Antigone

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Antigone is a girl who is trying to stand up for what she believes in. She is trying to speak her voice and she wants to be heard. Being a girl should not make a difference in the way that they are treated. Even in America, there are still women getting abused. Has someone ever done something about women’s rights or will anyone ever do something that will make a drastic change in all women’s lives? Antigone tried to fight for her rights by being brave and trying to bury her brother. Antigone is fighting for her rights and along the way she is being abused in different ways. After all that has happened she still fights back. It’s as if nothing can stop her. Antigone is one of many women that are physically abused and lack respect for their rights. In addition, women resist. Antigone could have been fighting for her brother’s rights or maybe even for her rights as well as many other women’s right.

Though some women aren’t exactly abused physically, they can still be abused just because they aren’t receiving as much respect. Antigone is an example of someone who is abused by not receiving her rights. She wasn’t even allowed to bury her own brother. Many women in Antigone’s age weren’t allowed to have a job or talk to certain people. It might be said that women weren’t treated as people. Mohammad was one of many men that would marry more than one woman. Yet, he tried to restrict the number of women that he married. He was trying to diminish the number of wives and to diminish slavery. To these people that lives in this time, it was their way of life and no one thought that they were doing something wrong. Mohammad could have a side that is caring and trying to change, but also a side that is marrying more than one woman.

Veiling of women occurred before Islam, before Christianity, and before Judaism. This veiling of women came along with the slave society and with patriarchy. The men had polygamy and the women had monogamy. The man always rules in Islamic culture and the woman follows. This relates to Antigone by the way she was treated just because she was a woman. Antigone was as brave as any man but just because she was a woman she couldn’t have a right to bury her brother. When the veiling was popular, it was that a woman would never walk ahead or next to her husband, but she would walk behind him. If a woman was to marry more than one husband then there would be no fatherhood and the whole patriarchal structure would collapse. The wife is the man’s private property and therefore the husband is very sensitive about his wife. The man chooses to cover her so that no other man will see or touch her. The husband wants to be able to have the family name past down and wants to give his inheritance to his children and know that they are his. The wife is basically there to bear children and to work in the house. When the wife is divorced, the man will take the children and her name will be lost history. (Winkers 8-84).

Antigone was mistreated in more than one way, but she fought back. Not many women can say that they fought back against something that they knew was wrong. Some women might have just kept to themselves about the way that they were being treated, while others fought for their rights along with many other rights. Rosa Parks was a woman that fought for not only her rights but also the rights of many other African American people. Antigone might not have known if she was right but she gave it a chance. Though she might not have gotten to see her brother buried, she died knowing that she tried. Back in that time, killing yourself was not a cowardly act, it showed that they were brave. Antigone, with having killed herself, in that time made her even braver than she already was. No human knows how things will turn out a day, a year, or even a decade from now, only God knows that.




In America, we have never had a woman for our president. There have been many women around the world that have fought for something and have won their rights. Women will strive for their rights and hopefully win. Antigone killed herself because she felt that there was no purpose in living since she was going to be punished anyway. In this time, women are abused physically in their own homes. There’s not a lot someone else can do until they stand up for themselves first. Mistreating women isn’t something new that has been progressing; it is something that has been going on for a long time. Women can help more than one person or fight for more than one thing by standing up for what they believe in. Antigone lost her respect when she was trying to give respect to someone else.



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Is There a Deeper Change To Be Had?

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Is There Deeper Changes To Be Had?

Recent events have left many parents and other Americans asking “Why?” A high school

in South Carolina is at the center of this national crisis. Local authorities stormed this high

school, after receiving a tip that a student was selling drugs in the school. From what is known,




they may of had good cause to perform this task. The problem lies within how they executed this

drug bust. The police swarmed the school with guns drawn, drug and bomb sniffing dogs

attacking, and students being commanded to “hit the ground!” Why such force?

It all comes back to the school shootings that have been terrifying our nation for the last

five years. The most notable of all, was the Columbine High School rampage in Colorado. After

April 0th, 1, the date of the Columbine shooting, many schools nationwide have changed

their policies to prevent these massacres from happening again. Local, State, and Federal

governments have also become actively involved to help avoid these senseless acts of violence.

