Oedipus Rex Analysis

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Oedipus the King
How is the riddle of the Sphinx a metaphor for the life of Oedipus? Why then is it ironic that Oedipus solved the riddle? How does Oedipus’ revelation of the riddle of the Sphinx further support the perspective of Oedipus as the archetypal tragic man?

The riddle that the Sphinx poses parallels Oedipus’s own rise and fall. When he is young, he crawls as all toddlers crawl. As an adult, he walks on two legs. However, after he learns about his background, he blinds himself and has to use a cane for the remainder of his life. The Sphinx predicts the tragedy of Oedipus by reminding people that all the greats of society must fall eventually. As the solver of the riddle, Oedipus proves himself to be above average men. He is intelligent …show more content…
In the previous play, he feels so disgusted by himself that he seeks self-punishment through blinding himself. However, after experiencing distance in both years and miles, he comes to view himself as both guilty and innocent. He did not do anything wrong by killing his father and marrying his mother because fate is what controls his life, and fate is bound to happen by definition. He has made peace with his innocence in that fate has forced him to commit such taboo acts not by his own agency because “this was philon to the gods, who felt mēnis, perhaps, with [his] family from of old” (Oedipus at Colonus 34). However, he is guilty in that he has personality flaws that make the little that he could control so shameful. The endgame of the prophecy is fixed, but his denial that he has killed his father and his blaming Creon of a conspiracy were not. Oedipus looks up to Theseus as someone who does not have flaws. As Oedipus says that “[f]ear constrains [him],” Theseus says that “[his] heart feels no fear” (Oedipus at Colonus 24). This difference between cowardice and valor makes Oedipus admire the King of Athens all while making it easier to gain his …show more content…
In particular, Antigone refuses to abide by the law that forbids her to give a proper burial to her brother’s corpse. She remains steadfast in her convictions that “Not the less does death [c]rave equal rites for all” (Antigone 15). In other words, it does not matter that his brother dies while fighting against Thebes; he is still her brother, and all those dead deserve burials. Creon is convinced that he is right because of what Polynices has done while alive, so he seeks to impose his will on all those of Thebes. However, this government order goes against personal relationships and the decency the gods demand that all corpses be treated with. Antigone reminds Creon of his unwise decree when she asks, “who
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