Shyla Zou, 12/7/2020, PD8, Day C

Shyla Zou
12/10/2020
Period 8
Modern Mythology 2021


Write about your thoughts regarding the most current reading


In our most recent reading of Oedipus Rex by Sophocoles, we see how the rest of the story unfolds; the climax of the story and the revelation that Oedipus has. Throughout the play, we were all anticipating and waiting to see how this story would end and we now see Oedipus figuring out the truth to his birth and how he reacts to it. These last parts of the story were filled with irony, strengthening the peripeteia that comes out at the end. When the herdsman is brought to him, Oedipus orders his servants to twist his hands behind his back, torturing him into telling him the truth. Of course, the herdsman recognizes Oedipus because he was the one who saved him as a child. He refuses to speak the truth, similar to what Teiresias did at the beginning of the play. However, he is still forced to tell the truth and at that moment, Oedipus finally realizes why Jocasta did not want him to investigate his birth further. The prophecy indeed had come true and Oedpius had killed his father and married his mother. Later, another servant arrives with the news that Jocasta has committed suicide and upon seeing her body, Oedipus gouges his eyes out and begs to be exiled.

Oedipus’s fatal flaw that caused his downfall was his pride and his ignorance. His justified pride showed when he saved Thebes from the Sphinx. However, they kept him from seeing the truth when Teirseas tried to tell him that he was Laius’s murderer, and his hubris of wanting the herdsman to speak the truth brings him to his tragic end.


Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.


Oedipus Rex is full of situational, dramatic, and verbal irony partnered by the peripeteia that ultimately determine the tragic ending of Oedipus. In dramatic irony, the audience knows something the protagonist doesn't. In Oedipus’s case, this comes in many forms. We, as the audience, know that Oedipus killed his father and married his mother. However, he is unaware. When Oedipus starts cursing Laius’s murderer, it is ironic because he is cursing himself. Also, when Oedipus is apologizing to Jocasta about not being born to a high status because he thinks it's the reason why she's sad, it's ironic because he is really the Prince of Thebes, and only he doesn't know. In situational irony, the outcome of events is different than what was supposedly thought. Oedipus, trying to get away from his “parents” and running to Thebes, actually ran back to his own parents. He thought he could change his fate but he was just walking into it even more. In verbal irony, the speaker says something that is opposite of what it really is. This is shown when he is cursing Laius’s murderer. Somehow, Oedipus is only capable of digging himself into a deeper hole. The peripeteia shows itself in a turn of events where Oedipus is told that who he thought were his real parents were indeed not, and how he was the child abandoned so many years ago in fear that he would kill his father and marry his mother.


How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?


Through the story of Oedipus Rex and lessons of hubris, ignorance, and arrogance, we can learn to listen before we act, take the advice of others, and how sometimes, maybe somethings are better left unknown. Oedipus, in his stuvvorniess, is pressed on finding the truth that will result in his downfall. His hubris prevented him from believing in Teiresias and his pride had him believing that he could change his fate. From Oedipus Rex, we learn that being too prideful is harmful and some things are definitely best left alone.