Oedipus a Tragic Hero
What is a tragic hero? A Tragic hero is a man or character who has great influence, makes an error in his or her actions, and who must suffer the consequences of those actions. Oedipus’ tragic flaws starts with his excessive pride which leads to overconfidence as the people in the city lift him up and feed his ego: “You are not one of the immortal gods we know; Yet we have come to you to make our prayer. As to the man of all men best in adversity and wisest in the ways of God.” (Prologue, Line 34-37)
Personality/character changes that moved him from being a great king to a blind man.
In the prologue Oedipus is seen as a captain of the ship: “Ah, when years of kingship are remembered, let them not say we rose, but later fell. Keep the state from going down in the storm!” (P.961, line 51-53) Then Oedipus replies to the people letting them know that he has sent his brother-in-law to the Oracle to get help for the city. He is very overconfident at this point because he has already saved Thebes from the curse of Sphinx and taken great pride in his name: “I would not have you speak through messengers- I, Oedipus, who bear the famous name.” (P. 960, line 7-9) He is in even more of a good spirit when he hears that Creon has returned: “May his news be as fair as his face is Radiant!” (P.961, line 83) After getting the news about the King before him from Creon, Oedipus changes into an investigator: “Where shall we find a clue to solve that crime, after so many years?” (P.962, 112)
When Oedipus greets the blind seer Teiresia, he greets him with words of praise: “Blind though you are, you know the city lies sick with plague, my lord, we find that you alone can save us.” (P.967, line 87-89) But as it gets harde...
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... has killed herself and he blinds himself with her brooches, but stills keeps his head up while acknowledging his faults: “God. God. Is there a sorrow greater? (P.992, line 84, 85) He then blames Apollo for what has happened to him and feels more like the victim: “Children, the god was Apollo. He brought my sick, sick fate upon me.” (P993, line110, 111) Then Oedipus receives pity from Creon who has brought his children to him. He tells them that he is their brother and his wife is one woman that birth him. He also gives them some advice: “Live where you can, be as happy as you can. Happier, please God, than God has made your father.” (P996-997, line 280, 281) Now that he has spoken with his children, Oedipus is ready to receive his punishment, which is exile and before he leaves he asks Creon to look after his children and then he leaves the city, never to return.
What is a tragic hero? A tragic hero is typically defined as a character in a literary work who has a lot of pride and makes a judgment error that leads to their ultimate demise. The downfall usually has to do with their pride.
“Shepherd: I am on the brink of dreadful speech/ Oedipus: And I of dreadful hearing yet I must hear” (Sophocles 63) With this Oedipus shows that he wants the truth to be reveled so that he can save the city and have the truth realized. It does not matter what the truth is only that he must know who he needs to kill or banish to save the people of Thebes. Oedipus also shows his care for the city of Thebes when he finally learns the truth about who his parents were and that he had in fact fulfilled the prophecy that he had so desired to not do. Oedipus chooses to still banish himself and stick to what he promised the city at the beginning of the play. “conceal me somewhere far from Thebes” (Sophocles 75) Oedipus does this to not only hid from the shame he receives from fulfilling the prophecy but to also end the plague and to save the people of Thebes. Finally Oedipus shows his quality of care for his children a trait that makes him more admirable in the play. This moment is shown after Oedipus finds out that he has fulfilled the prophecy and is the reason for the plague. Then he blinds himself and prepares to banish himself but before he is banished he asks for Creon and asks of a favour “Take care of them Creon do this for me” (Sophocles 77) Thus Oedipus shows his compassion for his children
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.
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.
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 Rex”, by Socrates, is a play that shows the fault of men and the ultimate power of the gods. Throughout the play, the main character, Oedipus, continually failed to recognize the fault in human condition, and these failures let to his ultimate demise. Oedipus failed to realize that he, himself was the true answer to the riddle of the Sphinx. Oedipus ignored the truth told to him by the oracles and the drunk at the party, also. These attempts to get around his fate which was determined by the gods was his biggest mistake. Oedipus was filled with hubris and this angered the gods. He believed he was more that a man. These beliefs cause him to ignore the limits he had in being a man. Oedipus needed to look at Teiresias as his window to his future.
Conversely, the soothsayer Teiresias is blind from the beginning of the story, but has full use of his prophetic vision. He knows the truth of Oedipus and his family, but at first doesn’t want to tell him, as he knows what it will mean for Oedipus and the kingdom. When he does explain his knowledge, Oedipus doesn’t believe any of it, due to his own over confidence. Teirseias says “You have your eyes but see not where you are in sin, nor where you live, nor whom you live with.” He is telling Oedipus the truth, but Oedipus refuses acknowledge that he may, in fact, be living in darkness.
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)
In the previous paragraph, he is opening up of what the problem is and now he is going to continue telling his wife about the situation that shows that he has a tragic flaw. He says, “… I can hear him cry, “You are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see — you will kill your father, the one who gave you life!” (Page 1146, lines 868- 882). While going to Delphi, Oedipus has a run in with an oracle that planned his life out for him. At this point of the Oedipus is going to tell her how his father died. He continues by
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.
From the start, it was foreseen that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother. His parents, Laius and Jocasta, in an attempt to prevent this tragedy from occurring, attempt to have Oedipus killed. Plagues were destroying the town, the women gave birth to stillborn children, this is what sparked Oedipus to journey and find out the cause of these plagues and problems. “Oedipus: No, I’ll start again—I’ll bring it all to light! Apollo is right, and so are you, Creon, to turn attention back to the murdered man.
Initially, Oedipus is a confident leader who believes he is educated and knows the truth about himself and the land he presides over, Thebes. This is because he was proclaimed the most famous man alive as a result of his answering the Sphinx’s riddle to save Thebes from a tragic epidemic. However, at the beginning of the play there is another plague causing grief to the members of Thebes, and Oedipus goes so far as to say that he will stop at nothing to rid Thebes of this pollution. He states, "Each of you grieves for himself alone, while my heart must bear the strain of sorrow for all--myself and you and all our city’s people. No I am not blind to it," (p.4). Yet in essence he is blind to it because he is the indirect cause for the epidemic in Thebes. Oedipus finds out that the cause for the Epidemic is that nobody came forth as an avenger in the murder of King Laius. Oedipus then states, "I shall not cease until I bring the truth to light. Apollo has shown, and you have shown, the duty which we owe the dead," (p.5). This is ironic in that Oedipus vows to make the truth come to light so that everybody can see it, including himself. Moreover, th...
Before the twentieth century plays were mainly written as either a tragedy or comedy. In a tragic play the tragic hero will often do something that will eventually destroy him. In the book Oedipus the King, Oedipus is the tragic hero. In this tragic play the main character, which is portrayed as Oedipus, will do a good deed that will in turn make him a hero. This hero will reach his height of pride in the story, and in the end the action, which he had committed earlier, will return and destroy this man who was once called a hero.
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.
The concept of tragic hero is very important in the construction of tragedy. It is the main cause of pity and fear. The tragic hero is a character between the two extremes; he is neither virtuous nor evil. At the same time, this character is better than the ordinary men or audience, he has some good qualities. Moreover, as a tragic hero, he is moving from happiness to misery by his downfall at the end. In fact, this downfall is caused by an error or a flaw in his character not by a vice or depravity. Another feature in the tragic hero is that he has good reputation and he is a man of prosperity. It can be said that Oedipus is a tragic hero because he has all the previous mentioned characteristics and the whole play is a classical application of this concept.