The Tragic Fate of Oedipus the King

In the play Oedipus the King, Oedipus the main character meets with a

tragic fate. In the beginning he is a mighty king, ruler of the city of

Thebes. Then the people of Thebes come to him with a problem. The city is

tragically on the surge of death. Oedipus, being the mighty king he is, is

determined to solve the problem. Oedipus saved the city once before and

became a hero. Now faced with this problem he would like to be a hero

again, but things don't always take a turn out good.

When the priest and the people of Thebes come to Oedipus, the

priest tells Oedipus, "Your own eyes must tell you: Thebes is in her

extremity and cannot lift her head from the surge of death." (802). They

then tell Oedipus that they know he is a great king and they turn to him to

find a remedy. Oedipus saved the city once before from the Sphinx by

solving the riddle and destroying her. Now faced with this new problem he

has no choice but to solve the problem and save the city once again.

Oedipus then sends his brother Creon to get whatever information he

can. Creon leaves the city and then comes back with some information. He

tells Oedipus that the gods command them to expel from the land of Thebes

an old defilement that it seems they shelter. The gods tell them to take

revenge upon whoever killed there past king. Oedipus, now the mighty king,

is determined to find out what happened. He says, "Then once more I must

bring what is dark to light. You shall see how I stand by you, as I should,

to avenge the city and the city's god." (804).

The first thing Oedipus does is to call on Teiresias who is the

holy prophet in whom, alone of all men, truth was born. When Teiresias

arrives he tells Oedipus, " Let me go home. Bear your own fate, and I'll

bear mine. It is better so: trust what I say." (808). Oedipus can not

accept this and demands to know what Teiresias knows. He calls Teiresias a

wicked man and tells him he has no feeling. Teiresias still refuses and

then Oedipus charges Teiresias with the crime. Teiresias then tells

Oedipus what he knows, "I say that you are the murderer whom you seek."

(809). Oedipus can not believe this and then says, "Are you speaking for

Creon, or for yourself?" Oedipus is in so disbelief he blames Creon of the

crime thinking that Creon did it for wealth, power, and the king's position.

When Creon hears this he goes to Oedipus and tells him that he is

innocent and that he can't believe that Oedipus would blame him of this

crime. Oedipus asks him about Teiresias and why didn't he tell him this

news before. Oedipus says, why did Teiresias keep this news about me to

himself? Creon then says, they asked him before and the prophet did not

speak of you. Then Oedipus says, " If he were not involved with you, he

could not say that it was I who murdered the king." (814). Creon then

tells Oedipus that he wouldn't even want to be king. He wouldn't want that