To What Extent Do You Think That the Main Characters in Greek Tragedy Deserve What Happens to Them?

Oedipus is one of the characters in a Greek Tragedy that suffer greatly at the turn of the play. Oedipus was a normal man who overheard a prophecy that stated he would kill his father and wed his mother, then have children with her. This scared Oedipus so he left his home town and fled to Thebes, a city that was cursed by a sphinx. On his way into the town he came across an entourage of men at a crossroads, they wronged Oedipus when they met, so he suddenly turned around and killed everyone, except one servant who hid. At the time, Oedipus did not know who he killed, the current king of Thebes. Oedipus went on into the city to solve the riddle of the sphinx, as he was the only one capable and he was only trying to do the right thing. The city made Oedipus king of the land for lifting the curse the monster had put on the town, and married the current queen. During the play up to now, Oedipus had no idea he had done anything wrong or who he had met. The man he killed at the crossroads was the king, but he was also Oedipus’ real father, and the queen he had married was his mother, thus making the prophecy true. Throughout the play we see Oedipus being punished greatly in a mental aspect, and suffer with fact that his parents threw him away just for him to kill or sleep with later on.

I do not believe that Oedipus deserved what happened to him, as he did not really do anything massively wrong throughout his activities in the play. The worst activity he performed was killed Laius, the previous king, which he did so unknowingly. The whole reason that he was there in the first place, and not with his loving adopted family, was because of a prophecy that he heard people talking about. This shows that the suffering that Oedipus endured throughout his kingship was all a result of fate, and that he was meant to be in this situation right from birth. Also that the gods has picked him out to fail later on, except this fate seems to be something that’s passed on from father to son. This is because Oedipus’ father, Laius, was destined to die by his own son’s hand, so he tried to prevent this from happening. He tried and failed as the gods ensured that this happen, and pass the burden of failure onto Oedipus. The reoccurring theme of a curse plays a major role in the tragedy, as the family seems to be cursed itself, which not only brings suffering to themselves, but others, such as the kingdom of Thebes as it suffers from a plague during the events. I do not believe that Oedipus brought the events that encircled him to himself, he did not do anything to anger he gods, or deserve the fate that fell onto him.

In Medea, we see the main character change from a very loving wife and mother to a dangerous monster-like woman who becomes hell bent on revenge. Jason, Medea’s previous husband, moves to Corinth with Medea and then goes off to love and marry the king’s daughter, Glauce. After this the king, Creon, decides that Medea is far too