Oedipus Rex Criticalresponse

Acceptance or Doom: An Analysis of Sophocles "Oedipus Rex"

In the story "Oedipus Rex," by Sophocles, the author suggests that one's fate

cannot be altered, but if an individual's pride and arrogance make the individual try

to change his/her fate, the person becomes hubristic and at the end the person

realizes fate cannot be changed and the person's fate happens the way it was

supposed to happen. If people belief in fate and at some point in people's life an

individual discovers what his/her fate is, the person should just accept their fate

and not try to change destiny.

Oedipus's ability to solve problems is shown when the sphinx was in Thebes and

Oedipus, "the simple man," solved the sphinx's riddle. When Oedipus describes

himself as "simple" he is being sarcastic and is implying that he is smarter than all

Thebans which is true and shows his intelligence. Oedipus was proud of being

intelligent and that he solved the sphinx's riddle because "no birds helped" him;

birds were known for helping the gods' oracles to see the future or an individual's

fate. His pride of solving the sphinx's riddle makes him feel superior to other

human beings, which makes him arrogant. Oedipus demonstrates his arrogance in

the moment he says that the sphinx's "magic," that being its riddle, demanded a