Free Sample Essay Example - Sophocles' Oedipus the King

This sample argumentative mythology essay analyzes Sophocles' tragedy, Oedipus the King. While some may argue that the Greek hero is responsible for his misfortunes, the paper suggests that fate is responsible for what transpires in the play. Using a persuasive style, this example paper strategically uses quotations to hammer home its point. It would be a good reference for students who want a basic template for analyzing a tragic figure.

Fated to Misery, Bereft of Responsibility - The Tale of Oedipus

Oedipus commits the heinous act of killing his father and marrying his mother. The tragic events that follow seem to be apt punishment for this sin. But in Sophocles' Oedipus the King, Oedipus is merely "a child of Fortune" (Sophocles, 1080), not guilty of his crimes because his fate was determined before birth.

In attempting to avoid his fate, Oedipus commits his crimes unknowingly. He understands the heinous nature of the crimes told in the prophecy so he "fled to somewhere where I should not see fulfilled / the infamies told in that dreaded oracle" (796-797). Oedipus deliberately defies his fate out of the hope that he will not kill his father and marry his mother - two sins that he tries to avoid at all costs. But in his earnest to avoid his fate, Oedipus stumbles into it. Had he wished to follow the oracle's words from the outset, Oedipus would have stayed in Corinth, and killed his foster father and married his adopted mother. But since Oedipus tells the messenger, "Old man I did not wish to kill my father," (1001) he tried to spare his "parents" from his unfortunate destiny. Indeed Oedipus still fears "Merope . . . Polybus' wife" (990), because he thinks that his fate will force him back to Corinth and lie with her. If Oedipus is guilty of anything it is curiosity. He admits that his parents weren't aware of his journey to the Oracle, a trip that starts him down his path to ruin. When he does meet his actual father, he kills him because "he struck me from his carriage, / full on the head with his two pointed goad" (809-810). Here Oedipus is not acting out of spite towards his actual father, but is returning blow for blow, as was common in the day. The marriage to Jocasta was also a matter of coincidence, as he wins her hand not by treachery but by saving Thebes from the Sphinx. While it is ironic that Oedipus fulfills the prophecy by attempting to avoid his fate, one cannot blame him for trying.

While Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother, he punishes himself for his arrogance towards his fate and to relieve Thebes of its suffering. When Oedipus gouges out his eyes, he explains, "they will never see the crime I had committed or had done upon me!" (1270-1271). Oedipus is ashamed of what he has done and realizes that a self-inflicted punishment is the only way to rectify the problem. When the chorus claims that he would be "better dead than blind and living" (1367), Oedipus replies that this is the best way to punish his arrogance. He tells them that "I do not know with what eyes I could look" (1371) upon his parents, "those two to whom I have done things deserving worse punishment than hanging" (1373). Oedipus, while not responsible for his crimes, feels that he is dishonoring the parents that raised him by foolishly defying his fate. He also realizes that he is reason the city suffers, and that he "robbed [his] miserable self" (1380) of anything pleasurable when "I commanded all to drive him out, / the criminal since proved by God impure" (1381). His crimes pre-ordained, Oedipus was a hazard to Thebes before he set foot in the city. He hopes to "live in the mountains where Cithaeron is," (1451) so he can "die by their decree who sought / indeed to kill me" (1454-1455). Oedipus asks for exile on behalf of the city, so that it will no longer suffer. Seeing what has transpired, Oedipus realizes that a higher power is responsible for his destiny and his crimes.

Apollo holds ultimate responsibility for Oedipus' crimes because Oedipus is a mere pawn in the god's plan to punish Thebes. If Oedipus were guilty of his sins, Apollo would have punished him directly. But Oedipus notes that while it was "Apollo / that brought this bitter bitterness, my sorrows to completion" (1330), "the hand that struck me was none but my own" (1331). Oedipus' does not suffer the divine wrath of Apollo, but instead inflicts his own punishment. Apollo's wrath seems to fall upon Thebes, which suffers because of Oedipus' presence. The chorus suspects a god is at work against the city when they claim that "a War God ringed with the cries of men, a savage God who burns / us" (191) is responsible for the city's plagues. Apollo punishes the city further by having their king, a man known for greatness, be the pollution "which holds [Thebes] in this destroying storm" (101-102). But Oedipus would not have come to Thebes had Apollo's oracle told him that he was "fated to lie with [his] mother" (791) and "doomed to be the murderer of the father that begot [him]" (793-794). As a result of this, Oedipus unknowingly becomes an instrument of Apollo, sent to Thebes to punish the city.

It could be argued that Oedipus' arrogant personality brings about his own misery, making him directly responsible for his sins. Arrogance and egotism did sit well in Greek society, as the Chorus explains that "insolence breeds the tyrant" (874) and that "if a man walks with haughtiness . . . may an evil doom smite him for his ill-starred pride of heart!" (885-888). Oedipus is arrogant and unbending; he refers to himself as "Oedipus, whom all men call the Great" (8), and asks his subjects "why do you sit here with your suppliant crowns?" (2) as if they were mortals pleading to a god. Oedipus' pride is stoked by the people of Thebes, as the priest tells him that "it was God / that aided you men say, and you are held / with God's assistance to have saved our lives" (38-40). As a result of this, Oedipus makes lofty proclamations - he tells the people that the murderer of Laius will "wear out his life / in misery to miserable doom" (247-248) - but does little to ameliorate the situation in Thebes. It would seem that Oedipus is receiving his just reward for his treatment of others, especially when he tells Creon that his only choice is to kill or banish him for supposed treachery. Oedipus also insists that he "must be ruler" (628), despite the fact that he shares equal power with Creon. The Chorus tells Oedipus that "those who are quick of temper are not safe," (617) a warning Oedipus fails to heed. Yet despite his pride and arrogance - which are looked down upon - Oedipus' triumph over the Sphinx trumps his personal flaws. The priest reminds Oedipus that "your coming saved our city from that which we paid of old to the Sphinx," (35-37) which is the only reason Oedipus became king in the first place. It was through heroism that Oedipus inherited the throne of Thebes, not through treachery or arrogance. Unfortunately while Oedipus is considered the "noblest of men" (46) he is undone by a "terrible oracle . . . from the Gods" (992) without even a chance for redemption.

While Oedipus committed serious crimes, he did them unwillingly and out of ignorance. In fact, Oedipus does not gather condemnation from the people - only pity. As the Chorus tells him: "Indeed I pity you, but I cannot / look at you, though there's much I want to ask / and much to learn and much to see" (1303-1305). Oedipus, once a king, is now a broken man and serves as a lesson to Thebes rather than an object of hatred.

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