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Literary analysis on oedipus the king
Literary analysis on oedipus the king
Beowulf vs oedipus
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The characters Oedipus and Beowulf represent two different types of heroes. Oedipus is a
tragic hero and characterized by its standards. He was an influential man of stature who had a
tragic flaw. While he contributed to his own downfall, Oedipus was not entirely responsible for it.
He also learned a lesson from his mistakes which ultimately creates a catharsis in the reading
audience. Beowulf, on the other hand, is characterized by the standards of an epic hero. He
strives for excellence and individual glory by doing heroic deeds. He has an admirable set of
ethics, is great warrior, and is very loyal to his master. Beowulf is also rewarded for his deeds
with fame and fortune. Although both of these men are heroes, the individual circumstances
which allow them to achieve this status vary greatly.
Oedipus was a man of power and high social status. This was due to his position as King
of Thebes. He was greatly respected by his people because he had ruled well during his reign as
king. Oedipus did, however, have a tragic flaw which was his inability to control his anger. This
lack of self-control is illustrated when Oedipus kills his father in an argument over the right of
way in a road. Oedipus' anger is also exhibited when he yells at the prophet Tiresias for telling
him the truth about his mistakes.
Oedipus' downfall was partially his own fault, although it was not entirely deserved.
Oedipus made the choices in his life that brought him into contact with his parents. He also
choose to kill a man in a fit of rage. He had control over all of these factors, but it can be argued
that he was destined from the beginning to commit these deeds no matter how Oedipus tried to
prevent them. Oedipus'...
... middle of paper ...
...ded by fate and could not prevent
his inevitable downfall. Beowulf was a perfectly shaped epic hero of fame and glory. He
possesses uncommon human ability and a very loyal nature. He won the respect of all who came
in contact with him through his champion-like etiquette and dignity. Although these two
characters represented entirely different types of heroes, they shared one important similarity.
Each had a tragic flaw that caused their demise.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Anderson, George K. "The Old English Heroic Epic Poems." Rpt. in Classical and Medieval
Literature Criticism. Vol. 1. Eds. Dennis Poupard and Jelena O. Krstovic. Detroit: Gale,
1988. 98-101
Furgusson, Francis. "Oedipus Rex': The Tragic Rhythm of Action." Rpt. in Classical and
Medieval Literature Criticism. Vol. 2. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Detroit: Gale, 1988.
388-389.
In conclusion, although Beowulf possessed many heroic qualities he would not be considered a hero in today’s world. A hero varies from culture to culture. The Anglo-Saxon appreciated different things in a person that what do not we appreciate today. Many things have changed a lot with time, the requisites for being considered a hero have also changed. Today we do not like to solve problems with war. Pride and honor are not as important as the willingness one has to help others. Beowulf is not feeling that contact with people he doesn’t identify with them because he believes himself better, a part of a hero´s cycle is to be identified with the community. To be part
The selfishness that Oedipus possesses causes him to have abundance of ignorance. This combination is what leads to his father’s death. After fleeing Corinth and his foster family, Oedipus gets into a skirmish with an older man. The reason for the fight was because, “The groom leading the horses forced me off the road at his lord’s command” (1336). Oedipus is filled with a rage after being insulted by the lord and feels the need to act. The two men fight, but Oedipus ends up being too much for the older man, and he kills him. What Oedipus is unaware of is that the man was actually his birth father and by killing him, Oedipus has started on the path of his own destruction. Not only does Oedipus kill his father, but also everyone else, “I killed them all” (1336). The other men had no part in the scuffle, but in his rage, he did not care who he was killing.
Beowulf exhibits many obvious heroic qualities, such as his strength and confidence in battle. These along with more subtle diplomatic actions serve to define him as both a great warrior and leader.
While fighting the Dragon Beowulf shows feats of strength and courage that define him as a hero. The classical hero displays a special quality that separates him from the rest of
To begin, Oedipus had a fatal flaw that Sophocles made clear throughout the play. This flaw is hubris, which means excessive pride. His over inflated pride makes people less fond of him. People such as Tiresias tried to help him by telling him the truth, but he refused to listen. He turned a deaf ea...
Oedipus is a ‘good king,’ a father of his people, an honest and great ruler, while at the same time an outstanding intellect. . . . He even shares the thro...
