When faced with a situation not to his liking, Oedipus chose to act childishly and without common sense, rather than simply addressing the problem. There were many times when Oedipus refused to act his age and instead came across as childlike due to his refusal to pay any attention to what others were telling him. Despite his curiosity, if Oedipus did not like what he discovered, he immediately pretended that it never even happened. When Tiresias tried to explain to Oedipus why he did not want to tell him the truth, Oedipus whined and pleaded with him until Tiresias finally caved and told Oedipus. Oedipus could not believe what Tiresias had just told him, he (Oedipus) was the king's killer and so, “[he], bull[ied Tiresias] against [his own] …show more content…
As Tiresias tried to explain to Oedipus that him acting in this immature manner was exactly why he did not want to tell him, Oedipus proceeded to interrupt him. Accusing him of being the actual killer, he refused to listen to anything Tiresias said, and talked over him after every few words he spoke. All of this was in spite of Oedipus previously claiming he needed to know who the killer was and being so desperate to find out. The way he could not have a logical conversation with another adult without coming across as rude simply shows how truly naive he was. Another example that helps support just how callow Oedipus was, were words said by his own wife (and mother), Jocasta. When discussing Oedipus’s riled state with the Chorus, she mentioned that he used his, “past experience, like a man of sense, to judge the present need, but [he] lend[ed] an ear to any gossip if it forebode[d] ill” (Sophocles and Storr 921-923). Here, Oedipus acted like a teenager, using some sense until he heard an implausible rumor and he trusted it over his own common sense. Oedipus did not seem to believe anyone who spoke to him was telling the truth, however, when crazed assumptions were made, he immediately seemed to think that was what actually had happened, despite this being extremely
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...
tells the priest and the suffering people of Thebes. If Oedipus did not care for
Oedipus is given ample opportunity to engage in dialogue. However, when Oedipus talks to others, he only listens to what he wants to hear. When Teiresias tries to tell him the truth, he becomes angry and says, "And who has taught you the truth? Not your profession surely." (25). Instead of trying to understand what Teiresias is saying, he immediately discards it because it does not fit into his plan to pull Thebes out of the plague. He is unwilling to engage in true dialogue, because he is afraid that it might cause him to question his own beliefs. Oedipus is not living his life authentically; he is not being true to himself. In his arrogance he believes himself greater than he really is, and this prevents him from truly seeking his own individuality.
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...
Odysseus portrays himself as anything but a hero throughout Homer’s The Odyssey. Odysseus goes through his life believing he is the best. He has no regard for anyone’s feelings but his own, and he believes nothing and no one can harm him, not even the gods. Odysseus feels he is always the leader and no one can tell him otherwise. Odysseus should not be considered a hero because he portrays himself as a selfish man that failed his crew, and is controlled by his hubris.
Throughout my lifetime, I have been told to “be yourself” or that “you are the master of your own fate”. Each one of us is told that we are important because we are unique. However, it certainly hasn’t always been that way. The perceived value of individuals has evolved as we have advanced as a society. The progression of global religions over time is evidence of this. During the period from soon after the advent of religion many thousands of years ago until around 1900, humans saw themselves as relatively unimportant compared to the omnipotent gods. However, since 1900, humans, collectively and individually, have been seen as the utmost authority in the universe. The play Oedipus The King, written by Sophocles
Oedipus had a very short temper. Oedipus did not want to hear what Tiresias had to say after he begged him to tell him all that he knew. "Am I to listen to such things from him! May you be damned! Get out of here at once! Turn around and go!" (Literature, Oedipus the King, Ln. 434-436, page 1085) Oedipus went into a rage when Tiresias told him about the evils that Oedipus was living with.
