Murder In Oedipus The King

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Oedipus the King is largely based on the mystery of a murder in a royal family. The citizens of Thebes are indirectly involved in the suffering that the murder brings to the city. Sophocles intrigues the readers by choosing his characters whose roles are intertwined in a plot that attempts to unravel the murderer. Similar to most murder cases, the murderer is found in the most unlikely of places – even the murderer (Oedipus) is unsure he committed the offense. In his attempt to reveal the murderer and save the city of Thebes from the misery that was to befall it as predicted by messengers, Oedipus goes to great extremes to achieve this mission. Immediately he receives the news that the city would face misery if it continues to harbor the murderer …show more content…
From the start, he is a ma of swift action and one who keeps his promises.in the early stages of the narrative, the citizens of Thebes beg him to save them from the plague, and he is even a step ahead of their expectations as he has already sent Creon to Delphi to seek advice. Oedipus heroic actions are centered on his quest to find the truth; which eventually proves to be his undoing. In his search for the truth, Oedipus tells a story of how he killed a band of travelers that had attempted to shove him off the three-way crossroads. Oedipus explains that as he journeyed to Corinth, he met travelers …show more content…
Before becoming king, Oedipus flees from Corinth, the city of his birth because he heard the prophecy that he would kill his ow parents and mother. While in Thebes, he does not rest his laurels because he rushes to interrogate Creon and seeks advice from Tiresias. Furthermore, he threatens to banish both Creon and forces Tiresias to confess all that he knows. In the heat of the moment when Creon argues with Oedipus, the former asks “What do you want to do then? Banish me?” (Sophocles 724). Elsewhere, he tells Tiresias “You would provoke a stone! Tell us, you villain, tell us, and do not stand there quietly unmoved and balking at the issue” (Sophocles 375). Oedipus heroism as demonstrated by his swiftness does not stop here as he goes on to enquire more from the shepherd who took him to Corinth, summons the servant who survived the attack on Laius, rushes to stab his own eyes and even demands Creon to send him to
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