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Oedipus the king character analysis
Oedipus the king character analysis
Critically discuss the role of fate in Sophocles' play Oedipus rex
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In Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, a plague has spread throughout the city of Thebes causing widespread death. Oedipus, the king, sends Creon to the prophet at Delphi to find an answer to the plague and save the people. In order to stop the plague, the prophet says that Oedipus must determine the killer of Laius, the previous king, and banish him from the land. Oedipus is determined to discover the truth, and his path towards the truth results in him questioning several individuals. His determination to solve the plague leads to his eventual discovery of the truth and his downfall. As the mystery surrounding begins to unravel, Oedipus begins to learn about the truth surrounding his birth before discovering the killer of Laius. Throughout the play, Oedipus’s personality propels him toward solving the mystery and discovering the truth. His path towards the truth suggests the dominance of fate in controlling the outcome of his life. Oedipus’s ego masks his ability to reason logically and see the obvious. Creon invites Tiresias, the blind prophet, to come and provide guidance on the identity of the murderer. Oedipus tries to obtain information regarding the killing of Laius from Tiresias; however, when Tiresias refuses to inform Oedipus about the truth, Oedipus says,“Creon, the soul of trust, my loyal friend from the start steals against me… so hungry to overthrow me he sets this wizard on me…seer blind in his craft” [438-442], which reveals his large ego. He thinks that Tiresias has been lying to him, and hence, he believes that Creon, his “loyal friend”, sent Tiresias to try to overtake his position and gain power because Oedipus’s quick leap to the conclusion without conclusive evidence from either Tiresias or Creon further refl... ... middle of paper ... ...rcumstances and reveals the power of fate in dictating the outcome. In addition, the prophecy to save the city from the plague prompts Oedipus to search for the truth in an effort to stop the plague. The search for Laius’s killer results in Oedipus’s discovery of both the killer and also his parents. Hence, fate is responsible for Oedipus’s uncovering of the truth. Throughout the play, Oedipus exercises his free will on several occasions. In order to help save the people of Thebes, he chooses to persist with the investigation of the Laius’s; however, the end result of his investigation was determined by the gods through the prophecy. Oedipus’s actions have no influence on the outcome of the events in his life, which are dictated by the gods and fate. Through the prophecies and Oedipus’s actions, Sophocles reveals the dominance of fate in the lives of individuals.
Undoubtedly there has been a tremendous amount of speculation and dissection of this play by countless people throughout the ages. I can only draw my own conclusions as to what Sophocles intended the meaning of his play to be. The drama included a number of horrific and unthinkable moral and ethical dilemas, but I believe that was what made the play so interesting and that is exactly the way Sophocles intended it to be. The play was obviously meant to entertain and portray the author’s own insight. The underlying theme to the play is that no man should know his own destiny, it will become his undoing. This knowledge of things to come was presented to both Laius and Oedipus in the form of prophecies well in advance of it coming to be. The prophecies told of things that were so morally disturbing that they both aggressively did everything in their power to try and stop them from coming true. The story begins with Oedipus at the height of power as King of Thebes. His kingdom has encountered rough times and he has sent his nobleman Creon to seek help from the god Apollo to restore his land. Creon tells Oedipus that he must find the murderer of the previous King Laius and by finding this man and banishing him, his land will be restored. The murder occurred some time ago and King Oedipus sends for the seer Theiresias with his powers of prophecy to aid in the search for the murderer. Sophocles cleverly projects his feelings on wisdom and knowledge through Teirsias when he says “Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that’s wise!”(23) Teirsias knows that this terrible prophecy has already been set into motion and the damage has already been done. There is really no point in telling it to Oedipus because it will only cause more harm than good. Oedipus provokes Teirsias into telling him the prophecy, “ Í tell you, king, this man, this murderer-he is here. In name he is a stranger among citizens but soon he will be shown to be a citizen true native Theban, and he’ll have no joy of the discovery: blindness for sight and beggary for riches his exchange, he shall go journeying to a foreign country tapping his way befor him with a stick.
In the Oedipus at Colonus, there are three major themes of the play, prophecy, guilt and death. Each of them is part of how Oedipus’ life plays out. The prophecy told that he was the killer of his own father and married his mother, and how the guilt, he had for committing these acts, by gouging out his own eyes; and how after his family disowned him then wanting him to help them knowing that whoever was on Oedipus’ side would win the war. Also where Oedipus’ body should be laid to rest after his death.
With its popularity equivalent to the modern day version of the tale of Snow White, the title character of the Greek tragedy of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King can turn iron-fists into timorous wimps. As an honorable king and a miracle worker, the positive attributes of Oedipus would have been worthy of taking into account had he not committed one of the greatest sins of human life – and yes, this was even worse than a verbal sin. Portrayed as the protagonist and villain, Oedipus’ situation was destined by the supreme will of the gods and any attempt to escape the evil that the gods intimidate him with would eventually fail, because his hubris towards his power and position would instigate more castigation from the gods.
