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Oedipus the king by Sophocles analysis
Characterisation in the sophocles king oedipus
In the novel oedipus attempt analysis of sophocles as a tragic-drama
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Plato describes in his Parable of the Cave the importance of education and how it changes the way people see things. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus makes rash and hasty decisions that at times are good, but more often than not, they get him into trouble. And finally, in Dante’s Inferno, Dante uses Virgil as a guide to show him the path through hell. In Parable of the Cave, Oedipus the King, and Inferno, the author’s text can be related to my own life in school, work, and how I was raised.
Plato’s metaphor of the idea of education changing the way people see things is seen in my life through classes that I have taken in college. Last semester, I took a leadership and management class that taught me how to be a better leader in the
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This quick thinking decision was a good one. Unfortunately, for the rest of the story Oedipus makes quick decisions that result in him killing his father. Acting swiftly is good in certain time critical situations, but a lot of the time, it is good to take a minute and think about the decision before doing it. I learned this lesson when I was working at Old Navy. One day when I was working on the register, I had a customer come in that caused me to make a rash decision. When I was ringing up her items at the checkout, she demanded that everything that she was purchasing should have been on sale. Because I thought that the customer seemed very confrontational, I quickly called up a manager for assistance with the customer. The manager ended up having to show the lady the signs on top of the items to convince her that were indeed not on sale like she had thought. Thinking back on this experience, I realize that I didn’t need to make the rash decision to call up my manager at the first sign of trouble with the customer. Instead, I should have calmly tried to explain that her items were not on sale. I could have used this as a learning experience on how to deal with difficult customers. Maybe if Oedipus had calmly thought about what he was about to do before he killed his father, then his father might not be dead, and he would still have his
Characters in literature who exhibit pride or live as a voice of reason, often share certain characteristics between each other. Prideful characters often allow their pride to influence their actions, while voices of reason advise the lead character, hoping that the lead character will listen to them. Dante’s Inferno and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex share similarities through their lead characters, Dante (the pilgrim) from Dante’s Inferno and Oedipus from Oedipus Rex, as well as through their voices of reason, Virgil from Dante’s Inferno and Creon from Oedipus Rex
In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus, the King, there are various instances where Oedipus tries to escape his destiny—enlightenment—only to discover the truth that he cannot. Similarly, in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” the prisoner travails to understand and adjust to his newly visited environment. In both works, the men first had to realize their ignorance before they could begin to acquire knowledge and true understanding of the complexities of the human condition. Specifically, in Oedipus, the King, it was Oedipus’ illusion of himself as a man unequaled in leadership whereas in “Allegory of the Cave” it was the prisoner’s initial refutations of enlightenment being shown him until he realizes its intellectual, spiritual, and social significance.
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.
It is clear to see that Oedipus is an impulsive and passionate man, which causes Oedipus to fulfill the prophecy that haunts him. He flees the kingdom of Corinthian in order to avoid his fate. Along his journey he comes to a crossroad that is blocked by a chariot, and “in a fit of anger” Oedipus kills the father he never knew (Meyer 1422). Oedipus’ anger causes him to kill the father he never knew and all the men in the entourage. Oedipus’ cannot control his temper and this personality flaw leads him to his fate.
Dante’s Inferno is a narrative poem, with a very complicated rhyme scheme, originally written in Italian. It documents the author’s, Dante, trip through hell, where he learns how hell is organized and the way in which sinners are punished. Dante is guided by the great poet Virgil, who leads him throughout hell. The Odyssey, is an epic authored by the Greek, Homer. The epics centers on Odysseus’ protracted journey home. The protagonist, Odysseus, visits the underworld for a very short amount of time. The two literary works contain many common elements, such as characters being punished, the protagonists interacting with those in the underworld, repeating characters, and the misery of the underworlds. There are also differences between the two works including the types of interactions between the protagonists and those they encounter, the reasons for each protagonists visit to the underworlds, and how the underworld operates. These differences and similarities can be attributed the Dante’s and Homer’s religion, the time period and culture in which they wrote their respective works, and the purpose for the visits to the underworlds in each work. Although there are many similarities between the underworlds in Dante’s Inferno and The Odyssey, the two works ultimately offer two different visions of the underworld due to the authors’ different religious beliefs and culture, as well as the role of the underworld in each literary work.
