Oedipus Rex Essay, Research Paper

In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus tried to make the world that he lived better by trying to kill people that he thought made the problems in the city.He said that he wanted to find the men who were responsible for the plague in the city. Then he would kill them and get rid of the problem. He also said that he wanted to rid the city of all the people that were causing all the pollution in the city. He planed to do this by killing them all.Then the prophet, Teiresais came to him and told him that he couldn’t do this. He said the reason that he couldn’t do this was that he was the problem. But Oedipus did not believe him. He then killed an innocent shepherd for no apparent reason. He also slept with his mother and killed his father in the play. The prophet had said this would happen so he did it. I think he figured it was his fate so he just did it. Then to top it all of he decided to punish him self by gouging out his eyes. I really see no point in what he did in any part of the play. I really don’t think that he had the right to try and change the city by killing anyone who he thought was corrupting or polluting the city. It shows that he was very stubborn in his ways. He didn’t even stop to think of what he was doing. He was killing innocent people an obvious crime against the state and religion. And with his own views on this he should have realized that he is going against all that he stands for. He is trying to get rid of people that are just like him. Now on to him killing his father and sleeping with his mother. This is wrong no matter how you look at it. This is again a crime against religion. Even if the prophet said that this was to happen he doesn’t have to go out of his way to do it. He should have just been patient and let his fate happen. Now his gouging out his eyes to punish himself is a ridiculous thing to do. He should have thought about what a burden this would be on others around him. For example how this would effect his daughter. He should have asked himself how her life would be if she had to guide him around all the time. Maybe then he wouldn’t have done such a stupid thing. In my personal opinion on Oedipus, I think he was a pathetic man. He sdidn’t care how his actions would effect others. He also didn’t take the time to see if he was doing things that were actually going against his own beliefs. Oedipus was also very stubborn in that he wouldn’t listen to what the prophet had to tell him. If he wasn’t so narrow minded maybe he would have lived a happier life and not brought so much sorrow to the people around him.