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Character analysis of oedipus the king
Character analysis of oedipus in oedipus the king
Character analysis of oedipus the king
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In most cultures killing another human is considered an act of severe moral consequences, for both the one who commits the murder and for society. Oedipus seems to be an honorable man and to discover he has inadvertently killed King Liaus, who also happened to be his long-lost father, would have surely placed the poor guy in a state of consternation. Sleeping with his mother, even inadvertently, I’m with Oedipus on that being an abomination, that would be hard to take. Again, Oedipus being an honorable man, both these acts and the suffering he has brought to his children and the city is an evil act. In our society today I feel that, despite the ugliness we see, most people want to see the best In others and are willing to overlook and
Oedipus the King: Reason and Passion In the play, Oedipus the King, there are dual parts of reason and passion. Oedipus primarily acts with both reason and passion at different stages in the play. There are several points in the play where Oedipus acts with reason. The first such point occurs when he is asked by his followers to help save Thebes. He acts with reason when he immediately decides to heed to their demands and find help for them.
Oedipus is shown to be a well-liked and trusted king among all his townspeople. Solving the riddle of the Sphinx and saving Thebes brought him great fame and popularity. When time came to save the town from Laios’ killer, Oedipus relied much on his intellect. He searched for information about the night of the murder from Creon and Teiresias, but as he learned more details, Oedipus realized not only that he was the killer but also that he married his mother. Throughout his inquiry he believed he was doing good for his people as well as himself, but eventually it brought him shame. Oedipus was humiliated and disgusted and stated, “…kill me; or hurl me into the sea, away from men’s eyes for ever(p882, 183).'; Oedipus’ wanted to be isolated from the people of Thebes because all his respect and fame was destroyed by his fate.
The ancient Greeks were fond believers of Fate. Fate, defined according to Webster’s, is “the principle or determining cause or will by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as the do.” The Greeks take on Fate was slightly modified. They believed that the gods determined Fate: “…fate, to which in a mysterious way the gods themselves were subject, was an impersonal force decreeing ultimate things only, and unconcerned with day by day affairs.” It was thought that these gods worked in subtle ways; this accounts for character flaws (called harmatia in Greek). Ancient Greeks thought the gods would alter a person’s character, in order for that person to suffer (or gain from) the appropriate outcome. Such was the case in Oedipus’s story.
Charles was born on June 20, 1947 in Cannelton, Indiana. The first home that he remembers living in was a two-bedroom log cabin with his mom, dad, and three sisters. He specifically remembers that the house had a wood burning stove and how his family did not have an icebox. Instead, they kept the items that they needed to refrigerate in a water pump hole to keep them cold. His parents were tobacco sharecroppers, so his family moved around a lot. He went to first grade in Cynthiana, Indiana, and then his family moved to Calhoun, Kentucky where he finished the rest of elementary school. Then, his family moved to Louisville, Kentucky where he went to middle school. Once Charles got to the ninth grade, he decided to drop out of school and move to Evansville, Indiana to live with his older sister.
Oedipus is seen to have double standards with regards to the idea of murder. He is aware that he has killed someone, yet to hear that King Laius was killed, he seems appalled, "...so daring, so wild, he'd kill a king?"p166. It is depicted as being morally less acceptable to kill someone of "royal blood".
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.
Because Oedipus knows nothing about the past of Thebes, he is not an assassin. Oedipus committed murder but unknowingly of who King Laius was. Oedipus' honor was his claim against the murder. Had it been the other way around and Oedipus had lost the battle, King Laius' alibi would have also been for reasons of honor: for reasons of royalty. Oedipus was royalty and knew it as well did King Laius. The main idea behind Oedipus' innocence is this "royalty." Regardless of either of their class standings a fight occurred and the one to start had been King Laius? men, or group, the fact that they lost is not the fault of Oedipus. In other words, King Laius and his men wanted to discipline Oedipus for not showing honor towards a king. Yet, in return, Oedipus wanted respect in return from King Laius and his men. They were both rightfully due the same amount of respect yet King Laius? and his men felt they were entitled to pass first. The first blow came from the driver of King Laius? chariot. This shows how Oedipus reacted in defense and feared for his life as well as his honor. Oedipus is an innocent man whose fate was also his destiny. There was no way to stop the prophecy no matter what action was taken. Throughout his life he ruled for his people. He was looked at as a "mortal set apart to face life?s common issues and the trials, which the gods dispensed to men" (3).