In The Allegory of the Cave by Plato, a controversial issue has been whether “pouring in of knowledge” is not education or whether it is education. On one hand, some argue that education is the process of receiving or giving logical instruction. From this perception, education is all about learning and teaching from one generation to another. On the other hand, however, others argue that education is not all about “pouring in of knowledge.” In the words of Plato, “education isn’t what some people declare it to be, naming, putting knowledge into souls that lack it, like putting sight into blind eyes (5). The issue is what is the true meaning of education. Though some may say that education is the process of receiving or giving knowledge, I will
Dante’s The Divine Comedy illustrates one man’s quest for the knowledge of how to avoid the repercussions of his actions in life so that he may seek salvation in the afterlife. The Divine Comedy establishes a set of moral principles that one must live by in order to reach paradiso. Dante presents these principles in Inferno where each level of Hell has people suffering for the sins they committed during their life. As Dante gets deeper into Hell the degrees of sin get progressively worse as do the severity of punishment. With that in mind, one can look at Inferno as a handbook on what not to do during a lifetime in order to avoid Hell. In the book, Dante creates a moral lifestyle that one must follow in order to live a morally good, Catholic
...teacher is always right and accepting this at the soonest made the students’ life of learning pleasurable or one that was like that of Caliban, learning out of fear and hence being rebellious. Each idea lacks certain aspects and therefore there is no perfect idea, and if there were a perfect idea, according to Plato, it would be education itself. Willingness to learn seems to be the way in which we can move towards the ideal form of education and be filled with Utopian virtue.
The play "Oedipus Rex" is a very full and lively one to say the least. Everything a reader could ask for is included in this play. There is excitement, suspense, happiness, sorrow, and much more. Truth is the main theme of the play. Oedipus cannot accept the truth as it comes to him or even where it comes from. He is blinded in his own life, trying to ignore the truth of his life. Oedipus will find out that truth is rock solid. The story is mainly about a young man named Oedipus who is trying to find out more knowledge than he can handle. The story starts off by telling us that Oedipus has seen his moira, his fate, and finds out that in the future he will end up killing his father and marrying his mother. Thinking that his mother and father were Polybos and Merope, the only parents he knew, he ran away from home and went far away so he could change his fate and not end up harming his family. Oedipus will later find out that he cannot change fate because he has no control over it, only the God's can control what happens. Oedipus is a very healthy person with a strong willed mind who will never give up until he gets what he wants. Unfortunately, in this story these will not be good trait to have.
Divine punishment occurs in Oedipus and Dante’s Inferno. Divine Punishment is an endless punishment where your fate is determined and you cannot escape it. It is known as an irreversible occurrence that creates attitudes within characters that harms themselves and others. Oedipus faced a punishment that he had no choice over and couldn’t escape it. In Dante’s Inferno, people chose to sin and make their own decisions when sinning. The difference is that in Dante’s Inferno, some sins could’ve been escaped by man. People in Dante’s Inferno chose to sin while Oedipus had no choice and couldn’t escape it. Divine punishment can be escaped by man after a certain age of maturity, and control of their own actions. The question is, can divine punishment
Dante’s work Inferno is a vivid walkthrough the depths of hell and invokes much imagery, contemplation and feeling. Dante’s work beautifully constructs a full sensory depiction of hell and the souls he encounters along the journey. In many instances within the work the reader arrives at a crossroads for interpretation and discussion. Canto XI offers one such crux in which Dante asks the question of why there is a separation between the upper levels of hell and the lower levels of hell. By discussing the text, examining its implications and interpretations, conclusions can be drawn about why there is delineation between the upper and lower levels and the rationale behind the separation.
In conclusion Plato was a very knowledgeable man as while his education has been proven to be essential for understanding the universe. Plato lived for a long time doing the things that he loved and i believe he was a good man. After doing this paper over Plato I have learned so much more about the understanding of education and morals to life. I never knew how much a Philosopher could teach the world.
Education is a process of learning in which we acquire knowledge and skills under the guidance of a teacher. Ideas, information and culture are conveyed from one generation to another (Murphy, 2006). Education is the development by which we are formed as human beings and by which a society preserves and transforms itself. Education is the most important way in which we can fight oppression, injustice and inequality by promoting and fighting for equality and justice in our society (Norris, personal communication, September 4, 2013). There has been some sort of education, whether being formal or informal, ever since human beings existed. Many of our education policies and systems originate from ancient Greece. Likewise, there are many Greek educators and philosophers who influenced our education system today. The purpose of this paper is to identify the significance and contributions of four of these educators, who include Sappho, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, by observing their major contributions to education. Furthermore, this paper will discuss the relationship between these four philosophers, the key components of their philosophy of education, and their contributions to modern day education.
Plato did not just influence philosophy or our perspective of life it also inspired his students; most of his students went on to become famous scientists or philosophers. They were taught...
The word hamartia means a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero. Yet the cause of his downfall was not due to one flaw but to many flaws. Oedipus had great traits and qualities of a great king such as intelligence, pride and determination. These traits are also the main cause of his downfall. The traits that helped him also hurt him.