocles. That was the part where the chorus seems to go on and on about the gods and how Apollo and Zeus should save them. They chanted on about how they would never go to Delphi or another temple if Oedipus’ story wouldn’t come true. I did not like reading that part at all and consider it a waste of Sophocles’ talent. ----------------
In Oedipus the King, I thought Oedipus ...