Oedipus rex
Come on this happens all the time boy meets father, boy kills father, boy marries mother and has children with her...Ok well its not quite so everday, as you might think, but it's the basic plot of Oedipus Rex, except for the brutal ending. Now for how the plot actually goes, how this seemingly simple (albeit twisted) story comes off as a type of murder mystery. Thebes is being visited with harsh times, and Oedipus being the good Greek king that he is sends a messager to the oracle to find out how to save his city. The messager comes back and says they have to find the one who killed the king before Oedipus, King Laios. Now the play becomes a hunt for the killer with the unknowing killer doing most of the hunting. Oedipus does everything he can to find the killer he even gos to a seer Teieresias who knows but wont tell him because he believes it's too horrible, but he doe give him all the clues and basically tells him what will happen to him later in life. Oedipus even admits killing a man on the highway but because some other guy told a story where he was killed by a group of marauders they don't think it is him. And he meets the messenger and keeps finding clues that point to himself. Then the sheperd comes and he finally figures out what the audience already knew, he killed his father on the highway, he married his mother. Then he goes blind and becomes a wanderer. Oh happy ending!
posted by IPDB @ 9:37 AM
2 Comments:
Well, for disagreements sake... I think it is a fairly common story, to realize that there is nothing you could have done to stop your future from happening, look at the Matrix, Neo is the one, there is nothing he can do about they fact that he has to die to free everyone from the matrix, he just accepts his fate and goes on with it. Or I guess we will see when HP 7 comes out, but it seems that Harry is going to have to face his destiny and fulfill his prophecy. Life is about fulfilling dreams, wishes, desires, parents desires, etc and making that your life. How can you escape what you are destined to do, you are called to fulfill certain expectations at home, school, work or face the consequences. We are all tied to our fate and it sucks to realize there is nothing we can do to change it.
Ann
I agree with you that this story is uncommon by our standards. However, I think this is exactly the kind of story the Greeks used to live by. It is a classic tale of a man that tries to escape his destiny. Like many Greek tragedies, I think that this story is very typical for its use of dramatic irony. The entire time the audience is aware of te fact that Oedipus killed his father. Also, there is a sense that one can not escape one's destiny. This is a very common belief in ancient Greek society. In these two aspects, this play is very much like other works of this time.
Post a Comment
<< Home