The Themes in Oedipus Rex Essays -- Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

The Themes in Oedipus Rex Sophocles tragedy, Oedipus Rex, contains one main theme, which this essay will consider. The theme is the general principle or belief implicit in the drama, which the author seeks to make persuasive to the reader (Abrams 170). In Sophocles Moral Themes Robert D. Murray Jr. cites a critic who is strictly moralist in the interpretation of the theme of Oedipus Rex Let C. M. Bowra speak for the moralists The central idea of a Sophoclean tragedy is that through suffering a man learns to be depleted before the gods. . . . When the characters are finally forced to see the truth, we know that the gods have prevailed and that men must accept their own insignificance. In short, for Bowra, the essence of each make of Sophocles is a message urging humility and piety (45). Van Nortwick, seemingly in support of Bowra, describes Oedipus tragic flaw as something equivalent to the lack of military reserve before the gods which Bowra refers to As ruler, he is a father to Thebes and its citizens, and like a father he will take care of his children. We see already the authoritative self-confidence and ease of command in Oedipus, who can address not only other peoples children as his own, but also be a father to men older than he is. But beyond even this there is, in the sretched posture of the citizens, the hint of prostration before a deity. We are clinging to your altars, says the priest. . . . That he also exudes a godlike dominance in the eyes of his subjects only strengthens the heroic portrait. . . .(21-22). The godlike mastery to which Van Nortwick refers is the same mastery which Creon in his final lines designates as the cause of the... ...of Oedipus Rex, edited by Michael J. OBrien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Jevons, Frank B. In Sophoclean Tragedy, Humans Create Their Own Fate. In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA Greenhaven Press, 1997. Murray, Robert D. Jr. Sophocles Moral Theme s. In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA Greenhaven Press, 1997. Sophocles In Literature of the Hesperian World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984. Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Transl. by F. Storr. no pag. http//etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed new?tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&part=0&id=SopOedi Van Nortwick, Thomas. Oedipus The inwardness of a Masculine Life. Norman, OK University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.