The past two days were spent reading the poem Oedipus Rex, a tale about a man named Oedipus who in trying to avoid his prophecy that says he will kill his father, marry his mother, and have children with her, does exactly that. When picking a part this story and looking closely at individual quotes, you are able to see how great a tragedy this is on Oedipus and his wife Jocasta and how much it affects their lives and futures. When Jocasta finally comes face to face with the truth it is so hard to except that she goes insane and hangs herself. The servant explains how it all happened saying, "She killed herself. She passed inside the hall in passions grip, tearing her hair with all her fingers' might..." and "A husband by her husband there and children by her child". The second quote is very impactful and sums up why this entire situation is awful and tragic. No one would want to face this kind of truth, especially Jocasta since she thought she ended this prophecy years ago. Although Jocasta takes her life because of the weight of the situation, Oedipus seems to experience the largest amount of tragedy. He first blames the entire event on his wife but after finding her dead he then proceeds to gorge his eyes out with a brooch. He says, "What good are they when there is nothing sweet to see?" Oedipus has reached the lowest point in his life because of his prophecy and because of this feels that seeing won't make the horrible situation any better. If what Oedipus and Jocasta did to themselves was not enough to show how tragedy has impacted these two, the chorus wraps up the poem by saying a few things such as, "What a flood of grim misfortune overwhelms him now!" and "Happiness means ending life without being crushed by pain." Being truly happy means not leaving this earth with a tragedy, which seems to be the case of the two. This resemble's all tragic moments in life because when they happen they can feel like death. You cannot not stop tragedy and it is horrible. It makes you who you are and who you will become. When Oedipus experiences this drastic reversal of fortune it is too much for him to handle and in that shows an enormous tragedy in the poem.
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