Oedipus calls Tiresias to the castle so he may tell Oedipus of the potential killer, but Tiresias refuses to tell him the truth. Oedipus then gets angry and starts to insult Tiresias by saying “You are blind, your ears and mind as well as eyes” (23). Because Oedipus calls Tiresias blind when he obviously is, this exemplifies Sophocles’ strong use of irony. This exchange also indicates dramatic irony because they are both blind, Tiresias is physically blind and Oedipus is blind about his identity, and he surely does not see this. Also, at the end of the story, when Oedipus finds out the truth, he blinds himself which creates dramatic irony when the audience remembers this conversation between the two
The selfishness that Oedipus possesses causes him to have abundance of ignorance. This combination is what leads to his father’s death. After fleeing Corinth and his foster family, Oedipus gets into a skirmish with an older man. The reason for the fight was because, “The groom leading the horses forced me off the road at his lord’s command” (1336). Oedipus is filled with a rage after being insulted by the lord and feels the need to act. The two men fight, but Oedipus ends up being too much for the older man, and he kills him. What Oedipus is unaware of is that the man was actually his birth father and by killing him, Oedipus has started on the path of his own destruction. Not only does Oedipus kill his father, but also everyone else, “I killed them all” (1336). The other men had no part in the scuffle, but in his rage, he did not care who he was killing.
Oedipus’s anger quickly starts as soon as Tiresias starts speaking. Tiresias warns Oedipus of his truth from the beginning of their conversation. He [Tiresias] claims that wisdom was “dreadful when it brings no gain” (316-317). However, Oedipus does not heed his [Tiresias] warning. He verbally attacks Tiresias by preying on Tiresias’s blindness
Oedipus' impatience was flagrant during his search for Laius' assassin. Oedipus threatened the citizens of Thebes, the city in which Oedipus ruled, to come forward if they knew anything about the murder of Laius. "I order you, every citizen of the state where I hold throne and power: banish this man-whoever he may be-never shelter him, never speak a word to him, never make him partner to your prayers, your victims burned to gods..."(172). Oedipus was impatient to find Laius, and in his impatience he had no toleration for citizens hiding the criminal, even though the criminal was himself. Later on, Oedipus called on Tiresias, a blind prophet, to help find Laius' killer. Oedipus was trying to force Tiresias to tell the story that Tiresias was hiding. "Nothing! You, you scum of the earth, you'd enrage a heart of stone! You won't talk? Nothing moves you? Out with it, once and for all!"(178). Oedipus was so impatient with Tiresias that he insulted and degraded Tiresias. After speaking with Tiresias, Oedipus had a contention with his wife's brother, Creon. Oedipus had proclaimed Creon the assassin of Laius and created the plot of Creon's supposed wrongdoing. Oedipus exclaimed, "Then leave me alone-get out!"(198). Oedipus would not accept any other idea than Creon being the killer, so when Creon tried to defend himself, Oedipus grew impatient and sent Creon away. Oedipus' impatience was the spark for his paranoia. Without his impatience, Oedipus would not have jumped to so many harsh, offensive, and paranoid conclusions.
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.
The impetus for the downfall of Oedipus, "Known far and wide by name" (Sophocles, 1), is his anger. Enraged he slew King Laius and in anger he hastily pursued his own ruination. From the aforementioned recriminations of Tiresias to the conflict with his brother-in-law Creon (his ill temper again displayed - "Tempers such as yours most grievous to their own selves to bear,... .(Sophocles, 25); through the revealing exchanges with his wife/mother Jocasta and her slave (whose pity saved the infant Oedipus), damming insight grows in a logical sequence, all the while fueled by the Oedipal rage. Realizing the heinous nature of his actions, Oedipus blinds himself in a fit of anger and remorse - now, as Tiresias, he can see.
Oedipus Rex, an ancient Greek tragedy authored by the playwright Sophocles, includes many types of psychological phenomena. Most prominently, the myth is the source of the well-known term Oedipal complex, coined by psychologist Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s. In psychology, “complex” refers to a developmental stage. In this case the stage involves the desire of males, usually ages three to five, to sexually or romantically posses their mother, and the consequential resentment of their fathers. In the play, a prince named Oedipus tries to escape a prophecy that says he will kill his father and marry his mother, and coincidentally saves the Thebes from a monster known as the Sphinx. Having unknowingly killed his true father Laius during his escape, he marries the widowed queen of Thebes, his mother Jocasta. Many events in the story should lead to suspicion of their marriage, but out of pride and ignorance Oedipus stubbornly refuses to accept his fate. Together, these sins represent the highest taboos of Greek society, revealed by Socphocles’s depiction of the already pervasive story. Before the Thebian plays, the myth centered more around Oedipus’s journey of self-awareness; meanwhile, Sophocles shows Oedipus’s struggles with his inevitable desire toward his mother throughout these stages of psychological development.
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.