Prompt: Setting: This includes cultural as well as geographical and historical setting. What effect does the setting have on story, character, theme?
Sophocles chose to employ the city of Thebes as his setting for his play. The history and culture of this city has a lot of parallels with the play of Oedipus the King. For instance, Thebes, despite being a part of Greece, was a rival with Athens. In fact, they sided against Athens (and thus their own nation) when Xerxes and the Persians invaded in 480 BC. The play, premiered in 429 BC, was clearly influenced by this event. However, this act was not at all random. Prior to the invasion by the Persians, the Athenians helped small individual villages maintain their independence from Thebes. These civil conflicts mirror those in the play; Oedipus constantly argues that he is for the people and no one suffers quite like him. This arrogance and hubris lead to a false connection with his people, foreshadowing revolt and uprising.
Athens was not the only rival of Thebes. Sparta constantly stripped Thebes of power within Greece, only reinstating when personal benefit was prevalent (i.e. they wanted support for waging a war with Athens). This constant shit in power is represented within the play between Oedipus and his people (i.e. the people convincing him not to murder Creon). Tiresias' help is rejected simply because Oedipus does not want to believe what he hears; though this is not technically a shift in power, it does demonstrate the conflict between men on the same side.
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