Profound Tragedy.
Brevis ipsa vita est sed malis fit longior
The story of Oedipus the King is truly a tragic story. In this Greek play, Oedipus lives his whole life affected by the actions taken to prevent a prophecy from occurring. The prophecy, first heard by his parents, stated that Oedipus would grow up and end up killing his father and sleeping with his mother. In order to prevent this, Oedipus's mother gave him up to be tied up and nailed to the side of a road. Unknown to her, Oedipus actually survives. Oedipus hears about the prophecy as he grows up, and takes his own precautions. Despite this, he ends up killing his father anyways, and gets married to his mother, without knowing about it. He then proceeds to destroy himself upon discovering what has happened, blinding and exiling himself.
This story is a perfect example of "when you try your best but you don't succeed," and is tragic because of it. This story reaffirms what I have already learned about tragedy. Before, I mentioned how tragedy stems from losing while there is a chance for victory. Oedipus is a clear example of this, how everything done to thwart the prophecy seems to work, but in the end, the result is the same. In addition, I have also mentioned before that I learned how tragedy stems from a character's desire to preserve his sense of dignity. Oedipus's self inflicted fate at the end of the book is undoubtedly tragic, as he fell from a position of high respect and honor, all because he has found out about the sins he has committed. All in all, I found the story of Oedipus to be one that was entertaining and one that lines up well with my current understanding of tragedy.
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AuthorSuch sad. Much tragedy. Wow. ArchivesCategories |