Answer:
The story of Oedipus The king shows the gods as someone who curses their own people fro no reason but also at the same time expect them to worship and turn to them for guidance and help.
Explanation:
Ancient Greek stories have a lot of details showing their gods in all their finery and helping out men in their need but they also are full of negative attributes and easily destroy lives and places in anger. And they are known to put curses on even their own off-springs. While it is customary to pray to gods for help, these same gods are also the causes of most of the wars and they too participate with each having their own sides. In Oedipus, The king, we see that even these gods are at work. They had already predicted the fate of Oedipus before he was even born. A curse was on him that he will bring upon the destruction of his father. That curse came true, but unknowing to Oedipus. He killed the king of Thebes and married the queen, who turned out to be his own mother. In this play, the gods played a big role in how the characters turn out. It was because of the curse that was upon Oedipus that ruined the kingdom. In lines 467, Tiresias said "I served Apollo" and this is evident of him being the medium for the god's message to men and also his dependence on the gods even when threatened. And Tiresias talks of the doom that will befall on Oedipus. Lines 784-800 shows Jocasta the queen and wife/mother of Oedipus describing the same details of the curse and the death of Laius, Oedipus' father and her husband. These predictions by the gods are evident of them being gods, cursing them and also at the same time being worshiped for guidance and help.
