Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a Greek tragedy and is the second of The Three Theban Plays. It follows the story of King Oedipus of Thebes as he realises that he has fulfilled a prophecy which made him unwittingly kill his own father, Laius, and marry his mother, Jacosta.
‘Hamartia’ is a personal error in the protagonist’s personality, which brings about their tragic downfall. It is often described as a tragic flaw, however it is more accurately translated as ‘an error in judgement’ or ‘mistake’. The hero who commits these so-called wrongdoings may not intentionally be doing so, which is the case when it comes to Oedipus the King. ‘Hubris’ is also something of importance when it comes to discussing Oedipus’ character. ‘Hubris’ is the excessive
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It is apparent throughout the play that Oedipus has an excessive amount of pride and a large ego, which is evident from the start of the play where in his introductory speech he declares “Here I am myself – you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus” (Sophocles, 1984, line 7-9). The fact that Oedipus introduces himself in this way displays to the audience exactly how highly he regards himself and how much importance he deems himself to have. This conceit, including his disrespect, recklessness and even stubbornness, is the root cause of the many tribulations he encounters and subsequently results in his downfall. The attitude flaunted by Oedipus resonates throughout the play. We see it in its entirety when no one confesses to the murder of Laius and Oedipus bursts into a rage at Tiresias, shouting “You scum of the earth, you’d enrage a heart of stone…out with it once and for all!” (Sophocles, 1984, line 381-383). This boldness displayed by Oedipus allows the audience to single-handedly see precisely how he behaves and how his ego overtakes him. When it comes to his downfall, as suggested by Dodds, “the hamartia of Oedipus did not lie in losing his temper with Tiresias; it lay quite simply in the parricide and incest” (Segal, 1984, pg.180), however it is impossible to disregard Oedipus’ hubris due to it being one of the main characteristics of his personality which led him to commit these heinous acts, whether it be in …show more content…
The moment Oedipus decided to ignore the power that the Gods possessed, he placed himself in a position of failure. From a young age Oedipus had wondered about his parentage, and when told about what had been prophesised for him, he consciously attempted to evade his fortune by convincing himself he was smart enough to outwit his destiny. By trying to escape the inevitable, Oedipus had in fact ran right into the fate that was meant for him. The audience deem the Gods, especially Apollo, to be evil due to the decision made about destroying Oedipus and his family for no apparent reason. In the play, we see that Oedipus and Jacosta discuss the level of trust that should be given to the Gods, and when the prophecies come true, it sparks a justification for the audience and for the Gods, due to the topic of the Gods and prophets being under attack at that time in fifth-century BC Athens. For the audience, it is evident that he “had one of those fatal hamartiai that all tragic heroes have, as we know from Aristotle. And since he had a hamartia he could of course expect no mercy” (Segal, 1984, pg.177). The concept of ‘no mercy’ also resonates when discussing the power of the Gods. Oedipus deliberately ignoring the ability of the Gods warrants the retaliation of them with no compassion for him. Oedipus discovers his fate in the worst way, and at the end of the play the audience are
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.
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.
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...
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...
In nearly every work of fiction, there are main characters and there are foils, whose existence is to amplify the traits of those main characters. In the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles, the title character of Oedipus has many interactions with characters in the play that aren’t only foils, but whose interactions with him highlight his traits. In this case, the traits that the characters bring out are his flaws, through both Oedipus’s words and his actions. Without characters such as Creon, Laius, and Tiresias, as well as many others, these flaws would have been very subtle and easy to miss. His interactions with them allow for his rage, ignorance, rashness, and his infamous hubris to show through, giving depth to his character and showcasing
Two of the minor tragic flaws that lead to Oedipus downfall were his arrogance and short temper. Trough out the book we are able to see how Oedipus humiliates and gets into arguments with the people that telling him the truth about his real parents and that are trying to help him to find the “unknown”
Throughout the entire play, Oedipus is presented as a static character with many flaws. Because of his many flaws, this eventually results in his downfall as the king of Thebes. Not only did his flaws lead to his downfall, but it was also his fate to kill his father and later lose his position of king and caused him to be exiled. One of Oedipus’ main flaws was focusing on only himself as king and not listening to the advice that the people around him were trying to give him. When Oedipus asked Tiresias, the prophet of the god Apollo who killed the last king of Thebes, he would not listen when Tiresias told him that he killed King Laius. Oedipus would be in denial and to the fact that he killed Laius. This flaw and many more ultimately led to his downfall. In the end Oedipus loses his eyesight just like how he was blind to his flaws, it was ironic how Oedipus was emotionally blind and that led to his physical blindness.
