A Study of the Meaning of Oedipus Rex (Research Paper Sample)

A Study of the Meaning of Oedipus Rex 

The Author gives a critical analysis of what Sophocles tried to imply by using the character Oedipus. One projection is presented by H.F Kitto. He argues that there is a possibility that that the gods had contrived this awful fate for Oedipus in order to display their power to man and to teach him a salutary lesson . He immediately challenges his ideology by posing Oedipus character as part of an exciting drama that is meant to leave philosophical inferences unexplored.
In real sense, Oedipus is a character that represents an all round able human being but still suffers tragedy. His tragedy is also observed as a proportionate to defects in his character. (Pride, passion and curiosity). Without any reasonable doubt, Sophocles meant to represent Oedipus as rushing toward his terrible doom unawares, recoiling with horror from his crimes, and yet assuming full responsibility for his action. The missing part is an analysis on whether Oedipus should have been held guilty for sins that were unconsciously committed.
According to Whitney Oates, Oedipus in some sense is presented as master of his own destiny, or else it is meaningless that at the end of the play he does not excuse himself by pleading that he did not know what he was doing, but rather accepts full responsibility as a moral agent for all his acts, whether done in ignorance or not. However, there are scholars that believe Oedipus and his fate are a mere coincidence or rather a frightful work of accident. In addition, they claim that Aristotle taught that characters like Oedipus need to be avoided in a story. Questions