To their dismay, the oracle prophesies that Oedipus will grow up to kill Laius and marry Jocasta. Thus, Laius and Jocasta decide to have a servant leave their child on a mountain to be killed by animals. ... Jocasta is the first to realize that she and Laius are responsible for their own demise. Shameful, embarrassed, and horrified, she tries to hide the truth from Oedipus: JOCASTA: Doomed man! ... JOCASTA: O lost and damned! ...

• Word Count: 1019
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

It is the foolishness and stubbornness of many of the characters such as Oedipus and Jocasta that led to the downfall of Oedipus and the shame and destruction of his House. Jocasta and Laius were told of a prophecy from the Delphi. ... Dumbfounded, Laius told Jocasta to take the infant, Oedipus, to the top of Mount Cithaeron to die from the elements. ... By doing this, he was elected King of Thebes and married the widow of Laius, Jocasta. ... Jocasta, Laius, the Oracles, the shepherd who served Jocasta and Laius, and the actions Oedipus took to avoid a prophecy actually led to it coming true...

• Word Count: 785
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Jocasta also seems to be scared and in denial of the truth. ... Jocasta would rather ignore fate while Oedipus would rather discover the truth and accept his fate. ... Jocasta, who also received the prophecy, took action and ordered to have her son banished/killed, yet she did not make sure and see that the order was carried out. ... If Jocasta had believed that she controlled her future Oedipus would never have been sent away, he wouldn't have doubted who his parents were, would have been able to make an informed decision in whether or not he wanted to kill his father and whether or no...

• Word Count: 709
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

To destroy Oedipus, the gods granted the power of prophecy to oracles that delivered these prophecies to Laius and Jocasta. ... It is obvious that the gods were planning to this fate before Oedipus' birth, because through the oracle, they announced the two prophecies while Jocasta was pregnant. ... The purpose of this was to make both parents agree to kill their child, for Laius didn't want to be murdered by his son, and Jocasta didn't want to marry her son. ... On the other hand, if Laius and Jocasta hadn't known about the prophecies, they would've kept the child, and...

• Word Count: 1081
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In the beginning, Laius and Jocasta, Oedipus's parents, had a chance to prevent the realization of their son's "destiny", but their actions did otherwise. ... What Laius and Jocasta could have done to wipe out any chance of him killing Laius and marrying Jocasta was to kill Oedipus themselves. ...

• Word Count: 729
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

After speaking with the messenger from Corinth who was an actual witness to his being given away by Jocasta, he still must hear it from the mouth of the shepherd who found him as a baby. Despite Jocasta having already pieced together the tragic events which had occurred Oedipus sticks to his ideas to the very end, his pride guiding his path. ...

• Word Count: 859
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Tiresias, Jocasta, and the herdsman all try numerous times to stop Oedipus and his pursuit of the truth. After realizing that the prophecy has come true, Jocasta begs him to let the mystery go unsolved. ...

• Word Count: 852
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the plays "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone", there is one reoccurring theme, which is represented in numerous ways. This theme is justice, but whether to follow the laws of man or the laws of the gods is a different matter. Apollo is the god of truth, light, medicine, and intelligence, being mentioned...

• Word Count: 984
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

In the play "Oedipus the King" Sophocles depicts Oedipus' inevitable downfall, which represents man's struggle between free will and fate. In an attempt to use the audience's knowledge to his advantage, Sophocles opens the play seventeen years after Oedipus murders his father, Laius and marries his ...

• Word Count: 631
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate