Oedipus the King: Oedipus And The Gods :: essays research papers fc

In Ancient Greece the existence of gods and point prevailed. In the Greek tragedy King Oedipus by the playwright Sophocles these topics atomic number 18 heavily involved. We receive a clear insight into their roles in the play such as they both control mans actions and that challenging their authority leads to a fall. The concepts of the gods and fate were created to explain things. In Ancient Greece there was a lot that was not understood science was in its infancy and everything that happened could be explained by the will of the gods or fate. The gods were the height of power they supposedly existed since the beginning of time. They were immortal, omnipresent and omnipotent. However, the different gods had different personalities. In this sense they were anthropomorphic. Having such mastery of the world would enable them to control mans behavior, as is shown in King Oedipus. The idea of fate has existed for a long time and exists even today. Fate revolves around the idea that p eoples lives are predetermined and that no field what is done it cannot be changed. With the gods it was used to explain events that seemed strange. Sophocles expands on this idea by introducing Oedipus fate. The thought of fate is strong considering no matter how hard he struggles he still receives what was predetermined. As a baby he survived the elements on Mount Cithaeron. As Oedipus was destined to live, it shows the dominance of fate. Having fate play such a whacking part of the play is certainly an insight into the Greeks idea that fate controls us no matter how hard we struggle once against it. In the play the dominance of the gods is shown again and again. In the second stasimon after Tiresias leaves the chorus chants Zeus and Apollo know, they know, the great masters of all the dark and depth of human life, reasserting the belief in the gods power. At the very opening of the play, the priest who converses with Oedipus says . . . You cannot equal the gods, your children know that. . . , proving again the Greek belief that the gods are the height of power. However, it is not only the people that revere the gods. later Oedipus blinds himself, Creon takes control of Thebes. When Oedipus asks to be banished, Creon replies Not I. Only the gods can give you that, again acknowledging the higher authority of the gods.