Despite the importance of fate in Greek characters, Oedipus is often portrayed as stubbornly endeavoring to pursue his own goals. When news spreads that the King Laios had died to murder and that the only way to resolve this plague is to find his murderer, King Oedipus officially appoints himself as the chief investigator. He gives the people of Thebes the impression of being ready to help, and furthermore promises to assist in any way he can. Oedipus, as the King of Thebes, sees his responsibility and demands anyone who knows about the murder to come forth. Oedipus then says, "My spirit grieves for the city, for myself and all of you" (Sophocles 87). By uttering those words, Oedipus has fatefully condemned himself to suffering in the future. However, Oedipus fully confirms his flaw of determination by looking at all tasks as a riddle-solver. As a man who has solved the riddle of the Sphinx, he held himself at high intelligence and relied on his own powers to find the truth. However, much to the audience’s amusement, the oracle’s predictions and Oedipus’ investigative method lead to the same outcome. As Jocasta said, “If you could just have left well enough alone, you would never have discovered the horrible workings of fate” (Sophocles
Aristotle defined a tragic story as the adventure of a good man who reaches his ultimate downfall because he pushed his greatest quality too far. Sophocles advocates the definition in the tragic play Oedipus Rex. He develops the play with the great polarities of fame and shame, sight and blindness, and ignorance and insight to show Oedipus’ experiences in search for knowledge about his identity. Through his search, Oedipus pushes his quest for truth too far and ultimately reaches his doom. Oedipus’ reliance on his intellect is his greatest strength and ultimate downfall.
His pride gets him into a lot of bad situations. The ultimate downfall of Oedipus is that he is unwilling to accept is fate. This drives him throughout the whole story to get down to the bottom of numerous questions. Such as, who killed his father? What is his fate and how can he avoid it? Also he was questioning the loyalty of his brother-in-law, Creon. Oedipus is genuinely concerned by the damage the plague is doing to his people and seeks to help. Creon informs him that the plague is the result of King Laius's murder and that the murderer must be found and killed or expelled. Oedipus seeks counsel from Teiresias the prophet. However, the prophet is afraid of divulging the truth about the situation. Reason being is because the prophet knows that Oedipus is guilty of killing his father. However, even though Oedipus has done many things that are frowned upon, the reader has to
Oedipus has a "tragic flaw" that leads to his demise, and efforts to attribute one to him to him seem forced . In his quest to uncover the truth and rid Thebes of the plague, he exhibits all the heroic qualities that made him the savior of Thebes during the Sphinx's reign of terror. Oedipus as a victim of a fate he could not control. He had enormous control over the events of his "destiny" through the numerous decisions he makes. He chooses to believe the oracle and leave Corinth.
In the play, Oedipus the King, blindness is used metaphorically and physically to characterize several personas , and the images of clarity and vision are used as symbols for knowledge and insight. Enlightenment and darkness are used in much the same manner, to demonstrate the darkness of ignorance, and the irony of vision without sight.
Oedipus, the ruler of Thebes, approaches a group of unhappy citizens, represented by a priest, and asks them what is wrong. They answer that the city is dying and that they are sick and poor. Oedipus sympathizes and tells them that, as their ruler, he is also troubled by the sickness of the city, and has already taken steps to see that something be done about it. The first step he has taken was to send Creon to Apollo's shrine to see what the god recommends they do. As Creon appears, he tells them that the god, Apollo, said that there is bad blood in Thebes, and that until this blood is expelled Thebes will be a sick city.
Brittnne Bennett Bennett 1Mrs. BardEnglish Honors25 January 2014The cursed journey of Oedipus By conducting a thorough reading of Sophocles play Oedipus the king, one will easily view Oedipus as caring, getting ahead of himself, and seemingly on a personal journey. In the process of this journey you come to, and understanding that there is more to this apologue than it appears. Due to the fact that, Oedipus goes through a life changing journey; Between his biological family, people who he considered his family, and himself. The decision that he chooses to make will either bring him peace or misery. The story commences with a toxic plague tormenting the city of Thebes. The Priest approaches Oedipus his king, and begs him to help cease this curse. Being a considerate and understanding king who loves his people Oedipus was already one step ahead. At that point Oedipus had sent his brother-in-law Creon to talk to the god Apollo, to grasp and understand as to why this was happening to his people. In return, Creon had suggested to Oedipus that he talks to Tiresias, "The man who sees most eye to eye with Lord Apollo." (Will 17) In doing so, it doesn't end well as Oedipus felt betrayed by his brother-in-law; for sending a false prophet. Leading him to accuse Creon of wanting to steal the throne. As this predicament rises the chorus leader state's that " Quick decisions are not the safest." (Will 35)
Sophocles uses the play Oedipus the King to show his own ideas of fate and how the universe works. These ideas are shown through the life of the main character Oedipus. In Oedipus the King Oedipus spends much of his life trying to avoid the fate that he was given. When he visits an Oracle he is told that he will kill his father and marry his mother. To escape this horrible fate he leaves the city of Corinth where he grew up and heads to Thebes. Unbeknownst to Oedipus his real mother and father (the King and Queen) live in Thebes so by going there he is just speeding up the prophecy. On his way to the new city he unknowingly kills his father king Laius in a fit of road rage. The city of Thebes is having a problem with a Sphinx that is flying around and eating people until they can solve a riddle. Oedipus manages to
Many times humans do things that contradict another thing they do. An example of this is one thing may be good but also bad at the same time. A person who has done this more then once is Oedipus in the writer Sophocles plays. Sophocles uses imagery like light verses darkness, knowledge verses ignorance and sight verses blindness.
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.
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.
Creon convinces Oedipus to call upon the prophet Lord Tiresias. He knows everything there is to know and Creon knew that he would be able to help figure out who murdered Laius. Oedipus hears what Lord Tiresias has to say about the matter and he does not like it at all. Oedipus thinks that Creon “put the prophet up to spreading lies” (188). This puts Creon in a very sticky situation with Oedipus.