Medea, Oedipus: Comparative essay between two Greek tragedies

Hello Everyone!

I am a high school student currently in 11th grade.
On Monday I will have to write a comparative essay between the two Greek tragedies I have studied in class: Medea by Euripides and King Oedipus by Sophocles.

I am trying my best to memorize facts and quotes, but could you help me out to find some similarites between them both?
I mean what do they really have in common apart from being Greek? The themes are different, the main characters are different...I am a little bit lost here.

Thank you very much and I am looking forward to hear your answers,

Julie.

i too see very few (if any) similarities between the two
i haven't read the tragedies as such, but kinda know the stories.

maybe you should compare the stark differences between the two,
Oedipus was forever running away form his Fate, trying to escape the oracle's prophecy whereas Medea was cold, manipulative and ruthless, knowing her mind well and doing exactly what she wanted

maybe the fact that both their plans went awry almost chronically and things never really were positive for them.
also, both show traits of hubris, although Medea didn't really suffer because of it

hope this was helpful

Aditya

Thank you! This truly helped me!
Julie

Usually, you are supposed to write an essay that shows both similarities and differences. Is tha the case? You know both stories, so you know they are both tragedies involving families. You already named some differences, and you can explain the differences by talking abou the different themes. I always recommend Sparknotes, but not as a way to avoid reading the plays; use Sparknotes' "Themes, Symbols, and Motifs" to hep you understand and then go back to the Shakespeare.

sparknotes.com/drama/oedipus/themes.html

Similarities include forbidden love, misunderstandings, death...