Critique of the play OEDIPUS REX - Essay Example

Topic: Teacher: Prophecies in Oedipus Rex Oedipus meets Teiresias, the seer who is blind but is famous for prophesyingtrue. Oedipus tries to ask truth about Laius’s murder but the seer tells him a prophecy and also informs that the murderer of Laius is present in the court. Teiresias says,“To a strange land he soon shall grope his way. And of the children, inmates of his home, He shall be proved the brother and the sire, Of her who bare him son and husband both” (Sophocles 1972, Act I)Teiresias informs Oedipus about a prophecy in which, he says that the murderer of Laius will come to a new land unknown to him and will come to his own land.

With the passage of time, he will be proved a person belonging to the family, he will be brother and caretaker and he will be son and husband both. The quotation lays ground for the story to proceed. It is the prophecy on which, the story is based. It is linked to the topic of the paper, as it is the main prophecy.Oedipus is worried about the prophecy told by Teiresias at which, Jocasta tries to sooth Oedipus by telling him the prophecy told to her husband. Jocasta says,“The child should be his fathers murderer, Or the dread terror find accomplishment, And Laius be slain by his own son.

 Such was the prophets horoscope.” (Sophocles 1972, Act II)According to the prophecy told to Laius, the child who was born in Laius’s home was to kill his father at maturity and will regard this act as an accomplishment. Jocasta treated this prophecy as a lie told by the soothsayer as according to her knowledge, robbers killed her husband. This is again the prophecy that Oedipus listened before but Jocasta is not aware of the truth. This relates to the topic, as it is again a prophecy told a long time ago and matches Teiresias’s prophecy.

Oedipus is worried because of prophecies and asks Jocasta as to what wrong has he done with anyone to receive such a fortune. Oedipus says,“Am I not utterly unclean, a wretch Doomed to be banished, and in banishment Forgo the sight of all my dearest ones, And never tread again my native earth; Or else to wed my mother and slay my sire” (Sophocles 1972, Act II)Oedipus informs Jocasta about his wretchedness as according to a prophecy, it was in his fortune to be banished from his native land and stay away from his parents.

He has to leave his beloved ones only because of a prophecy that told him that he would kill his father and marry his mother. This quotation is linked to the topic because it is again a prophecy due to which, Oedipus has to travel to another land by leaving his parents who have fostered him. It is this fear due to which, the prophecy comes out to be true.Oedipus meets with the herdsman to obtain truth about his past. After gaining information about his past and his origin, Oedipus says,“Ah me! ah me! all brought to pass, all true!

O light, may I behold thee nevermore! I stand a wretch, in birth, in wedlock cursed, A parricide, incestuously, triply cursed!” (Sophocles 1972, Act II)Oedipus laments on listening to the truth and speaks about his worsened state. He says that everything told to him is true and he is a cursed creature because his birth, his kingdom and his wedding, all were for his ill fate. He took birth with bad luck, killed his father and was involved in an incestuous relationship with his mother due to which, he thought that he is cursed trice.

This quote is important for the story as it proves the prophecy to be true. This is related to the topic, as the prophecy mentioned earlier is proved true here.Works CitedSophocles. Oedipus, The King. Translated by F. Storr. University of Minnesota Press, 1972.