Yet, after seeing what happened last week, one could ask “Have these changes really helped?”

Maybe President Bush should issue a color-coded warning system for school violence, like he

has for terrorist attacks.

The changes as a result of these attacks are widespread; schools, principles, and teachers

have a new sense of paranoia, rules have become stricter at schools--making many seem like

prisons, and probably the most effective change has occurred in the more proactive approach of

mediating and counseling of students.

The fear of these attacks happening again is normal. No one would want to go through a

similar situation to that of Columbine. That does not mean that we should allow this fear to

affect proper decision making. This is where paranoia comes into effect. Take for example of

the principle of that high school in South Carolina. He was told, by another student, that a

classmate was selling drugs. The principle had previous knowledge of the accused, and knew he

was a “troubled” student. Instead of handling the situation himself, he felt the best thing for the

school was to call the authorities. After relaying the information to the police, including the fact

that the student was “troubled”, the police came to their decision. They did not want to have

what happened in Columbine happen in their high school, city, or state. Their decision to use

excessive force has hurt more students emotionally, then has helped anyone. There were no

drugs, guns, or bombs on the accused student. The whole situation could of been settled by the

principle and not the police. Instead the principles and the polices paranoia took over and has

left many Americans accessing how we should handle these situations.

One way many Americans believe we can handle this is by having stricter rules within

our schools. If someone came back from the grave to see our schools now, they would ask

“What the hell happened?” With all the changes within the schools, they now appear as prisons

and not educational institutions. The changes are numerous and here are some of the biggest of

these changes; many schools do not allow backpacks, they require I.D.’s to be worn at all times,

some public schools have enforced dress codes, and some schools have metal detectors, along

with police, at all entrances of the schools. When asking a former Columbine student about how

she felt after her school started to enforce I.D.’s and no backpacks, she said “I felt as though I

was being punished, eventhough I was a victim and had nothing to do with the attack.” These

rules were not and still are not taken warmly by students. History has shown that stricter rules

cause more rebellion. Which in this case, could it cause more acts of violence by some students?

Hatred and anger is easily built up when individuals are not able to be themselves. Still many

believe that this is the way to ensure future tragedies don’t happen again.

Others believe there is a better solution to be had. These people believe that the best way

to save schools from having these occurrences, is to talk to the students one on one. Some

schools have hired more counselors, and have been teaching students how to peer mediate. In

many cases, the school districts have started talking to their students as early as elementary

school. These individual schools and school districts have realized and accepted that not all of

their students are going to be happy. They understand that students will be made fun of and

sometimes be at the center negative attention by other classmates. These schools do the most

important thing and talk to both individuals, sometimes together or on a more personal basis.

They let those, who are being picked on, know that there is nothing wrong with them, and they

give them appropriate avenues which they can deal with their feelings. As stated the counselors

don’t stop there. They talk to the “bullies” and help them see why they are always having to pick

on others. Mediation and counseling students allows them to know that they have someone to

talk to without feeling uncomfortable, as they might feel with their parents. Students are able to

express their feelings which can prevent anger, hatred, and resentments from building up inside

them. Counselors give students the attention they need and deserve. This helps deter students

from trying to receive the attention they need through negative means such as school shootings

and other acts of violence.

Governments and politics can say they have the answers with stricter rules inside and

outside the schools, but their political banter will not solve the problem. We have to find the root

of the cause and that is not the rules. The root is the students themselves. These acts of violence

are merely a cry for attention. Many schools have come to accept this and are trying to address it

the best they can, but it doesn’t start or stop with the schools. It needs to begin at home with the

parents. Parents must give the needed attention to their children. They must be willing to

become involved in their children’s live. They must care enough to listen, and understand

enough to know that anger will not help. Parents must try to help solve the problems and not

simply punish their children. No longer can parents stick their children on front of televisions,

video game systems, or computers. Children’s emotional voids can not be filled with

materialistic substitutes. Parents must not only become active in children’s lives, but also their

feelings. If this happens, we have our best chance of stopping these senseless cries for attention

by our children.

