Sophocles himself being a man of God and considered part of the Athenian elite. His birth and death dates correspond almost exactly to the beginning and end of the Golden Age of Athens (480 B.C.-404 B.C.), a period when the city enjoyed unprecedented cultural and political supremacy in the Greek world. Born into a wealthy and respected family, Sophocles was renowned for his amiability and gentlemanly behavior. As a member of the Athenian elite, he held important political positions; in addition, he showed his devotion to traditional religion by serving as a priest of the healing deity Amynos. His writing style often described as;
“…a sensitive hand passing over a Greek marble can feel its inexhaustible energy. Sophocles has the same perfect …show more content…
All these adjectives can be assigned to the underlying main character in this play; and often in our entire lives. Fate is who we speak of, a recurring topic in Sophocles’ acclaimed tragedy “Oedipus the King”. The currents that carry Oedipus through his journey of self-discovery often take unexpected and surprising curves, nothing less expected from a masterful tragedy of this caliber. The plot twists and turns around the characters, themselves submitting themselves to the endless waves of fate’s ripples. The play’s main plot is a clever paradox, brought to creation by Oedipus’ wishes to prove the oracle’s predictions wrong. Assuming fate is a reality, the concept of predestination comes into play. Sophocles explores the fine line between fate and predestination quite expansively, as Apollo delivers onto Laius the prophecy of his own patricide, himself attempting to curb his fate, but ultimately failing. This brings to question if Oedipus was fated into his quest, as his survival relied entirely on chance, as was his meeting with his then lover and mother; Jocasta. The conflict that rises between fate and chance is the seed of doubt that lies planted in the modern reader’s mind, along with the concept of the existence of free
“…a sensitive hand passing over a Greek marble can feel its inexhaustible energy. Sophocles has the same perfect …show more content…
All these adjectives can be assigned to the underlying main character in this play; and often in our entire lives. Fate is who we speak of, a recurring topic in Sophocles’ acclaimed tragedy “Oedipus the King”. The currents that carry Oedipus through his journey of self-discovery often take unexpected and surprising curves, nothing less expected from a masterful tragedy of this caliber. The plot twists and turns around the characters, themselves submitting themselves to the endless waves of fate’s ripples. The play’s main plot is a clever paradox, brought to creation by Oedipus’ wishes to prove the oracle’s predictions wrong. Assuming fate is a reality, the concept of predestination comes into play. Sophocles explores the fine line between fate and predestination quite expansively, as Apollo delivers onto Laius the prophecy of his own patricide, himself attempting to curb his fate, but ultimately failing. This brings to question if Oedipus was fated into his quest, as his survival relied entirely on chance, as was his meeting with his then lover and mother; Jocasta. The conflict that rises between fate and chance is the seed of doubt that lies planted in the modern reader’s mind, along with the concept of the existence of free