Oedipus The King

2 Pages 493 Words

What a Tale!

Destiny, incest, and irony are just a few words that describe this breath-taking tale. Who would of thought that the story of “Oedipus the King” would be so interesting. From my research, I discovered that this tale was written by Sophocles between 441-427 B.C.E (Oedipus 2). The meaning of the story simply says that even if one tries to change their destiny, one will not succeed (Oedipus). In this story, the king and queen of Thebes ordered their servant to get rid of Oedipus, their son, because of the oracle of Delphi prophecy (son will marry his other and produce offspring with her). Surprisingly, the servant could not kill the child so he left child to be found by someone. Luckily enough, a shepherd discovered the child and gave Oedipus to the king and queen of Cornith. There Oedipus grew up thinking that the couple was his true family. As Oedipus grew up, he began to question his relation to the king and queen of Cornith. To solve this problem, he visited the oracle of Delphi. There, Oedipus was told that he would marry his mother and produce offspring with her. Not knowing who his real parents were, Oedipus feared the prophecy and did not return home. In his search for a new home, he got into some trouble. Oedipus mistakenly killed an old, which turned out to be his father. From the altercation he headed for the city of Thebes. As Oedipus journeyed to Thebes he came upon the Sphinx. The Sphinx told him if he answered the riddle correctly he could pass, but if answered wrong the Sphinx would eat him. Oedipus quickly answered the question and the Sphinx died. Soon the city was amazed by his conquest and made him the new king who just happened to be Laius’s thrown. With king Laius’s thrown, Oedipus married his mother Jocasta. Oedipus ruled the kingdom fairly and four children, until one day things went wrong. A plaque took over the city and the townspeople wanted him to put a stop to it. As a result ...