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The Producers review

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The Producers

At the Ford Center for the Performing Arts

The Producers opened on Broadway in 000 to the wildest rave reviews a musical comedy has seen in the history of Broadway theatre. It won a record 1 Tony Awards in June of that year. The Mel Brooks smash was based on the movie of the same name with the addition of several characters and sub-plots. I saw a performance by the second national touring company of the show in Chicago in November 00. It was the first time I had ever seen a musical performed live onstage, and it proved to be a very educational experience.

The Ford Center for the Performing Arts is a huge theatre located in the heart of the Chicago theatre district. Its far larger than most of the Broadway theatres in New York. I noticed right away the huge effect the large performance space has on the production. In the past I have seen only plays performed in close quarters, where one can really identify with the actors from a close distance. I dont think the size of this theatre contributed positively to the show.




The show was good, and very entertaining, but the large venue made it seem very impersonal. The seats were even at close proximity to the stage for that huge theatre. It made the actors seem so far away and difficult to connect with. The added space seemed to act as a wall between me, and my enjoyment of the performance.

The Producers is a fantastic musical romp about a forgotten Broadway producer who, with the help of an accountant friend of his, sets out to produce the biggest flop in Broadway history with plans of taking the money they make and taking a trip for two to Rio. Of course this whole scheme only works if the show is a flop, because the plan is to sell a thousand percent of the show to the backers, who are a group of little old ladies that Max Biallystock has to schtup to get money from them. If the show is a hit there is no way to pay off the backers. To be sure the show is a flop, they produce Springtime For Hitler. The show is practically a love letter to Hitler. To be really sure they fill the audience with Jews and pay off the critics to pan the show. Naturally the show is a hit and they go to jail! They are eventually pardoned by the governor for bringing song and dance into the hearts of every murderer, rapist, and sex maniac in Sing-Sing. The set out to have a happy and honest career together again on Broadway.

The show was very entertaining. The costumes won Tony awards. The actors were top-of-the-line, right off the New York stage. I enjoyed the performance, save for my issue with the size of the theatre. My advice to anyone considering going to see the show to run to the theatre now. Its running on Broadway to packed houses every night. The original stars, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick are set to return to the show in January. The show is sure to sell out, even in these huge, impersonal theatres, people still flock to see what will go down in the record books as the most entertaining, and most decorated musical in recent Broadway history.



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Immediate Constituent Analysis

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What is a constituent?



A constituent is one of two or more grammatical units that enter syntactically or morphologically into a construction at any level. Lets take this example from English

• You eat bananas




This sentence contains the following constituents

Immediate constituents

• you

• eat bananas

Ultimate constituents

• you

• eat

• banana

• -s

• Definition of Immediate Constituent



An immediate constituent is any one of the largest grammatical units that constitute a construction. Immediate constituents are often further reducible.

Here are some examples of immediate constituents from English



• In the complex noun phrase the dog that killed the cat, each of the following items are immediate constituents

• the

• dog

• that killed the cat

Immediate Constituent Analysis

It is an approach that has some descriptive aims. The technique which is used in this approach is designed to show how small constituents (or components) in sentences go together to form larger constituents. In the following sentence, we can identify eight constituents (at the word level)

The minister handed a letter to the president

These eight constituents go together in a certain way, i.e., we cannot say

Handed a minister handed letter to to the

We don’t normally think of these combinations as phrases in English. But rather, we are more likely to say that the phrase-like constituents here are combinations of the following types the minister, a letter, the president, which are noun phrases; to the wedding, which is a prepositional phrase; handed a letter, which is a verb phrase.

This analysis of constituent structure of the sentence can be represented in different types of diagrams. One type of diagram simply shows how these constituents are distributed at different levels



handed

The Minister A letter To The President

Here is another way to draw the diagram





Why has the ICA failed?

The Immediate Constituent Analysis has failed because it failed to link together the sentences which appear to be semantically, phonetically, and syntactically related bearing in mind that the grammar that is descriptively adequate must be able to give a full account of the native speakers linguistic competence (Kebbe 16). To illustrate this, lets consider the following examples

1) the game was difficult for the kid to win.

) It was difficult for the kid to win the game.

) To win the game was difficult for the kid.

4) For the kid to win the game was difficult.

The native speaker will predict that the above sentences are all related by synonymy. This is a problem for ICA because it can only assign a separate analysis to each sentence missing thus an important generalization about them.

