However, the play goes even further than these hints in demonstrating the irrelevance of any supernatural force to the story's action when Tiresias mocks Oedipus for suggesting that the blind seer is the source of the plague (Sophocles 27). When Oedipus accuses Tiresias of a being "a conspirator" to Laius' murder due to his reluctance to tell what he knows, Tiresias responds by asking "Sooth sayest thou?" (Sophocles 26-27). While

Oedipus Fate and Destiny The ideas of fate and destiny were a consuming topic for the Greeks. Their pantheistic understanding of heaven included gods who toyed with humans for their own covert pleasures. The Greeks built a society which sought to understand the nature of men. Were men free, or did the god's ultimately hold their finger on the pulse of the universe, directing even the most insignificant actions according to some

Oedipus also chose not to ask questions regarding his past, although this might be ascribed to the fact that he did not know to ask in the first place. It was his choice to leave his adopted family to escape the prophesy that he knows about. The adopted family however choose even at this point not to inform Oedipus of the true nature of his fate. Another choice that Oedipus

Q: There is a good deal in the play about seeing and blindness. What purpose does this serve? How is Oedipus contrasted with Teiresias? How does Oedipus at the beginning of the play contrast with the Oedipus at the end? Why is his blinding himself dramatically appropriate? A: The physical conditions of sight and blindness in the play serve symbolic functions, particularly as these conditions manifest themselves in Oedipus himself. Oedipus

Despite his love of the estate, the future is far better and far more promising than the Russia of the previous era. Another tragic feature of Ranevskaya's character that makes her uniquely 'modern' is that she knows her flaws. She admits that she squanders money, while Oedipus seems unaware of his arrogance until the very end of the play. Chekhov's subtlety as a playwright is that he knows that people

Oedipus: Self-Made Disaster In Sophocles' play, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus takes fate into his own hands and demonstrates the power of the human will. Oedipus illustrates how we may not always be in control of our destinies, regardless of our efforts. The play is ironic in this sense because Oedipus already had the best "fate" any man in his position could hope for with a beautiful loving wife and a community that