Oedipus Tragic Hero Essay In Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, Oedipus is the tragic hero; his flaw is his pride which he displays throughout the play, this is what leads to his downfall. In the play, Oedipus is attempting to free Thebes, his kingdom, from a plague; in doing so, he uncovers a horrible truth about himself and his family. In the end, he realizes that trying to outrun his fate, killing his father and marrying his mother, only brought him closer to fulfilling it. Throughout the play, Oedipus consistently, and sometimes without knowing, shows how prideful he is; in doing this he tries to avoid his fate and the truth. Oedipus’ pride causes him to lose everything because he chooses to overlook his fate and the truth. Oedipus’ pride …show more content…
As the investigation proceeds it is Creon, Jocasta's brother, who explains to Oedipus why the plague is occurring. Oedipus then summons the prophet Tiresias so that he can shed some light on the situation. Tiresias begins to hint that it is Oedipus who is behind the murder of the late king Laius. In addition to not accepting the truth Oedipus is also too arrogant to hear things he doesn’t want to hear and has to be told numerous times that he is the criminal that he has been searching for. After hearing this from Tiresias he still is doubtful and accuses him and Creon of working together stating: “Whose inventions are these? Creon’s?”(line 370). By saying this Oedipus attempts to shift the accusations from himself to Creon and Tiresias, because he is too vain to accept that he could do something of that nature and because he does not want to look bad in front of the citizens of Thebes. After Oedipus accuses Creon and Tiresias of attempting to conspire against him Tiresias continues to explain the truth to him but Oedipus wants no part of it and says: “Yes, take him from here. Present, you are nothing but a hindrance. Go, so that you will vex me no more”(line 435). Due to Tiresias’ status Oedipus shows how egotistic he is by dismissing Tiresias from Thebes and accusing him of lying. Oedipus continues to show his pride by rejecting the truth and accusing those who speak it of
Oedipus's pride leads to the story's tragic ending. He is too proud to consider the words of the prophet Teiresias, choosing, instead to rely on his own investing powers. Teiresias warns him not to pry into these matters, but pride in his intelligence leads Oedipus to continue his search. Oedipus thinks he can change fate. He just tries to ignore it, because he counts on his own ability to root out the truth. Oedipus is a clever man, but he is blind to the truth and refuses to believe Teiresias's warnings. He suffers because of his hamartia. I t is this excessive pride fuels his own destruction. I would just say Oedipus is a tragic hero.
As the truth is getting revealed: "… You, Oedipus, are the desecrator, the polluter of this land." Oedipus does not believe (his choice). He (Oedipus) start to accuse Creon of truing to take his powers away (king). And still want to reveal whole truth. After talking to Jocasta Oedipus faces that he in fact might killed the king Laius. " There was s herald leading a carriage drawn by horses and the man riding in the carriage … The driver pushed.
Before he even knew better, he murdered a man and married a woman whose husband had been killed. Aristoteles’s “Theory of Tragedy” says that the tragic flaw in Sophocles’ play Oedipus is the King’s “self-destructive actions taken in blindness,” which lead to the even worse and more tragic flaw of arrogance. Throughout Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus’ arrogance comes out again and again.
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.
Although he is a hero when defeating the sphynx, his accomplishment is irrelevant as he overshadows this with arrogance. Evident when he says to Tiresias tries to warn him of his flaw, which he causes Oedipus to remark, "Oedipus the ignorant, I stopped the Sphinx!” As Tiresias further tries to warn him about his actions leading to severe consequences, Oedipus claims "Monster! thy silence would incense a flint. Will nothing loose thy tongue." Tiresias eventually gives in and tells Oedipus his reality, which the King cannot accept due to his arrogance. He displays this ah he taunts, “Stone-blind, stone-deaf - senses, eyes blind as stone!” His irrationality assumes Tiresias holds no merit as he is an "offspring of endless Night, thou hast no power O 'er me or any man who sees the sun.." His disbelief with Tiresias holds him to accuse him as a “Fortune-teller, peddling lies, eyes peeled for his own profit." His irrationality provokes him to misjudge other characters in the play, such as his Brother in law Creon, who he accuses of "Thou methinks thou art he, Who planned the crime, aye, and performed it too, All save the assassination; and if thou Hadst not been blind, I had been sworn to boot That thou alone didst do the bloody deed." This is far from the case as Creon states, " Now all my needs are
