Does man really have free will, or does free will lie within a system of limitations that gradually compose a web of circumstantial fate that ultimately cannot be torn apart?
The events in both Oedipus The King and Antigone controversially suggests that man ultimately chooses his own deeds and endures fate and the responsibilities for them. These events brought by fate are unmistakably aggravated by certain characteristics within the characters. Oedipus, from Oedipus The King, Antigone, and Creon, both from Antigone possess such flawed characteristics that lead to their tragic ends.
Oedipus possesses a multitude of characteristics, some of them common to other characters, but pride is exceptionally prevalent. This characteristic, which margins with utter arrogance, appears to be one of the dominant flaws that causes Oedipus’ tragic downfall. This is plainly established in the beginning of the play in which he states “I Oedipus whom all men call the great.'; (p11.8). This is strengthened by the Priest’s replies of “...Oedipus, Greatest in all men’s eyes,'; (p12.40) and “Noblest of men'; (p12.46).
However, pride is not the only characteristic which contributes to Oedipus’ tragic end. There exists his temper, which is initially presented in the argument between Teiresias and himself. After Teiresias speaks the truth as factual, Oedipus replies “Do you imagine you can always talk like this, and live to laugh at it hereafter?'; (p26.367) and then soon after calls Teiresias a “fool'; (p29.433). His temper is also exposed when he threatens to banish or kill Creon after Creon’s attempted reasoning.
Another contributing factor is his suspicion for others, this is evident where he questions Teiresias “Was this your own design or Creon’s?'; (p.27.377). He is falsely rationalizing that Teiresias is secretly plotting, in coalition with Creon, to overthrow him.
Moreover, Oedipus has an unrelenting pursuit for the truth, which is demonstrated when he finally believes that he is the murderer and that Polybus was not his father. Nonetheless, he continues with his search with an extensive questioning of both his wife Jocasta and the messenger.
Furthermore, Oedipus exhibits self-loathing and a desperation towards the end of the play. After the facts have been voiced, he desperately attempts to rationalize the evidence and states, “You said that he spoke of highway robbers who killed Laius. Now if he uses the same number, it was not I who killed him. One man cannot be the same as many. But if he speaks of a man travelling alone, then clearly the burden of the guilt inclines towards me.
Aristoteles’s “Theory of Tragedy” suggests that the tragic flaw in Sophocles’ play Oedipus is the King’s “self-destructive actions taken in blindness,” but a worse flaw if his arrogance. There are a few opposing views that stray from Oedipus being fully arrogant. First is that he took actions to save himself further pain. Second by putting himself in charge was the right thing to do as the leader of his people. Third Oedipus never tried to outwit the gods but used the prophecy as a warning to leave Corinth. All three opposing arguments shows a different side of Oedipus other than that of arrogance.
When Jocasta describes Laius' murder,it is easy to piece the story together and figure out that Oedipus was the murderer. The only reason that Oedipus does not realize the truth is because he does not want to, he is in denial and refuses to accept his identity. Likewise, when the messenger is speaking of the child brought to Polybus and Merope with bounded ankles, Oedipus should have realized that he was the child the messenger was speaking of, but he still refused to completely believe it until the herdsman was able to corroborate the messenger's
Sophocles intentionally gave certain flaws in character type to Oedipus—he intended a downfall. That was the purpose of all ancient Greek drama: it was meant as “a dramatic reminder of [their] own mortality”. Sophocles used his plays in order to force people to learn at other’s mistake. Oedipus is a perfect example. His tragic flaws, persistence and ignorance caused his inevitable doom
He is blind from the truth even though he has physical insight. A fellow Theban, Tiresias knows the truth, but even when he told Oedipus that he was the murderer of his King Laius, he refused to believe it. Oedipus refuses to believe anything he was told because he believes that he ran away from his true fate. Without knowing anything about his real father or mother, he ends up fulfilling the prophecy. He kills his father, Laius and married his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus displays his arrogance many times throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, he says “Yes, I whom men call Oedipus the great” (Sophocles 23), showing a sign of his arrogance. Oedipus shows off his arrogance again by saying that everyone should know him because of the deed he has done (Sophocles 33). He saved them the Sphinx and gained an enormous amount of confidence because of it and also because he was rewarded the Queens hand in marriage. Oedipus once again shows his arrogance when he tells the people of the Thebes that he can find the murderer of Laius on his own without any help (Sophocles 28). The irony of Oedipus’s hubris is that he even determines what his downfall will look like: “That man, whoever that man be, I, this country’s reigning king, cut off from every fellowship of speech and contact, sacrifice and sacrament, even ritual touch of water, in this realm” (Sophocles 32). Oedipus’s downfall can only be blamed on him because of his
The quality of being larger than life, or a royal figure, is one main aspect of a tragic hero. Oedipus is the king of Thebes, appointed there after solving the riddle of Sphinx, a supernatural creature that once held the city captive. He is born into a family of the highest social rank: King Laius and Queen Jocasta, and is adopted into the family of King Polybus and Queen Merope. In being royalty, Oedipus is an important figure. Without the aspect of an important man that the viewers could recognize, Oedipus would not be held in such light. Oedipus is the “peerless king” and the “first of men,” as referred to by the priest. Oedipus knows his fame, as well: “Here I am myself— you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus.” He declares this in the prologue, showing that he has a high notion of himself, shared by many others. The entirety of the world is aware of Oedipus, according to him, and they shoul...
Oedipus’ character flaw is ego. This is made evident in the opening lines of the prologue when he states "Here I am myself--you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus." (ll. 7-9) His conceit is the root cause of a number of related problems. Among these are recklessness, disrespect, and stubbornness.
