Now that you have read and discussed Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, please make a personal connection between the play and your Big Question. For this initial post, please state your Big Question, then go on to explain how Oedipus informs your question. Keep in mind that what connects your question to the play might not be its main themes; perhaps there is a particular quote or a minor character that addresses your question even though it's incidental to Sophocles' main purpose.
12 comments:
My big question is: "Why does God allow suffering?"
Sophocles addressed this issue in the Exodos of his play, Oedepus Rex. I know that it is very cliche to say that the purpose of suffering is "so that we learn a lesson", but I am not trying to say that that is the purpose of suffering. Like Rob said in class (about the Matrix), I think that Sophocles was attempting to say that even a life of truth (no matter the level of disgrace you have aquired) is much more worth living than a "successful" life of ignorance. We all mess up and it is best to confront them. Perhaps God allows suffering to "test" our ability to face those issues.
Just a thought.
My big question is: Why is power attractive?
Sophocles indicated through the main character in the play, that power is attractive because it's an extollment of the individual. Oedipus is confronted in the beginning of the play by the suffering people of Thebes because he is an established association of success attained through individual accomplishments-he's a problem solver. Oedipus' achievements granted him power and before Thebes asked for his assistance they praised him and remarked upon his success in previous occurrances. Oedipus desired to maintain that power because he was continually extoled.
My big question is: How do the everyday things we do effect our lives in the long run?
In the play Oedipus Rex, Sophocles addresses this question by telling the story of a man who tried to fight fate. By going to the oracle in the first place, he set the stage for his struggle. Escaping his fate meant so much to him that he ran away. On the road, he met and killed a man who turns out to be his father. The choice of Oedipus to leave the City where he was residing and refuse to step aside for three minutes while the other pased is an example of a choice that changed his life forever. Patience is a virtue, and i feel as if he could have easily avoided "weaving his own doom". In addition, the decision to travel to Thebes instead of any other town would have prevented him from marrying his mother. His CHOICE to try to solve the sphynx's riddle is just another example of how seeminlgy miniscule decisions can change a life forever.
My big question is, "must man atone for his sins (and to what degree), or can he be forgiven?"
Sophocles is rather blunt in Oedipus that man must atone for his sins, and atone in a way that is equal to his sins. Oedipus kills his father, marries his mother, and disregards the divine prophecy of the Oracle of Apollo. Consequently, he must live with the knowledge of what he has done, blind, and exiled from Greek society. Oedipus shows that man must be held accountable for his mistakes the rule of "an eye for an eye," must be followed.
Will H
My Big Question is: Is there such a thing as true love? What is it exactly?
This applies to Oedipus Rex because it makes me wonder if Oedipus truly loved his wife or if he just married her because he was supposed to. They did have children together and were close. But I guess the question is: can you love your mother as your wife with the same affection as a 'true love'? That seems like a very wierd question but I think it is important to consider. So many people today think there is only one love for them, yet in ancient days people often remarried or married people they hardly even liked or knew, but still made it work. Now we have divorce. I wonder what the relationship was like between Oedipus and his wife/ mother. Something to think about for sure.
My big question: "What is fate? Can it be defined or determined?"
Oedipus Rex by, Sophocles, revolves around fate. Is it like a prison where mankind has no hope of freedom? Is it like a journey where one's path is not yet known? Whether fate is like God's quest or man's doom is hard to decide. Poor 'Ed never had a chance. I would say our personality and being is what it is. However, our actions and choices are based on our individual nature and could alter our perspective future. After all, no one knows another's thoughts but his own and no one else walks his own steps but his own. The philosophical question for the ages no doubt! >.<
My big question is: How does attitude affect how one lives?
Oedipus has a negative attitude towards his fate. This causes his attempt to escape fate and live a cautious life. He is confident in himself, and is therefore able to defeat the sphinx and lead Thebes. However, his stubbornness lead to the murder of his father. At the end of the play, Oedipus's extremely negative and disbelieving reaction to the truth causes him to gauge out his own eyes. If Oedipus had not been so negative, he might have been able to live without that suffering. Therefore, according to Oedipus Rex, one's attitude causes his/her actions, which leads to the life he/she lives.
My big question is: To what extent are man's natural impulses at odds with higher morality (religion) or society?
I think this is addressed in the play in two ways. First, it was considered a heinous sin for Oedipus to marry his mother, even though he had no knowledge of doing so. Society and God disapproved of this action and therefore pressured Oedipus to feel ashamed about his relationship with a woman that he had known only as his wife. Secondly, it was Oedipus' natural impulse to try to escape fate, instead of remaining complacent in the hands of the Gods. It has been said that the book is a warning about messing with fate, but it seems more noble to me that Oedipus fought for a better life for himself. Perhaps, then, it is man's natural impulses that are actually of a higher nature than a "morality" imposed by society or organized religion.
In the play Oedepus Rex, it addresses the issue of Oedepus's nature and his fate. My big qurstion has to deal with nature vs nurture. Does a person turn out good or evil based on their nature or their nurture. This fits with the play because there is this unanswered question about if Oedepus had try not to control fate would it have been the same? His flaw had to do with his personaltiy and his stubbornness. If he had been raised differently would have affected his fate? This will never fully be answered.
My big question: If you try to fail, and succeed at it, which did you achieve?
In Oedepus Rex, he tries to fail in what the Oracle told him was bound to happen, but as he tries to fail he eventually succeeds in doing the deed of killing his father and marrying his mother. Very ironic.
My big question is kinda being fluid right now but I'm thinking along the lines of: If we are bond to actions by fate and are destined to do something, then what is responsibility?
Oedipus finds his fate and instead of accepting what is being told to him by the gods he instead tries to change things, which in the long run end up exactly as predicted. So if the gods had determined all of this ahead of time, then nothing that happens is Oedipus' fault.
I had trouble creating a big question so my question stems for my psychology class of nature and nurture. Does our environment shape and influence who we are or are we born with inherent flaws in character?
In Oedipus Rex, the answer seems rather in ambiguous. In fact one can cite both Oedipus’s inherited characteristics as well as an environment that influences the protagonist choices. Although Oedipus is raised in an environment that he is completely oblivious to and thus because of his own ignorance tries to escape his fate of killing his parents. Because he does not realize that in doing so and escaping fate he is enabling such a prophecy only supports the fact that our environment influences us. However one could look at this same set of facts in a different light. Although it is his fault for fleeing his own fate, one must realize that his legitimate family also tried to undo the oracles prophecies. In effect one sees that his own inherited flaws from his family leads him to follow in their footsteps and also avoid the truth.
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