Oedipus the King
"Oedipus the King" Essay
Oedipus Rex lived his life knowing the fate to which he was destined.
He tried at all costs to avoid Apollo's prophecies; however, this only
led him to a state of tragedy and despair. This outcome made it
justifiable for the educated reader to label him as a "tragic hero."
Oedipus' obvious identification made it all the more difficult to
investigate the question as to whether there could be more than one
"tragic hero" per novel. The supporting characters of Jocasta and
Laius were possibilities, and in the following paragraphs, their
likeness to a figure of tragedy will be expressed.
The character of Laius had already died the moment the play began,
however, because his presence played such a significant role in the
novel, the reader was still able to determine a great deal about him.
The biological father of Oedipus had been the reigning king and he
lived in riches with his wife Jocasta in wealth and riches. This state
of prosperity eventually was transformed into a pathetic end when he
was killed in the street by his own son. This fulfills the first
property of a tragic hero. Laius also experiences pain that had been
partially self-inflicted. He sent his son, Oedipus, away to be killed
at an early age, and in the end, it was this discarded son that killed
him. Laius then must have realized that this "pain" was the result of
allowing others to do his dirty work. If he had had the courage to
kill the infant himself, then the misfortune of dying at the hand of
his son would have been avoided. Not wanting to sway from the
stereotypical traits of a king, Laius exhibited a pride that was
largely displayed in the situation that had him killed. Instead of
leaving the road for Oedipus to pass, he insisted on maintaining his
stature and he "tried to push [Oedipus] off the road" (p.56). This is
more specifically defined as "hubris", and is another essential
characteristic of a tragic figure. Similar to the unyielding pride of
a king, is the expression of one's mind at the expense of his own
body. Again, the crossroads situation can be used, as can the general
nature of a typical king, a personality from which Laius did not sway.
The preceding two points illustrate the main flaw of Laius, King of
Thebes. It has many times been proven that pride can be one's
downfall, and the existence of this trait in Laius' personality, and
the fact that it was this that killed him, prove that he experienced
and the people around him. His mother did not even care enough to keep his birth
Laius concerning his death by the hands of his son, a similar one directed to
The choir represents the voice of the people, the voice of the masses. People often conform to this uniform truth, they want to be like other people. This conformation leads to a uniform voice from the public. This voice is often ignorant to the truth, seemingly to the point that it creates its own truth.
Undoubtedly there has been a tremendous amount of speculation and dissection of this play by countless people throughout the ages. I can only draw my own conclusions as to what Sophocles intended the meaning of his play to be. The drama included a number of horrific and unthinkable moral and ethical dilemas, but I believe that was what made the play so interesting and that is exactly the way Sophocles intended it to be. The play was obviously meant to entertain and portray the author’s own insight. The underlying theme to the play is that no man should know his own destiny, it will become his undoing. This knowledge of things to come was presented to both Laius and Oedipus in the form of prophecies well in advance of it coming to be. The prophecies told of things that were so morally disturbing that they both aggressively did everything in their power to try and stop them from coming true. The story begins with Oedipus at the height of power as King of Thebes. His kingdom has encountered rough times and he has sent his nobleman Creon to seek help from the god Apollo to restore his land. Creon tells Oedipus that he must find the murderer of the previous King Laius and by finding this man and banishing him, his land will be restored. The murder occurred some time ago and King Oedipus sends for the seer Theiresias with his powers of prophecy to aid in the search for the murderer. Sophocles cleverly projects his feelings on wisdom and knowledge through Teirsias when he says “Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that’s wise!”(23) Teirsias knows that this terrible prophecy has already been set into motion and the damage has already been done. There is really no point in telling it to Oedipus because it will only cause more harm than good. Oedipus provokes Teirsias into telling him the prophecy, “ Í tell you, king, this man, this murderer-he is here. In name he is a stranger among citizens but soon he will be shown to be a citizen true native Theban, and he’ll have no joy of the discovery: blindness for sight and beggary for riches his exchange, he shall go journeying to a foreign country tapping his way befor him with a stick.
In the Oedipus at Colonus, there are three major themes of the play, prophecy, guilt and death. Each of them is part of how Oedipus’ life plays out. The prophecy told that he was the killer of his own father and married his mother, and how the guilt, he had for committing these acts, by gouging out his own eyes; and how after his family disowned him then wanting him to help them knowing that whoever was on Oedipus’ side would win the war. Also where Oedipus’ body should be laid to rest after his death.
On a warm, Summer's afternoon, I sat in my room, a Wii remote clutched in my right hand and a Wii Nunchuck in the other.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that involves extreme weight loss, restricted food intake, and an intense fear of becoming fat. The American Psychiatric Association outlines four diagnostic criteria for anorexia. The first is refusal to maintain body weight. The second is intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight. The third is denial of the seriousness of low body weight. The fourth is in postmenarcheal females, amenorrhea, for example the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles.
Anorexia is a mental problem manifested in a physical form. Treatment includes both mental health and professional as well as a primary health care physician. Also regular therapy, nutritional counseling, and possible medication can help treat this disorder. Support groups also play an extreme role into recovering from anorexia.
In the play, Oedipus the King, blindness is used metaphorically and physically to characterize several personas , and the images of clarity and vision are used as symbols for knowledge and insight. Enlightenment and darkness are used in much the same manner, to demonstrate the darkness of ignorance, and the irony of vision without sight.
Anorexia Nervosa is a disorder in which preoccupation with dieting and thinness leads to excessive weight loss. Anorexics have an intense fear of fat.(American Anorexia Bulimia Association, INC). People with anorexia, whom doctors sometimes call anorectics, severely limit their food intake. About half of them also have bulimia symptoms. A lot of the time a person suffering from anorexia doesn’t realize that they have an eating problem, they are more concerned with their image than food.
Many times humans do things that contradict another thing they do. An example of this is one thing may be good but also bad at the same time. A person who has done this more then once is Oedipus in the writer Sophocles plays. Sophocles uses imagery like light verses darkness, knowledge verses ignorance and sight verses blindness.
Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a fear of being overweight which results in becoming exceedingly thin. (guide) People with anorexia go to an extreme in abusing the way they diet, over exercise, and purge. When looking for symptoms in anorexia it is slightly hard to tell, for many times people keep their disorder a secret. Once someone starts undergoing this process, people sometimes gain weight rather than lose, which also initiates them to lose more weight. During the period of growth and maturation, anorexia leads to somatic and psychological development and which leads to serious health issues. (journal research) Although many don’t see what is happening, over time they are sev...
before he died, how he died"(34). Ionas' son has died, and he feels as though it
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that affects over 10 million women in the United States alone. Women are most commonly linked to anorexia (95% of people with anorexia are women) with mostly a heavy impact on teenagers. The disorder is a mixture of distorted body perception, an obsession with body weight, and fear of weight gain. A person suffering from anorexia nervosa may exercise excessively and/or eat very small portions. They may experience symptoms such as extreme weight loss, insomnia, dizziness or fainting, constipation, intolerance to cold, low blood pressure, hair thinning, and dry skin. Because of their strong fear of weight gain, a person suffering may refuse to eat, deny or lie about thei...
...permanent cure (Facts about Anorexia Nervosa). Patients suffer relapses even after successful hospital treatment and return to a normal weight.