Oedipus Rex By William Shakespeare - 1664 Words

In the play, â€Å"Oedipus Rex†, many ironies took place, as well as fate playing a huge part in the story. â€Å"Oedipus Rex† is a story about a man that tries to overcome adversity but cannot escape his prophecy. His parents took him to a hillside as an infant, sliced his Achilles tendons and left him there. A shepherd soon came to his rescue. â€Å"King and Queen of Thebes, gave their infant to a shepherd in with orders that he be left on the side of the mountainside to die† (Johnson 1205). As he grew older and much wiser, he went to see the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle informed him that his destiny was to kill his father and marry his mother. The main ironies in the play are the killing of Oedipus’s biological father, the odd relationship with his mother, and the inability of Oedipus to avoid his fate. Oedipus did not know who his real parents were. The King of Corinth was his adopted father. The king gave him the name Oedipus because his feet were swo llen from his injured Achilles tendons. Oedipus’s parents were so afraid of what the oracle told them about Oedipus’s fate, they felt that their only option was to get rid of him. The irony in his abandonment was the fact that the biological parents never intended to see Oedipus again, though Oedipus’s fate was going to happen regardless of what the parents did to rid of him. Oedipus had an altercation with several men â€Å"where the three roads meet†, killing four men including his biological father. â€Å"He came to a place where three roadsShow MoreRelated Tragedy in Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and the Book of Job Essay examples998 Words   |  4 PagesTragedy in Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and the Book of Job In works of literature involving a tragedy, the question of the cause of the tragedy is often raised. 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