In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the reader finds Oedipus as an overzealous king, but one that cares deeply for the people who are under his rule. After solving the mystery of the Sphinx and under the belief that he has escaped the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother, Oedipus’ self-confidence goes into over drive. His compassion, for the pain and suffering his people are under, causes him to pronounce a curse on the murderer of Laius. Unknown to the king, he is condemning himself for the crime he committed years ago.
According to Collins English Dictionary, the definition of hubris is “an excess of ambition, pride”. Hubris is a person like Oedipus in this play who tricks himself. Throughout the story of Oedipus the king, Sophocles developed the story by building up the characteristic of each character from the start to made the story end as a tragedy. The protagonist, Oedipus, shows might and arrogance without acknowledging the truth. Oedipus’ hubris is responsible for the pollution that at the end leads to his downfall. His stubborn mind and blindness made him never thought himself as the murderer of Laius, a husband of his own mother, and are thirsting to find the truth later on.
First of all, Oedipus is determined to discover who he is, just like any person who is having problems. One explores the reason behind the problem to set their mind free and feel relief. They try to explore what is causing the problem and when it is discovered it is better left unknown. Oedipus can not accept things as they are and by investigating his past, he is his own worst enemy by destroying his relationships and himself. When he was a young man he heard that his parents were not his real paternal parents, from the oracle. He believed that his adopted parents were his real parents so he moved to Thebes so he would not fulfill what the oracle had predicted as his fate. Oedipus was a character that had a certain way of feeling sure about himself. Many people act this way, but this are the same kind of people that spend their time searching for the truth about themselves. I believe that his pride was his biggest character flaw and because of this, the conclusion of the play was tragic. He feels that he has to take responsibility for his actions even though he had no control over them and fate was to blame. Yet many aspects could have been avoiding with extensive research about his background from his adoptive parents, but because he avoided this, his circumstance determined his fate.
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...
Unfortunately, as the play continues and Oedipus is told of his past that he did not know from a prophet, he begins his downfall due to his disrespect towards the prophet. In Hellenistic culture, the disrespect of gods and anyone associated with them would have been seen as one of the worst things that someone would be able to do. During the time where Oedipus and the prophet Tiresias confront, Oedipus becomes outraged on the accusations that Tiresias is accusing of Oedipus of, and because of this Oedipus begins to insult him, calling him a “sightless, witless, mad old man”(Sophocles Oedipus Rex, P.20). Throughout the rest of the play and as Oedipus learns more about the murder of King Laios and his early childhood, a thought appears that Oedipus may actually be a demi-god, or at the very least be favoured by them, “... of the nymphs that flower beyond the year, who bore you, royal child, To pan of the hills or the timberline of Apollo....” (Oedipus, P.58).
Oedipus’ epiphany is truthful in his current state, but his decision in failing to recognize his sin before his realization ultimately makes his epiphany invalid, and its sole purpose is to only assist him in receiving sympathy from the citizens of Thebes. Sophocles uses the phrase “this evil is mine” to suggest how Oedipus has matured through the course of his life, taking responsibility for his own sinful actions and behaviors. Certainly, Oedipus is filled with regret, and Sophocles even uses repetition on the word “guilt” to symbolize how this emotion has devoured his entire life into despair, where “sorrow” and “guilt” intertwine by force. Truly, as Sophocles comments, the ramification of making a sinful decision prompts an act of retribution from the gods in deciding the miserable fate of an individual through his rebellion towards evil against the supernatural. Thus, in the tale of Oedipus and his jinxed fate, Sophocles expresses Oedipus’ prideful attitude that is rooted towards hubris and the overconfidence it buys to illustrate the vicious cycle of the sinful decisions we make and the sudden awareness of how our own tragic flaw would lead us into impending trouble and overwhelming
Oedipus and Tiresias, characters of Sophocles' play "Oedipus Tyrannus," are propelled to their individual destinies by their peculiar relationships with truth. Paranoid and quick to anger Oedipus, is markedly different from the confident and self-assured Tiresias. In the dialogue between the two men, Oedipus rapidly progresses from praise of Tiresias as a champion and protector of Thebes in line 304, to blatantly accusing the blind prophet of betraying the city in line 331, to angrily insulting him in line 334. Rather than be intimidated by the protagonist's title and temperament, Tiresias draws strength from what he knows is true and is able to stand his ground.
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.