Oedipus'
Laius, Jocasta, and Oedipus are bound up by two curses laid down by the gods as punishment for Laius' treachery. First, Laius is told he will be killed by his son. Later, Oedipus is told the same prophecy, along with an additional curse: he will sleep with his mother, committing the taboo practice of incest.
In this reading, Apollo is seen as deliberately pushing Oedipus to flee to Thebes and bring about the fulfilment of the god's dark prophecy. Others have argued that Oedipus is responsible for his own downfall, that Apollo tried to save him and would have if only he had understood the god's warning.
Oedipus reveals that while a young man at Corinth he heard rumours that he was not the son of Polybus and Merope; Apollo's oracle told him he would kill his father and have children by his mother; on the way to Thebes, he quarreled with and killed a man who (he now realizes) was Laius.
Also, in the previous quote, Oedipus tries to diminish his shame by convincing his people that it is not his fault, but Apollo's, for murdering his father and marrying his mother.
Who is Responsible for Oedipus' Downfall? Oedipus is ultimately responsible for his own downfall. He was warned by the Oracle of Delphi that he would kill his father and marry his mother, but instead of avoiding the prophecy, he took matters into his own hands and tried to outrun his fate.
For his murder of the Cyclopes, Apollo was forced by Zeus to live on Earth for a year again, stripped of his divinity and godly powers, and forced to serve the mortal King Admetus of Thessaly as a shepherd for a year.
Oedipus' hubris was accepted by his citizens, as a result, Apollo had cursed them for they had been influenced by the insolence he had towards the gods.
Creon tells Oedipus that Apollo told him that in order to lift the curse on the city, the men that murdered the city's former king, Laius, must be banished or killed.
He was unlucky in love
Apollo had many lovers, both male, and female, but he never seemed to have any relationship last. For all his weakness for nymphs and beautiful mortals, very few were willing to receive his advances. For example, the nymph Daphne ran away from him when he tried to pull her into his arms.
Agamemnon sends him rudely away, and Chryses prays to Apollo to punish the Greeks, which Apollo does by sending a plague upon them.
As is indicated by part 3 and 4, Oedipus is still a puppet manipulated by the gods.
Although Apollo had many love affairs, they were mostly unfortunate: Daphne, in her efforts to escape him, was changed into a laurel, his sacred shrub; Coronis (mother of Asclepius) was shot by Apollo's twin, Artemis, when Coronis proved unfaithful; and Cassandra (daughter of King Priam of Troy) rejected his advances ...
Answer: Oedipus blinds himself because he cannot bear to look at the world anymore after realizing the truth about his past. He learns that he has unwittingly killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling a prophecy that he had been trying to avoid his whole life.
What is Oedipus' tragic flaw, or hamartia? It is hubris or pride. Upon reaching adulthood and hearing the prophecy that he will murder his father and take his mother as his own wife, he attempts to flee the fate the gods have laid out before him by leaving Corinth.
Oedipus went to Delphi and asked the oracle about his parentage. Instead of answering his question directly, the oracle prophesied that he would one day murder his father and sleep with his mother. Upon hearing this, Oedipus resolved never to return to Corinth.
Agamemnon has to give the slave girl back to her father along with a ritual butchering of bulls (a hecatomb) before Apollo will end the plague.
Iliad: summary. 1-7: Homer calls upon the goddess of poetry and inspiration (the MUSE) to sing of Achilleus' anger. 8-52: Chryses, priest of Apollo , comes to the Greek camp to ransom his daughter, Chryseis , held captive by Agamemnon . He is insulted and sent away, and Apollo sends a plague on the Greeks.
Despite her earlier skepticism, Jocasta burns incense to Apollo. Ironically, she implores Apollo — the source of this prophetic truth and the god of prophecy — to release Oedipus from his fears about the very prophecy Apollo himself has given.
The dreaded curse dates all the way back to 1882, when Apollo won the Kentucky Derby by defeating 4-5 favorite Runnymede. Since then, no horse has won the race after not starting as a two-year-old. Everybody has heard of The Curse of the Bambino, The Curse of the Billy Goat and even the Curse of Bobby Layne.
Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy, but was also cursed by the god Apollo so that her true prophecies would not be believed.
The oracle has predicted that the burial place of Oedipus will bring good fortune to the city in which it is located, and both sons, as well as Creon, know of this prophecy. Both Polynices and Creon are currently en route to try to take Oedipus into custody and thus claim the right to bury him in their kingdoms.
Unknown to Artemis, the first night Apollo met Persephone, he sexual assault Persephone by going into her room while she slept. Persephone did try to tell Artemis about what Apollo did to her that night, but held back, worried it would hurt their relationship.
Apollo's most evil acts thus would be: Threatening to rape Alice. Putting out the Sun and breaking his divine oath. Manipulating his father into killing a human.
In Book 1 of the poem, Apollo sends a plague to destroy the Achaeans because he is angry with Agamemnon, the army's leader. Agamemnon has taken two young women, Chryseis and Briseis, as war prizes. Chryseis' father is a priest of Apollo, so Apollo gets revenge on Agamemnon and his soldiers to bring Chryseis home.