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This 3 page paper compares and contrasts Oedipus and the shepherd in Oedipus Rex. Bibliography lists 1 source.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KV32_HV683634.rtf
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defines tragedy for all time. This paper compares two of the characters in the play: Oedipus himself and the shepherd. Discussion The two are outwardly almost exact opposites, but they
are almost opposite sides of the same coin when it comes to the knowledge of Oedipuss birth. Oedipus of course is the king; the shepherd (or herdsman, in some texts)
is a lowly commoner, though he says hes not a slave but was raised in the house of Laius (the king of Corinth) (Sophocles). Still, he has spent his entire
life tending flocks, and is not a statesman as Oedipus is. They are also different in their attitudes toward life: Oedipus, as has been pointed out by numerous scholars, is
a very proud, even arrogant, man. It has been suggested that this quality is a direct cause of his downfall-he would not stop asking questions; even worse, he tried to
thwart the will of the gods by leaving home. The prophesy was that he would kill his father and marry his mother; he fled to avoid this terrible fate. Unfortunately,
the man he believes to be his father is not his father; he did in fact kill him and marry his mother. However, when the play opens, he has no
knowledge that he has actually done so; he believes he was successful in avoiding the prophesy. Thus, when it is revealed that there is a plague on the city because
the gods are displeased, Oedipus has no qualms about stating that he will find the man responsible. He sets out to discover the murderer of Laius, and sets the horror
in motion. A number of people beg him to give up his question to find the truth, but he refuses, sure that he knows better than anyone else what he
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