Oedipus, the King (Response to Karlos Bautista)
I agree with Karlos Bautista’s ideas that Oedipus’s attempts to escape prophecy are futile and his notion that the gods in Oedipus the King are omnipotent. My response delves further into the topics discussed in Karlos’s commentary:
Oedipus believes that he escaped his fate by running away from Corinth, when in reality he was running directly to his fate in Thebes. It is dangerous for Oedipus to want no mystery in who is the source of the corruption and it is even more dangerous for him to deny the prophecy of Apollo. Oedipus addresses the Chorus after he learns of the death of King Laius. Oedipus says, “I will speak out now as a stranger to the story, a stranger to the crime. If I’d been present then, there would have been no mystery, no long hunt without a clue in hand.”(Sophocles 248-251). Oedipus basically …show more content…
If I had been king at that time, there would be no conundrum, no chase without a single hint. Sophocles uses irony to show how Oedipus does not realize that he has already fulfilled the prophecy that he tried to run away from. This is dangerous because the gods are punishing Oedipus’s city of Thebes for his wrongdoing. Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the source of the corruption and Oedipus does not take it well, “I say you are the murderer you hunt. That obscenity, twice – by god, you’ll pay.”(Sophocles 413-414). This quote can be paraphrased as; I am telling you that you are the criminal you wish curses upon. That profanity, two times – by god you’ll atone. Sophocles depicts Oedipus trying to deny his fate. Oedipus does not want to be the murderer of Laius because that would mean the prophecy about him was fulfilled. Sophocles is sending the
I agree with Karlos Bautista’s ideas that Oedipus’s attempts to escape prophecy are futile and his notion that the gods in Oedipus the King are omnipotent. My response delves further into the topics discussed in Karlos’s commentary:
Oedipus believes that he escaped his fate by running away from Corinth, when in reality he was running directly to his fate in Thebes. It is dangerous for Oedipus to want no mystery in who is the source of the corruption and it is even more dangerous for him to deny the prophecy of Apollo. Oedipus addresses the Chorus after he learns of the death of King Laius. Oedipus says, “I will speak out now as a stranger to the story, a stranger to the crime. If I’d been present then, there would have been no mystery, no long hunt without a clue in hand.”(Sophocles 248-251). Oedipus basically …show more content…
If I had been king at that time, there would be no conundrum, no chase without a single hint. Sophocles uses irony to show how Oedipus does not realize that he has already fulfilled the prophecy that he tried to run away from. This is dangerous because the gods are punishing Oedipus’s city of Thebes for his wrongdoing. Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the source of the corruption and Oedipus does not take it well, “I say you are the murderer you hunt. That obscenity, twice – by god, you’ll pay.”(Sophocles 413-414). This quote can be paraphrased as; I am telling you that you are the criminal you wish curses upon. That profanity, two times – by god you’ll atone. Sophocles depicts Oedipus trying to deny his fate. Oedipus does not want to be the murderer of Laius because that would mean the prophecy about him was fulfilled. Sophocles is sending the