Another problem for ICA is the ambiguous sentences. As mentioned above, the descriptively adequate grammar should be able to assign a different analysis to each of the possible readings of the ambiguous sentence. ICA here as well fails to meet this condition for adequacy as it provides but a single analysis for any given sentences. Lets see this example

I saw the man with binoculars.

This sentence can be interpreted in two ways

I used binoculars to see the man.

Or the man who used binoculars was seen.

The problem here is that the sentence implies two syntactic structures while the ICA can predict one only.

Furthermore, Chomsky points out the fact that ICA shows considerable weakness when dealing with constructional homonymy, i.e., sentences which appear to have the same structure but whose items exhibit different logical relations. The following classic examples may help illustrate the point

1) John is easy to please.

) John is eager to please.

) Bill promised Mary to come early.

4) Bill wanted Mary to come early.

At first sight, the above listed data show that (1) and (), () and (4) have identical linear structures (insofar as their grammatical categories are concerned), yet they are understood in different ways. John in (1) is not the logical (real) subject of please; on the contrary, it is the logical object of the verb. The sentence is understood as for someone to please is easy. By contrast, John in () is the logical subject of please since the sentence is interpreted as John is eager to please others. The same argument can be applied to () and (4) where the logical subjects of come, contrary to what ICA predicts, are not the same in the two sentences in () it is Bill, whereas in (4) it is Mary. Hence the failure of ICA. It assigns exactly the same syntactic structure to both sentences although their logical relations are distinct. (Kebbe 164).



Bibliography

Kebbe, Mohammed Z. Lectures in General Linguistics.

Langacker, Ronald W. Fundamentals of Linguistic Analysis. USA Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc. 17.

Smith, Neil and Deirdre Wilson Modern Linguistics The Result of Chomskys Revolution. England Penguin Books Ltd. 17.

Yule, George The Study of Language. Cambridge CUP. 16.

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Is Oedipus a Fool to the gods or a Man of Free Will

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The events in Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles show an underlying relationship of man’s free will existing within the cosmic order or fate that the Greeks believed guided the universe. Fate, controlled by the gods, can be defined as an inevitable outcome or a cause determining events. Although Oedipus was a victim of fate, he wasn’t completely controlled by it. In order for Sophocles’ play to be categorized as tragic, the tragic hero had to have some sort of flaw. The tragic hero’s flaws are the qualities that ultimately lead to his downfall. Fate and freewill play a large role in the rise and fall of the protagonist. The protagonist in the play has to either cause the fall by his own free will or by fate causing it. Without these two elements, there would be no fall of the protagonist in a tragic play and thus the writer’s aim of giving the audience emotions of pity and fear leading them to experience a feeling of catharsis or purgation wouldn’t be achieved and there would be no suspense or action to build up the climax in which case the character flaws of Oedipus work in tandem with fate to take the tragedy to its climax. The major theme explored in Oedipus Rex is that fate and character are intertwined in which case Oedipus is not only fated to perform such detestable acts but it is his very behaviour that leads him to doing these that determines his fate. Thus Oedipus’ fate as well as his hamartia, or character flaws, work as antagonists in this tragedy.

Oedipus is a man of swift action. At the opening of the play we see that this quality makes him an excellent ruler who anticipates his subjects’ needs. When the citizens of Thebes beg him to do something about the plague, Oedipus is one step ahead of them as he has already sent Creon to the Delphic oracle for advice. But later, we see that Oedipus’ habit of acting swiftly has a dangerous side. When he tells the story of killing the band of travellers who attempted to shove him off the three-way crossroads, Oedipus shows that he has the capacity to behave rashly. This rashness is also revealed in the prologue when he publicly swears to find and punish Laios’ murderer which later assists his tragic fall as he lack the prudence to wait and see who the murderer is. Oedipus’ swiftness continues throughout the play as he interrogates Creon, calls for Teiresias, refers to him as a ‘wicked old man’ (line 1), threatens to banish Creon after calling him a ‘murderer’ (line 505), calls for the servant who escaped the attack on Laios as well as the shepherd who was given the baby from Queen Jocasta, rushes to the palace to stab his eyes out on finding out the truth and finally, demands to be exiled.

