The King's Pride In Oedipus The King

Throughout the play Oedipus Rex the King, Oedipus protects his pride by trying to make everyone see that he is in every way perfect, but it affects many more people than just himself. Oedipus protecting ‘morality’ has a trickle down effect. Oedipus’ actions affect everyone from his loyal subjects to both of his mother 's, Jocasta and Merope. If someone was to look at Oedipus’ life chronologically then they would see that Oedipus starts trying to protect his pride as a young man and continues even when he has no pride to hold on to, other than to just do what he said he was going to do.

The first example of Oedipus doing what he can to protect his integrity is when he found out that he was supposed to kill his father and marry his mother.

When he encountered these travels their interactions ended with Oedipus killing the travelers. When he made his way into the town closes, Thebes, he encountered a Sphinx and solves the riddle no one could solve. Oedipus becomes the new King of Thebes because the old King of Thebes had recently died. Having been recently filled with the pride of solving the Sphinx riddle and having just become king, Oedipus does not tell anyone that he had killed the travelers because he would have been shamed for killing innocent men. “Jocasta, I will tell you the whole truth. When I was near the branching of the crossroads, going on foot, I was encountered by a herald and a carriage with a man in it, just as you tell me… I became angry and struck the coachman who was pushing me… my stick had struck him backwards from the car and he rolled out of it. And then I killed them all… I pollute the bed of him I killed by the hands that killed him” (933-956). Oedipus affects these ‘travelers’ in quite a bad way because he kills them. Though Oedipus did not know at the time, he was killing King Laius. Therefore, Oedipus also negatively affect King Laius. This, in turn, affects Jocasta because King Laius was her husband. Meaning Oedipus killed Jocasta’s husband. Oedipus killing King Laius also positively affected Jocasta. King Laius being dead meant that Jocasta needed a new husband. Oedipus was there to fill this

The Oracle told him that he was the killer, that he was married to his mother, and that he was going to die blind and alone. Oedipus was offended and confused. Oedipus was confused because he did not believe the Oracle. Oedipus assumed that Creon and Teiresias were trying to overthrow him and take the kingdom for themselves. Oedipus would not let them shame him, but Oedipus calmed down and his search for the killer continued. “And now you would expel me, because you think that you will find a place by Creon’s throne. I think you will be sorry, both you and your accomplice, for your plot to drive me out. And did I not regard you as an old man, some suffering would have taught you that what was in your heart was treason” (463-470). The Oracle and Creon and in Oedipus’ journey throughout the play. Oedipus positively influences the Oracle. In that Oedipus, at the end of the play, proves the Oracle correct. Even after Oedipus himself slandered the Oracles name and reputation just because he did not want to believe that he could in fact be sleeping with his birth mother and have killed his birth father. Oedipus affects Creon in both a negative way and a positive way. The positive way being that Oedipus has a good and trustworthy relationship with Creon, until dout is planted in his mind by the Oracle. Creon was always there for Oedipus and Oedipus greatly respected Creon. The Negative being that, once the doubt