Oedipus Essay

Oedipus killed his father and had a family with his mother and the gods saw to it that he punished for it. I don't think that he blinded and banished himself on his own will, I would think that the gods had something to do with that.
             The concept of good and evil in the plays is basically what we see as right and wrong today. This is evident through good and evil characters, sometimes the characters may even come through as good in one play and bad in the other. .
             In "Oedipus the King," Oedipus is portrayed as a relatively bad person. He could be characterized as a very arrogant ruler. He denies even the possibility that he killed his father even though he has killed someone in the past. He invited Tiresias into the palace to find out what he knows about the murder of the past King, and as soon as the fingers started to get point at him he became furious. Just to so he could have the last words, as Tiresias was leaving, Oedipus says "Yes, take him home. Good riddance too! You"re nothing but a nuisance here, one I can do without." Then Creon on the other hand, is the good guy. He steps in as the ruler of Thebes when Oedipus realized what he has done. He follows the last wishes of Oedipus and the wishes of the gods. This "good guy" quality will change to the opposite in the other two plays.
             In "Oedipus at Colonus," Creon kidnaps Oedipus's two daughters in order to per sway Oedipus to come to Thebes with him. The reason for doing this is that an oracle said that whoever had Oedipus on their side would win the civil war that was occurring between the two sons of Oedipus. Not such a good guy now is he. Theseus, the King of Athens, is seen as the perfect ruler. He comes when people ask for him and stands up for what is right. After Creon kidnaps Oedipus's daughters, Theseus dispatches his troops to bring them back. Polyneices is seen as bad. He plots war against his brother who cast him from his city.