Oedipus’ erroneous judgemental errors are another major constituent leading to his downfall. For instance, when Oedipus interrogates Teiresias about the murderer’s identity, Teiresias prefers to keep silent as he doesn’t want to be the cause of Oedipus’ ruin. Oedipus on the other hand, interprets Teiresias’ silence as treachery. He labels him a villain and calls him a ‘wicked old man’ (line 1). He also considers him to be a conspirator along with Creon who he calls a ‘murderer’ (line 505). As a result, he fails to heed Teiresias’ advice and warning against continuing the investigation. The accusations he hurls at Teiresias and Creon are completely unjustified. Also, when Jocasta realizes that Oedipus is her real son and that the prophecy has come true, she desperately tries to stop Oedipus from continuing with his investigations as she pleads ‘listen I beg you do not do this thing’ (line 1008). But the adamant ruler pays no heed thinking that she is concerned whether or not he will be of humble birth. Thus, Sophocles shows the defects of an otherwise ideal ruler. An instance of hamartia or character flaw is presented here.

Oedipus not only makes hasty and wrong judgements about the prophet and his brother in law, Creon, but he is also scornful in dealing with an important authority like Teiresias. The aforementioned instances of how Oedipus treats Creon and Teiresias can also be considered when viewing another one of Oedipus’ tragic flaws which lead to his downfall and play a role in Oedipus’ free will being that Oedipus is a proud figure who doesn’t take advice well and possesses traits of being impetuous and short-tempered. Teiresias is reluctant to reveal the dreadful secret that the murderer whom Oedipus is seeking so desperately is none other than Oedipus himself yet Oedipus’ hounding forces him to speak. Although Teiresias speaks the truth, it is only the audience who knows that he is right while an angry and arrogant Oedipus adamantly refuses to believe what Teiresias says and instead, brands him a traitor. He is also arrogant when denouncing Teiresias’ prophetic capabilities. In addition, after realizing the prophecy had come true, Jocasta begs him to let the mystery go unsolved as she cries ‘Everything that I say is for your own good!’ (line 1010). Oedipus replies ‘My own good. Snaps my patience then; I want none of it’ (line 1011). In is in his own vain that he must solve the final riddle of his own life. It is Oedipus’ impetuous and short-tempered nature that lands him in a fight with Laios at the crossroads. The consequence is that he kills Laios. Oedipus has killed his father and thereby fulfilled the first part of the oracle. Fate has played its trick assisted by the very nature of Oedipus.




Oedipus’ character is controlled by fate yet at the same time his impulsive and short tempered nature contributes to his fate. Oedipus’ disastrous outcome wasn’t totally controlled by his free will. The actions leading to Oedipus’ outcome which occurred before he ran away from Corinth weren’t caused by Oedipus’ free will but by other forces controlled by fate. For one thing, his being brought to Corinth and raised by the Corinthian king and queen was due to the actions of the Theban and Corinthian shepherds. Another point to consider is the fact that Oedipus’ free will didn’t have anything to do with him hearing a drunken fool calling him a bastard which lead to Oedipus heading to the Delphic oracle to question his true identity. It also wasn’t Oedipus’ free will that prevented his adoptive parents from telling him the truth about his identity in which case if Oedipus had known the truth, he wouldn’t have run away to Thebes to try to escape his fate. When Oedipus tears his eyes out, he is accepting the full burden of his acts and knew that he must be punished for his sins. Therefore, the last act of destruction was caused by Oedipus’ free will but his tragic fate came about because of the gods intervening in human affairs. Also, when the chorus asks Oedipus what god urged him to blind himself, we notice how he realizes that although the gods control his fate, his free will also contributed to his tragic outcome as he replies ‘the god was Apollo. He brought my sick fate upon me. But the blinding had was my own’ (line 186-187) in which case he claims responsibility for his actions. Initially, Oedipus is portrayed as a responsible king. As we watch the play, we learn that he had previously saved the kingdom from the torture of the Sphinx and thus his impulse of solving riddles came in handy as it served a good cause. However, this good fortune is only an illusion rather than a reality.

