Research Paper on:
Religion and Oedipus the King by Sophocles

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
B.C.?) lived and wrote over four hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. And yet, the religious notions he eloquently articulated in his masterpiece, Oedipus the King, believed  to have been written during the early days of the Peloponnesian War (approximately 431 B.C.), had a profound impact upon modern-day spiritual views, and, therefore, must be regarded as his  greatest innovation. Sophocles and his fellow Greeks were polytheists, believing that several gods and goddesses controlled the cosmos. They maintained that they must live in accordance with the  gods, meaning that they should conduct themselves with honor, devoting their lives to the conduct of civic duties, which would benefit their fellow man. The ancient Greeks contended that,  in essence, man must embody the moral precepts established by his divine counterparts, for anyone failing to do so would be doomed to endure their considerable wrath. Oedipus the King  is unique from other dramas of its time period in that it concentrated upon the belief in one god in particular, Apollo, who was the master of prophecy. In  Sophocles interpretation of the Oedipus myth, he is the king of Thebes, who is attempting to save his people from a devastating plague that threatens to annihilate most of its  citizens. This plague is interpreted as an act of the gods, who are voicing their extreme displeasure for some unknown reason. Oedipus takes his responsibilities to his subjects  most seriously, for he wishes to be perceived as an honorable and just leader. He pledges to do anything to save his people from their hellish fate by exposing  who is responsible for this blight. Oedipus dispatches his brother-in-law Creon to meet with Apollos oracle, to determine the plagues possible origins. He promises his subjects that he