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Sophocles’ presents a complex character at the center of his play, Oedipus the King. The tragic flaw of Oedipus is his daring pursuit of the truth at any cost. His attempt to alter his fate is reasonable, but his actions along the way are reckless. Oedipus’s actions are harmful even while his intentions may seem honorable. Sophocles’ play delivers a message that serves as moral caution; that even when people’s fate seems beyond their control, they are still responsible for the consequences of their actions. From the start, Oedipus’ overconfidence in his abilities is apparent. He believes he has averted a prophecy from the oracle, and it is this determination and his superior intellect that has allowed him to defeat the Sphinx and rescue Thebes. Now as king, a plague ravages the city, and Oedipus awaits help from an oracle. The solution calls for riding the city of the killer of the previous king. Confident in his task Oedipus boast, “Then once more I must bring what is
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He justifies his actions, “By avenging the murdered king I protect myself” (Parodos.143). Oedipus seems convinced he can determine the course of events. While investigating the king’s murder, the seer Teiresias, is brought before Oedipus, because his ability to perceive the prophesies of the gods. This character plays a key role explaining Oedipus’ fate. Teiresias tells Oedipus he is blind to the truth but it is his hasty reactions that cause him the most trouble, “You call me unfeeling. If you could only see / The nature of your own feelings...” (1.120-121). It is precisely this recklessness that Teiresias points out that will be Oedipus’ down fall. Oedipus’ abuse of Teiresias brings the revelation that Oedipus is his father’s murderer, and that Oedipus’ crimes are responsible for the plague upon Thebes. Oedipus has ruined his entire family and everything he has achieved in an attempt to determine his own
In the play when Oedipus asks Teiresias to reveal the murderer of King Laois, Teiresias blames Oedipus as the murderer and Oedipus denies the blame and gets angry on Teiresias. The chorus even denies the blame on Oedipus and takes Oedipus’ side. The chorus says the following lines to protect Oedipus “This is the king who solved the famous riddle, and towered up, most powerful of men. No mortal eyes but looked on him with envy, Yet in the end ruin swept over him”(Freud 988). Oedipus on the other hand who is really mad at Teiresias blames him and Creon for plotting against him. As Oedipus was blind from the start he was unaware of his origins which will cause him to trigger the unavoidable chain of events that would lead to the fulfilment of the prophecy. But he didn’t knew the fate itself was unavoidable. The irony of theme sight and blindness is produced here when Oedipus is compared to Teiresias. Oedipus who is not blind and has the capability to see with both of his eyes doesn’t finds anything wrong in killing a man, who he later discovers was King Laois and his group. He even took over the throne of Thebes and was found to be lying with his mother thinking her as his wife and having babies with her. On the other hand is Teiresias who is really blind and unable to see than...
"Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race,” as quoted by William E. Gladstone, supports my thought that selfishness is what causes most of our problems in the modern world. Currently, we are living in an era that is filled with much gluttony and selfishness. However, selfishness is a trait that all of us possess, but the amount of selfishness that we have can determine the type of person we are. For instance, parents should always put their children’s needs before their own. Selfish parents would rather buy materialistic items for themselves than anything useful for their children. In Sophocles’s “Oedipus Rex,” the protagonist is literally blinded by his own arrogance. This attitude begins before he even travels to Thebes, and that is apparent due to the circumstances of his father’s death. Oedipus seals his own fate with his egotistical attitude and he cannot change his destiny after everything is set into motion. During his journey on the road to enlightenment, Oedipus’s selfishness causes him to transcend from being completely ignorant of his fate to holding on to the last shreds of denial to having an overwhelming sense of realization.
Oedipus is so cocky and arrogant that he knew before he even attempted to solve the puzzle that he would be able to complete it. This sense of over-self confidence is seen throughout the entire work, its extremely obvious. Even though it looks like Oedipus is doing all of these great and heroic things for the good of the city,
Throughout Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus’ arrogance comes out again and again. The first sign of arrogance his him running away from his parents that he knows might not be his true parents. This leads him to Thebes where is arrogance is seen by the city. Not only did he take full control of the investigation even the parts where he had help by over ridding them; he also carried out his own punishment he deemed fit. The blindness of Oedipus was truly caused by his arrogant self-important view on
The great Sophoclean play, Oedipus Rex is an amazing play, and one of the first of its time to accurately portray the common tragic hero. Written in the time of ancient Greece, Sophocles perfected the use of character flaws in Greek drama with Oedipus Rex. Using Oedipus as his tragic hero, Sophocles’ plays forced the audience to experience a catharsis of emotions. Sophocles showed the play-watchers Oedipus’s life in the beginning as a “privileged, exalted [person] who [earned his] high repute and status by…intelligence.” Then, the great playwright reached in and violently pulled out the audience’s most sorrowful emotions, pity and fear, in showing Oedipus’s “crushing fall” from greatness.
Oedipus the King conveys many lessons that are relevant to people living today despite the fact that it was written by Sophocles twenty four centuries ago. Oedipus is a child destined to kill his father and marry his mother. During his life, he makes many mistakes trying to avoid his fate. These mistakes teach us about the nature of humans under certain circumstances. Oedipus possesses personality traits which causes him to make wrong decisions. Attributes like arrogance and his inability to make calm decisions in certain scenarios due to his anger causes his downfall. Oedipus’ excessive pride, like many people today, was an important factor that brought him grief. Oedipus’ lack of patience caused him to make hasty decisions which lead him to his greatest agony. Oedipus’ massive ego turned into excessive vanity, this was the first step to his downfall. Oedipus talks to Creon about the murderer of Laius. He declares, “Then I’ll go back and drag that shadowed past to light… but by myself and for myself I’ll break this plague” (Sophocles, 11). Oedipus is saying that he will be the on...
