Oedipus Rex

“Oedipus Rex Essay”

In this essay of Oedipus Rex there are four characteristics I will discuss. The first

characteristic I will discuss is if the story of Oedipus Rex is an example of a Greek

tragedy and if so what is the fundamental tragedy. Next I will describe the basic tension

in this play. The third characteristic I will explain is what motivation I find in the

character Oedipus and last but not least I will give a character Analysis on the character

Jocasta.

The play Oedipus Rex is a clear example of a Greek tragedy, as you read

thorough the story you first find out that Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta, who

were the king and queen of Thebes, a town in Greece. After Oedipus was born an oracle

prophesied the boy would grow up and kill his father and marry his mother. As a result of

this Laius and Jocasta decided to kill Oedipus. They eventually took Oedipus into the

wilderness and left him to die. This being at the beginning of the story it begins to tell

you that this story is bound to be a tragic one. The tragic plot only thickens from this

point. The story goes on to tell you that Oedipus is found by a shepherd and given to a

friend and then taken to the town of Corinth, were the king and queen of Corinth later

adopted him, because they could not bore a child of their own. The story continues on to

tell of him never finding out the truth of his adoption. Once again in the story the plot

begins to thicken even more. It goes on to say that Oedipus comes upon an old man on

the road and he gets into a bitter quarrel over something. The quarrel then turns into a

fight and in the end the old man and his servants lie dead on the road. Little did Oedipus know but the old man he had killed was his father and also the king of Thebes. The story

goes on to tell how Oedipus goes on to become the king of Thebes and marry Jocasta. He

later has four children with her and he vows to find out who killed Jocasta’s late husband

in his attempts to find the culprit, he begins to see the resemblance between what had

happened and what he had done. It’s not until the Sheppard who originally found

Oedipus is questioned that the truth is finally revealed. This is where the story comes to a

tragic