Oedipus is the son of the king and queen of Thebes. A prophet tells the king and queen that his son will kill him. This causes the king and queen to become worried of the possibilities so they decide to kill their son in order to prevent the predictions of the prophet from becoming true. However, Oedipus did not die and instead was rescued and eventually adopted. As time progresses Oedipus is told that he will kill his father and this frightens Oedipus so he decides to get as far as possible from his parents. During Oedipus’s journey he stumbles upon his biological father and he was unable to control his anger so he killed his father. As time goes on he eventually marries the queen of Thebes also known as his mom. He found out that her husband was killed a long time ago so Oedipus decided to investigate. A prophet tells Oedipus that he was the one that killed the king who was his father. Oedipus is angered and is told to stop trying to solve the mystery. Oedipus eventually discovers that what the prophet told him was true and is angered. He eventually meets his end. In this case Oedipus’s biggest flaw is his anger. His anger eventually causes him to face defeat. “Who would not feel his temper rise at words like these with which you shame our city” (Sophocles 1572). The quote comes directly from a conversation he was having with the prophet that told him he was
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 the King tells the tragic story of Oedipus and how Oedipus unwittingly fulfills his prophecy. Oedipus prophecy was that he would murder his father and marry his mother. Oedipus grew up in the kingdom of Corinth where he believed that he was the son of the Kings of Corinth; when Oedipus discovered that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus decides to leave Corinth and try to prevent the prophecy from happening. Unknowingly to him during his escape from his destiny, Oedipus murderers his father and eventually marries his mother and fulfils the prophecy. After reading Oedipus the King I believe that one of the main ideas of Oedipus the King is that Oedipus own tragic flaws lead to the fulfillment of the prophecy and his eventual downfall.
Oedipus has a short temper and is quick to make assumptions based off the smallest things. When Creon tries to defend himself against his allegations, Oedipus believes Creon is making things up to throw him off his trail. Creon urges Oedipus to listen: “I beg you fairly to hear a fair reply and then decide”(39). However, Oedipus, suspicious, cautions him with, “Are you so quick, then, to explain? You should be forewarned, I shall be slow to understand you; I have found you a malignant enemy”(39). Oedipus believes everyone is plotting against him and this will keep him from finding the real murderer, himself. If this is how Oedipus feels, then he will believe that everyone was plotting against his father too and conclude that they killed him. These flaws inevitably bring Oedipus’ downfall because he fails to listen to
Oedipus the King would not have been successful throughout centuries as a tragic play, if Oedipus were clearly responsible for his own tragedy. The play's ongoing success was do to Oedipus' innocence which immediately makes one think he can not be fully responsible and to blame. I do not believe Sophocles would have wrote the story, or I do not think people would have ever read it or studied it had it simply been a story of a criminal's retribution. Sophocles himself believed Oedipus to be the innocent victim of an ironic tragedy, and built the play around this belief. This story was destined to happen and I believe the author would agree. The story revolves around destiny, the resistance of people to it and the ultimate ending of destiny lasting over all their attempts to avoid it. Written in a time of religious unrest, there is a lesson to be learned from this tragic play; that no matter what we do as humans, it is the god's will which dominates over us.
There are 6-7 different components that make up a classical tragedy, it consists of having a plot, good and or lofty character, recognition, tragic or fatal flaw/fall in a character, catharsis, and arousing pity, fear, and disgust in the audience, and sometimes reversal. Oedipus Rex fits the criteria of a classical tragedy in many ways, the main character having a fatal flaw, the play arousing pity and fear in the audience, and catharsis are all very prevalent in the play.
“Pride goeth before a fall”. This means that people that are too prideful are likely to have a fall. Oedipus is a great example for this. He has so much pride that he thinks he could outsmart the Gods with the prophecy made about him. The prophecy from the oracles of Delphi, that he would kill his father and marry his mother. He thought that he could just run away from it; and he did, he ran away from Corinth and avoided his parents.
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.
Oedipus is the main character in the play Oedipus the King. Oedipus is thought of as a tragic figure because he was doomed from birth. Tiresias, an old blind prophet, told Oedipus' parents about Oedipus' fate. He told them that Oedipus would kill his father and sleep with his mother. So, his parents decided to have him killed, only it did not happen that way. He was passed off by two shepherds and finally to the King and Queen of Corinth, Polybus and Merope to raise him as their own. Oedipus finds his way back to Thebes and on the way kills his father, but Oedipus did not know that one of the men he killed was his real father. This is the beginning of the prophecy coming true. In short Oedipus obtains the throne, Marries his mother and has kids with her. Oedipus' fate has come together without him even realizing what is going on. Eventually he is told what has happened and asks to be banished by his uncle/brother-in-law Creon. The tragedy in Oedipus' life began with his birth and the realization by his parents that his whole life was doomed.
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.