The play Oedipus the King has remained a vibrant and a quite powerful work of literature and art over twenty-five centuries due to its content in which we see the archetypal hero Oedipus. To truly understand the impact that an archetypal hero has on a work of art/literature we must first understand that an archetype is a mold, which transcends time, place and any type of cultural distinction. Often times the archetypal hero, in this case Oedipus, is someone that must go on a journey that isn't as much as a physical one as it is an emotional and spiritual journey that would essentially end with self discovery and enlightenment.

Oedipus' journey, (as the archetype suggests) begins with his departure and separation from the world he is accustomed to because he feels that should he stay he will commit a great offence against his "father" Polybus the...