Oedipus’ unyielding desire to uncover the truth about Laios’ murder and the mystery surrounding his own birth is a major character flaw that led him to the tragic realization of his horrific deeds. Again, the previous examples can be taken into account in considering Oedipus’ character flaw in which case Oedipus ignored Teiresias and Jocasta who tried to stop him from pursuing the truth as the previous results may be unpleasant but he stubbornly continues on his unrelenting quest for the truth. Oedipus treats Teiresias respectfully at first because he believed that he had the answers to solve the mystery of Laios’ murder. When Teiresias told Oedipus that he was the murderer, he became enraged and calls him a liar. He is unable to stop his quest for the truth even under his wife’s pleading. Oedipus’ impulse to solve mysteries takes him to Delphi to seek the truth about his parentage. It is also the impulse to solve the riddle of the Sphinx that brings him to Thebes where he ends up marrying the widowed Queen Jocasta. By marrying his mother, the second part of the oracle is fulfilled aided by Oedipus’ nature. The persistence of Oedipus is heightened when he attempts to solve the riddle of his own life and yet is denied the truth by the shepherd who pray to Oedipus not to continue digging into the mystery ‘ For God’s love my King, do not ask me any more!’ (line 1100). Although the Theban shepherd is reluctant to talk, Oedipus grills him with questions to the point of threatening him with death if he doesn’t tell the truth as he harshly replies ‘You are a dead man if I have to ask you again’ (line 1101). Due to his unquenchable thirst for solving riddles, Oedipus has brought ruin upon himself and his household but he is also fearless as he doesn’t back down from his quest although he fears the worst. Oedipus expresses his fears about Teiresias’ prophecies and accusations. He then expresses his suspicion of having murdered King Laios. The Corinthian messenger asks Oedipus to take the kingship of Corinth but Oedipus expresses his reluctance as he fears his fate according to which he will marry his own mother.

Another factor ultimately contributing to Oedipus’ destruction is his insolence towards the gods. He ran away from his home in Corinth in hopes of outsmarting the gods’ divine will as he sought ways to escape the horrible destiny told by Apollo’s oracle. Rather than face his fate, he attempts to run from it thereby defying the gods. This is also evident when he remarks ‘Why should a man give heed to the birds that jangle above his head?’ (line 415-416), in which case he refers to the prophetic signs of the gods sarcastically after finding out his presumed father died a natural death and not by his own hands as prophesised. The consequences of defying the gods is hinted throughout the play as the chorus warns us of man’s need to have reverence for the gods and the dangers of too much pride as they remark ‘The tyrant is a child of pride who drinks from his great sickening cup, wreckless and vanity, until from his high crest headlong he plummets to the dust of hope’. The chorus uses figurative language to deepen the meaning of their words and emphacise the consequences of arrogance and pride provoking the ire of the gods in which case if a man steps beyond what is his destiny, he may be struck down. The chorus has also personified pride as the parent of the tyrant and metaphorically compares recklessness and vanity as liquids the tyrant drinks. In addition, the chorus metaphorically compares the tyrant’s good fortune to the crest of a mountain while his downfall is compared to a fall from the crest of a mountain. The chorus conclude this tragedy with their last words of wiseness by warning the Greeks that the only way to find happiness is through humility and respect towards the gods. Thus Oedipus atones for his sinful existence through self-infliction and self-exile. It is through this vain that he discovers humility and reverence for the gods. Earlier in the play, Oedipus is shown to be an impetuous and arrogant man who defies all who don’t agree with him. By the end of the play, a new Oedipus has emerged who has been humbled and who has been accountable for his sins regardless of whether or not he has inflicted them consciously or not. Oedipus was guilty of killing his father and marrying his mother but perhaps the true sin lay in his over zealous attempt to raise himself to the level of the gods by trying to escape his fate. Although Oedipus had taken the prophecy seriously, he would’ve avoided conflicts or interactions with older people. Instead, he acts in a rash manner. In attempting to escape the fate ordained him by the prophecy, Oedipus brought ruin upon himself and the kingdom of Thebes.

Both concepts of fate and free will played and integral part in Oedipus’ destruction. Oedipus’ fate ruined his life and lead him to a horrible death. however, Oedipus took many actions leading to his downfall and carried the seeds of his destruction within himself. Thus, Oedipus’ destiny is engendered by his own character defects. His temper and impetuous nature and his pride as well as his erroneous judgement all contribute to his eventual downfall. These character defects are governed by his fate and in turn aid his fate to take its course towards his destruction.



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