Title: Conflict in "Oedipus Rex" | Pen and the Pad
Headings: Conflict in "Oedipus Rex"
Conflict in "Oedipus Rex"
Man Versus Fate
Oedipus Against Himself
Argument with Tiresias
Fight with Creon

Content: Conflict in "Oedipus Rex" | Pen and the Pad
Conflict in "Oedipus Rex"
Cara Batema Updated May 25, 2017
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Sophocles, one of Athens’ eminent playwrights, wrote 123 plays. His most famous play is the tragic drama “Oedipus the King,” also often called “Oedipus Rex.” Sophocles’ works often involve a central character with a tragic flaw and a series of circumstances that ultimately lead to that character’s demise, a formula observable through the conflict in “Oedipus Rex.” Man Versus Fate
The entire play encompasses the overarching conflict of Oedipus versus his fate, or a more general theme of man against fate. In the beginning of the play, the oracle Apollo declares that Laius and Jocasta, king and queen of Thebes, will have a child, Oedipus, who will kill his father and marry his mother. In an attempt to save Oedipus from this fate, a shepherd takes him to the king and queen of Corinth, who adopt him. After learning he is adopted, Oedipus visits Apollo, who repeats that Oedipus is doomed to his fate. Over the remainder of the play, Oedipus does indeed succumb to his fate. While he tried to escape it, there is nothing Oedipus can do. Oedipus Against Himself
Oedipus contributes to the completion of his fate through his actions.