Oedipus at first finds the implications of killing his father and sleeping with his mother difficult to tolerate as a factual manifestation of his past. He disputes the fact that he had caused suc...
Sophocles intentionally gave certain flaws in character type to Oedipus—he intended a downfall. That was the purpose of all ancient Greek drama: it was meant as “a dramatic reminder of [their] own mortality”. Sophocles used his plays in order to force people to learn at other’s mistake. Oedipus is a perfect example. His tragic flaws, persistence and ignorance caused his inevitable doom
As tragic hero Oedipus displays all of the usual canon; power, arrogance, and pride. Oedipus manifests himself in a position of confidence, which he derives from his success at solving the riddle of the Sphinx and marrying a queen.“It was you who came / and released Cadmus’ Town from the tribute / we paid to the cruel songstress…” (Sophocles, 33-35) , “CREON: Then tell me this - / are you not married to my sister?” (Sophocles, 696-697). In turn, it also enabled him to make rash decisions, such as slaying his father, without personal recompense. “I was to slay my father. And he dies, / And the grave hide...
However, that one trait did not alone take away his position of high authority. Oedipus displayed anger throughout the whole story, which did not help him at all. During the story, we learn of Oedipus' anger as he knocked a passerby at the meeting of the three highways; "I struck him in my rage". Later, this passerby whom he angrily and quickly killed, was revealed to be Laios, Oedipus' father. Oedipus' anger also quickly shifted his judgment of Teiresias. "We are in your [Teiresias] hands. There is no fairer duty", Oedipus' respect for Teiresias quickly changed as Teiresias refused to tell of what was the trouble's cause. Oedipus began claiming that "Creon has brought this decrepit fortune teller" to mean that Teiresias was thought of as a traitor in Oedipus' thinking. Oedipus' anger is also shown as he begins to insult Teiresias by calling him a "wicked old man". Oedipus' anger throughout the beginning of the play hindered himself.
His desire for knowledge along with continuously trying to find answers about himself, is something the Gods did to make him that way. I think that no matter what Oedipus chose as his path it could not be averted. He can not escape the fate that was chosen by the Gods, no matter what would have happened through out the play he would still have ended killing his father and marrying his mother. When Oedipus reached the cross roads where he killed his father, it was fate that led him there, “short work, but god with one blow of the staff”. This demonstrates that he did not have free will in this choice because there was events that led him there where he would kill his father. Although he was using his own decision making he was not able to change his fate. The way he handles things because oh who he has become is something that eventually makes his fate come
While his intentions were well meaning in the beginning, Oedipus finds himself weighed down by his own flaws. Tragically his flaws cause him to lose focus of his true objectives and damn himself to a life of misery. The tale of Oedipus depicts his rapid descent from Oedipus, savior and king of Thebes to Oedipus Tyrannus the man who slew his father and married his mother. Since Oedipus has so many tragic flaws there is a plethora to choose from. However, if Oedipus’s tragic traits could be described with two words it would be arrogant and imperceptive. First, Oedipus is arrogant. Additionally, Oedipus is imperceptive.
The horrible fates of Oedipus and Creon are due to their tragic flaws. Even though both fates of these characters are absolutely terrible, Oedipus experiences the greatest tragedy. Oedipus’s flaw of ignorance might not be directly his fault but it results in horrific actions that no one else can be blamed for. Creon's flaw of pride causes him to make irrational decisions that end up harming the people he loves. Both characters directly cause the deaths of loved family members as a result of their flaws and decisions. Nothing can be worse that this. Oedipus The King and Antigone demonstrate the horrific tragedies of life.
In fact, Oedipus is doomed to kill his father, marry his mother and finally to be blind. It was his destiny or fate; he has nothing to do with this end or to prevent it. It was his fate which was manipulating him; drive him from Cornith to kill his father and then to Thebes to marry his mother. His destiny made him "his wife's son, his mother husband." By the hands of fate, he turned to be the most hated man in Thebes and "the man whose life is hell for others and for himself."
In Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, the age-old confusion of the impact of the free will of man on their seemingly unchanging destiny manifests itself in the scattered emotional war zone that is our protagonist. Oedipus is directly responsible for the fiery mass of rubble that his once joyous life became because he allowed his excessive ego and self worth lead him to a reckless lifestyle of impulsivity and arrogance.