Oedipus believed that he could take on the Sphinx and rid Thebes of the plague. The plague was the god’s example of the fault in human condition. Children and mothers were dying and the world was at war with itself. The plague showed that the mortality of being human is a death sentence. The riddle of the Sphinx defines human limits. The first stage is that of a baby, the second is when you are your strongest, and the third stage is when you are old an dying, and there is no way to avoid this cycle. Oedipus fails to recognize the third stage of the riddle in himself even though it is staring him in the face in the form of Teiresias.
Another example of Oedipus’ presumptuous temperament is when he immediately assumes that Creon is trying to take his power from him. Creon sends Tiresias to Oedipus to help him solve the crime of the plague, and when Tiresias reveals that Oedipus must die in order to save the people of Thebes, Oedipus assumes Creon is trying to take his throne. Creon even tells Oedipus, “…if you think crude, mindless stubbornness such a gift, you’ve lost your sense of balance” (Meyer 1438). Oedipus’ impulsive nature leads him to discovering the truth and reveals that he has indeed fulfilled the prophecy he was running from.
With this in mind, many believe that King Oedipus in Sophocles’ play, Oedipus the King, is the perfect example of Aristotle’s tragic hero. Does he, however, truly fulfill all the “requirements” described in Poetics or is there something we miss in the depths of his fascinating and multi-faceted character that does not fit into Aristotle’s template? Without a doubt, Oe...
Oedipus Rex (the King), written by Sophocles, is the tragic play depicting the disastrous existence to which Oedipus, an Athenian, is 'fated' to endure. With a little help from the gods and the 'fated' actions and decisions of Oedipus, an almost unthinkable misfortune unfolds. Athenian perfection can consist of intelligence, self-confidence, and a strong will. Oedipus, the embodiment of such perfection, and his tragedy are common place to Athenians. Ironically, the very same exact characteristics that bring about the ominous discovery of Oedipus' fate: to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus' 'fated' decisions entangle everyone whom is of any significance to him within a quagmire of spiraling tragedy. Sophocles uses the riddle of the Sphinx as a metaphor for the three phases of Oedipus' entangled life, the three phases of human life, and to describe how every life-changing action or decision can influence other lives.
In Oedipus the King, Sophocles suggests that the impact of seeing the truth is harmful rather than enlightening. Whenever Oedipus strives to discover more to strengthen Thebes’ perspective of him, it leads him closer to his fate as determined by prophesy. Tiresias stands as a model in the play for the individual who is able to see the meaning beyond plot of events although his is blind, and Oedipus represents the oblivious arrogant individual who is never content because they need to be the unsurpassed individual. In the play, Sophocles illustrates the downside of a personality like Oedipus who desires to see the truth by ending the play with the brutality of gouging out his own eyes. Ultimately, the play reinforces that seeing the truth is harmful and being content with what you have, without greedily striving for more, can help avoid fate and a related deposition.
When he discovers what he destined to do, he tries to avoid it because he realizes the tragedy of the prophecy. During Oedipus’ rule of Thebes, he was a benevolent king who only wanted to do the right thing for his people. Near the beginning of the play, Oedipus displays a large amount of care for his citizens: “I grieve for these, my people, far more than I fear for my own life.” (Sophocles 159). However Oedipus’ benevolence is set aside for his other ambitions, like discovering his past. When Oedipus discovers what really happens, he becomes distraught, and eventually punishes himself in many ways, but in doing so also reveals that he cares about doing what is right for his people, his children, and for
Although Oedipus has already fulfilled his destiny, his excessive pride pushes him to reveal the truth of the murder of King Laius. Had Oedipus not acted upon that pride, he would have never realized that he had achieved his dreadful prophecy. Oedipus ignores the dangerous warnings of his companions, and instead increases the urgency of the hunt for the murderer. “Listen to you? No more. I must know it all, / must see the truth at last” (1168-1169). Oedipus chooses to pursue the truth about King Laius’ murderer, not knowing he was the culprit. His own reckless pride makes Oedipus want to be the hero that would save Thebes from the deadly plague triggered by the murder of Laius. “I’ll start again- I’ll bring it all to light myself” (150)! Oedipus’ pride once again pushes him to find out the truth of the old kings murder. He wants to act as a God and protect his city. Oedipus’ free will causes him to be prideful, therefore hastening his downfall. “Now my curse on the murderer…” (280). When Oedipus curses the murderer, he unknowingly curses himself, too. Oedipus has multiple chances to turn away from his fate, but his excessive pride only leads him closer to it.
Sophocles’ Oedipus is the tragedy of tragedies. An honorable king is deceived and manipulated by the gods to the point of his ruination. In the face of ugly consequences Oedipus pursues the truth for the good of his city, finally exiling himself to restore order. Sophocles establishes emotional attachment between the king and the audience, holding them in captivated sympathy as Oedipus draws near his catastrophic discovery. Oedipus draws the audience into a world between a rock and a hard place, where sacrifice must be made for the greater good.
Oedipus was a victime of fate, his futur was foretold by an Oracle, he had no way of knowing that his wife was his mother nor that the stranger he killed was his father. Oedipus could not prevent his own downfall. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, he became king when he cured the city of a deadly plague. He cured the plague by solving the riddle of the mythical creature, the Sphinkx. Now the city is suffering from another plague and as king Oedipus must solve the riddle of this one.