Essay on Oedipus The King Role Of Gods - 1059 Words

â€Å"Gods can be evil sometimes.† In the play â€Å"Oedipus the King†, Sophocles defamed the gods’ reputation, and lowered their status by making them look harmful and evil. It is known that all gods should be perfect and infallible, and should represent justice and equity, but with Oedipus, the gods decided to destroy him and his family for no reason. It might be hard to believe that gods can have humanistic traits, but in fact they do. The gods, especially Apollo, are considered evil by the reader because they destroyed an innocent man’s life and his family. They destroyed Oedipus by controlling his fate, granting people the power of prophecy, telling Oedipus about his fate through the oracle of Apollo, and finally afflicting the people of†¦show more content†¦If there is any evil worse than the worst that a man can suffer—Oedipus has drawn it for his lot.† (p. 98) Oedipus is ashamed of himself and unsatisfied with his situation, even though it is not his fault. The gods wouldn’t have made the prophecies come true without the help of the oracle, which delivered the prophecies to Oedipus’ parents. It is obvious that the gods were planning to this fate before Oedipus’ birth, because through the oracle, they announced the two prophecies while Jocasta was pregnant. Above that, the gods didn’t mention Oedipus’ blindness in their prophecies; but instead, they mentioned only Oedipus’ shameful crimes that involved both the father and the mother. The purpose of this was to make both parents agree to kill their child, for Laius didn’t want to be murdered by his son, and Jocasta didn’t want to marry her son. This fear of terrible destiny led the parents to kill their child. On the other hand, if Laius and Jocasta hadn’t known about the prophecies, they would’ve kept the child, and thus he would know his parents, which makes it impossible for the prophecies to come true. One major aspect that caused the destruction of Oedipus and his family is Apollo’s oracle at Delphi. When Apollo’s oracle told Oedipus about the two prophecies, Oedipus tried to avoid them by moving to another city, and walked to meet his fate in Thebes. This shows Apollo’s advantageShow MoreRelatedThe Role Of The Gods In Oedipus The King By Sophocles1117 Words   |  5 PagesGreek tragedy, Oedipus the King, by the famous playwright Sophocles, that is exactly what the gods do by controlling all aspects of the Thebans’ lives. The gods in this Ancient Greek tragedy are tyrants in that they determine one’s fate with no terrestrial hope of changing it and command the Thebans to find the killer of Laius or face a crippling plague. One of the main themes of this Greek tragedy is that no one can change his or her fate that has been predetermined by the gods. 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