“We are most unwilling to accept mystery, what cannot be reduced to other and more intelligible forms. Yet that is what we find here: something irreducible, therefore perpetually to be interpreted; not secrets to be found out one by one, but secrecy” (Kermode 143). In the play Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, we see the difference between secrets and secrecy that Kermode talks about. In the play we see that those who pursue the truth, corrupt the uncovering of the hidden unknown with their assumptions and perceptions. When confronted with the mystery of Oedipus’s past, both the reader and Oedipus seek the truth, but come to a resolution that is tainted with their supposition rather than the truth. Oedipus and the reader evince the innate illusion of human thinking when encountering secrecy: forcing ones own preconception onto the truth. Through reading the play Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, the reader can determine that seeking the answers to secrets with the basis of human reasoning induces the resentment of secrecy: no truth stands today that has not been corrupted with some part of self-assumption.
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.
Oedipus the King The Greek period, in the fourth and fifth centuries of B.C., evolved from a small city called Athens, Europe. In this era, a sweep of talent and creativity placed a historical advance on theater, that will dominate for years to come. This spirit most likely emerged from the defeat of the Persian Empire, along with the sense of freedom and expression from the Athenian democracy. Four great writers derived from this ancient astonishment. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were three writers of tragedy, whereas Aristophanes was a famous comic dramatist. From these original works came the play festivals using masks and boots to accommodate for the size of the Greek theater. These tragedies the Athenians went to see consisted of five episodes, and one in particular, Oedipus the King, is made up of five choral odes, featuring the mystery behind the riddle of the sphinx. The dithyrambs were a beginning stage or rough draft of what the plays would soon come to be. Dionysis is the name of a theater where people like Thespis and other Greek actors performed, using the three unities to keep the audiences attention alarmed and suspense building.
The play "Oedipus Rex" is a very full and lively one to say the least. Everything a reader could ask for is included in this play. There is excitement, suspense, happiness, sorrow, and much more. Truth is the main theme of the play. Oedipus cannot accept the truth as it comes to him or even where it comes from. He is blinded in his own life, trying to ignore the truth of his life. Oedipus will find out that truth is rock solid. The story is mainly about a young man named Oedipus who is trying to find out more knowledge than he can handle. The story starts off by telling us that Oedipus has seen his moira, his fate, and finds out that in the future he will end up killing his father and marrying his mother. Thinking that his mother and father were Polybos and Merope, the only parents he knew, he ran away from home and went far away so he could change his fate and not end up harming his family. Oedipus will later find out that he cannot change fate because he has no control over it, only the God's can control what happens. Oedipus is a very healthy person with a strong willed mind who will never give up until he gets what he wants. Unfortunately, in this story these will not be good trait to have.
Oedipus Rex is a classic tragedy that shows how King Oedipus does some detestable things that led to his misfortune and eventually end his reign as the “King of Thebes.” I will be breaking down the Plot, Structure and Setting of this play, and then go more in depth into the theme.
Oedipus is guilty because, despite knowing the prophecy that he will commit parricide and incest, he yet kills an elderly gentleman and sleeps with an elderly women. The choice was his, and this accounts for his guilt.
The events in Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, show an underlying relationship of man's free will existing within the cosmic order or fate that the Greeks believed guided the universe. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Both the concepts of fate and free will played an integral part in Oedipus' destruction. Although he was a victim of fate, he was not controlled by it. Oedipus was destined from birth to someday marry his mother and to murder his father.
Here is a story where Oedipus the King, who has accomplished great things in his life, discovers that the gods were only playing with him. He has everything a man of that time could want; he is king of Thebes, he has a wonderful wife and children, and great fame through out the lands. He has lived a good life, but in the end everything is taken from him.