Sophocles' Oedipus the King perpetuates this ideology that the title character pursues a path which happens to be foretold. Oedipus was determined to save his city and discover his identity, however he ultimately assists in his own downfall. Oedipus' fall from his kingly status was not by accident or because of some other person. Oedipus is the only one that can be blamed for his misfortune. Oedipus' character traits are shown most clearly during his turning downfall, thinking he is "a simple man, who knows nothing", yet knowing more than he realizes by the end of the story.
Throughout the story, Oedipus' lack of patience is most evident. Wishing to end this mystery of the death of Laios as quickly as possible, Oedipus passes an edict to kill anyone who withholds information. Teiresias tested Oedipus' patience in the beginning of the story with information he was withholding, "I did not know what nonsense you would speak, or I would have hardly sent for u…". This impatient......

Join Now to view the rest of this term paper!
Members: Login to view this research paper.

Title: Oedipus
Approximate Word Count: 503
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

With the Term Papers Lab Membership Pass, you get instant access to every essay on this site, including this essay on Oedipus, for as long as you remain a member.

Other essays sites charge almost $100 for a single term paper. At Term Papers Lab, you can get instant access to over 100,000 research papers for as little as $29.95!