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Analysis Of Pride And Fate In Oedipus Rex

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A Subject of Pride and Fate

Although they are vastly different in their respective time periods and thus, culture, the stories of Oedipus Rex and Monkey: Story of the West have managed to capture an aspect of the human condition that has not changed over the millennia: the excess of pride. Humanity has also questioned the impact and control over their lives, wondering if some omniscient, higher power influences their lives or if man is truly in charge of paving their own destiny. Such philosophical thinking has also surpassed time and space, taking harbor in literature and media. Such themes are present in the tale of Oedipus Rex, written in 442 BCE in Athens, which details the story of a man fated to murder his father and wed his mother (Puchner 705). Determined to save themselves from the prophecy unfolding, Jocasta and Laius, Oedipus’ parents, had planned for the death of their cursed child by their shepherd. However, mercy struck the heart of the shepherd and he brought the infant to a royal household where they had raised Oedipus. As the prince of Corinth, Oedipus receives a message from the oracle, confirmed by the Tiresias, the prophet, that he is the murderer from the prophecy. Driven by self-preservation due to his pride, Oedipus ignores such warnings causing the continuation of the plague to destroy the city of Thebes. Not only had Oedipus allowed the suffering of a great population, but also decides, in a further attempt to appease his prideful nature to

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