As tragic hero Oedipus displays all of the usual canon; power, arrogance, and pride. Oedipus manifests himself in a position of confidence, which he derives from his success at solving the riddle of the Sphinx and marrying a queen.“It was you who came / and released Cadmus’ Town from the tribute / we paid to the cruel songstress…” (Sophocles, 33-35) , “CREON: Then tell me this - / are you not married to my sister?” (Sophocles, 696-697). In turn, it also enabled him to make rash decisions, such as slaying his father, without personal recompense. “I was to slay my father. And he dies, / And the grave hide...
Greek politician and playwright, Sophocles, in his play, Oedipus the King, depicts a series of chronological events of the consequences of Oedipus’ downfall caused by his excessive pride. Sophocles’ purpose is to instruct readers that too much pride can dismally lead to unfortunate events. Sophocles illustrates an effective tone in order to inform the readers of the negative outcomes of stubbornness and denial.
Oedipus choses to seek the truth about the murderer of Laius, honourably indeed to save the people of Thebes, but through this choice he in a sense administers his own lethal injection. Oedipus is warned about the consequences of his actions by Teresias when he prophesises the outcome of the search for truth. Due to Oedipus' ego which is built up by the pedestal that the people of Thebes have put him on, he does not accept the help of Teresias and continues to search. His opinion of himself being above the Gods leads him to then again shun the help of Jocasta who once again warns him of the consequences of the search for truth. Oedipus' persistence lands him our criticism, at this point we cannot criticise Jocasta as she tries to help him, and warn him about what will happen is he persists.
The last example of when Oedipus’ pride gets the better of him was when he is demanding that the messenger tell him all he knows about who his real parents are. Again the messenger is trying to tell him that things would be better left untold, but Oedipus has to keep going on and on and find out. Finally the messenger tells him that Polybus is not his father, already Jocasta has figured out that she is his mother. Oedipus asks the messenger who his real parents are. Jocasta is begging Oedipus to pay no attention to the messenger and tells Oedipus, “Never find out who you are';(1073). Oedipus, of course, goes on ahead anyway and sends for the shepherd who know where Oedipus came from. Once again Oedipus pride got in the way.
At the beginning of Oedipus the King, Oedipus’s wisdom and actions as a king are very effective. To his subjects he is respected and very well accepted. His intelligence is known to his people as a hero as a result of his correct answer to the riddle of the sphinx. Oedipus’s subject’s affection is shown by the chorus’s account, “People of Thebes, my countrymen, look on Oedipus. He solved the famous riddle with his brilliance, he rose to power, a man beyond all power. Who could behold his greatness without envy? (Oedipus the King, 1678–1682). His intelligence also corresponded with his swift nature. Oedipus was always looking towards the future which could be a product of his many prophecies which seemed to always haunt his nature. During the tenure when Oedipus was successful, his quick actions were useful. He was always trying to stay one step ahead, for example, he tries to save the city against the plague by sending Creon to the oracle of Delphi for a solution to the problem. After Oedipus’s reputation and successful lifestyle began to fall, his quick actions began to damage his status rather than assist it. His immediate perceptions began ...
Oedipus finds out that he is the killer of King Laius and will become the archetypal sacrificial scapegoat for the city of Thebes. Throughout this passage from the play, Oedipus is continually gathering incriminating evidence against himself from the source of his own wife and mother, Jocasta. He discovers through her attempted reassurance that his quest from Corinth set his fate to be the killer of his biological father and the sacrificial scapegoat for the welfare of the people and land of Thebes.
Oedipus lacks the Greek guiding principle of knowing thyself. He is ignorant to the fact that he is the son of Laius and Jocasta. Oedipus shows this when he finds out that Laius, who is the king of Thebes and his father has turned up dead. When Oedipus learns this he says, “A thief, so daring, so wild, he’d kill a king? Impossible unless conspirators paid him off in Thebes” (Oedipus The King 140). Unknown to Oedipus, the killer of Laius is himself. Even though Oedipus has done this unknowingly, he has still committed a terrible crime. Oedipus again shows his ignorance when he tells Jocasta about the fate a drunken man had given him. When he tells the story he says, “you are fated to couple with you 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!”(Oedipus The King 873). Oedipus later talks about how he chose to run away from Polybus and Merope in order to prevent the prophecy from becoming reality. Since Oedipus is ignorant to whom his real parents are he unknowingly runs away to Thebes where he meets his fate. In Sophocles’ Three Theban Plays Oedipus isn’t the...
Oedipus, when Jocasta re-tells the details of how Laios was murdered, begins his approach to denial. At first, he searches for more and more information that might prove he didn’t really kill his father. This shows the reader that Oedipus seems to know subconsciously that he is the slayer of his father. Everyman, in the first scene, quarrels with Death about going on the long journey. He pleads for even a few more days before making him take this voyage. Both characters argue “Not me…it can’t be!…'; Both also look for a person or reason to displace their burden in order to avoid facing their strife.
Oedipus is depicted as a “marionette in the hands of a daemonic power”(pg150), but like all tragic hero’s he fights and struggles against fate even when the odds are against him. His most tragic flaw is his morality, as he struggles between the good and the evil of his life. The good is that he was pitied by the Shepard who saved him from death as a baby. The evil is his fate, where he is to kill his father and marry his mother. His hubris or excessive pride and self-righteousness are the lead causes to his downfall. Oedipus is a tragic hero who suffers the consequences of his immoral actions, and must learn from these mistakes. This Aristotelian theory of tragedy exists today, as an example of what happens when men and women that fall from high positions politically and socially.