Oedipus the King: Narcissistic Oedipus
analytical Essay
833 words
Narcissistic Oedipus – Tragic Hero
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is a classic tragic hero. According to Aristotle's definition, Oedipus is a tragic hero because he is a king whose life falls apart when he finds out his life story. There are a number of characteristics described by Aristotle that identify a tragic hero. For example, a tragic hero must cause his own downfall; his fate is not deserved, and his punishment exceeds the crime; he also must be of noble stature and have greatness. Oedipus is in love with his idealized self. All of the above characteristics make Oedipus a tragic hero according to Aristotle's ideas about tragedy.
Using Oedipus as an ideal model, Aristotle says that a tragic hero must be an important or influential man who makes an error in judgment, and who must then suffer the consequences of his actions. Those actions are seen when Oedipus forces Teiresias to reveal his destiny and his father's name. When Teiresias tries to warn him by saying "This day will give you parents and destroy you" (Sophocles line 428), Oedipus still does not care and proceeds with his questioning. The tragic hero must learn a lesson from his errors in judgment and become an example to the audience of what happens when great men fall from their lofty social or political positions.
According to psychologists, a person who is great, who is admired everywhere, and needs this admiration to survive, has one of the extreme forms of narcissism, which is grandiosity. Grandiosity can be seen when a person admires himself, his qualities, such as beauty, cleverness, and talents, and his success and achievements greatly. If any one of these illusions is lost, then a severe depression could follow. Those actions happen when the Herdsman tells Oedipus who his mother is, and Oedipus replies "Oh, oh, then everything has come out true. Light, I shall not look on you Again. I have been born where I should not be born, I have been married where I should not marry, I have killed whom I should not kill; now all is clear" (Sophocles lines 1144).
Oedipus's decision to pursue his questioning is wrong; his grandiosity blinded him and, therefore, his fate is not deserved, but it is far beyond his control. A prophecy is foretold to Laius, the father of Oedipus, that the destiny of Oedipus is a terrible one beyond his control.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes aristotle's definition of a tragic hero in the play oedipus rex by sophocles.
- Analyzes how aristotle says that a tragic hero must be an important or influential man who makes an error in judgment and who must then suffer the consequences of his actions.
- Explains the extreme form of narcissism, which is seen when a person admires himself, his qualities, such as beauty, cleverness, talents, and his success and achievements greatly.
- Opines that oedipus's decision to pursue his questioning is wrong; his grandiosity blinded him and his fate is not deserved, but it is far beyond his control.
- Analyzes how oedipus is abandoned by his birth parents and is denied their love. his birth predates his destiny to result in tragedy even though he is of noble birth.
- Explains that in tragedies, protagonists are usually of the nobility to make their falls seem greater. oedipus is born a prince, and his destiny is to be of noble stature from birth.
- Analyzes how oedipus sees his actions as wrongdoing when he says 'what use are my eyes to me, who could never-see anything pleasant again?' and that blindness does not necessarily have to be physical.
- Analyzes how sophocles portrays oedipus rex as a good-natured person who has bad judgment and is frail. if he hadn't been so judgmental or narcissistic, his misfortune would never have happened.
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- Oedipus the King: A Classic Tragedyanalytical essayOedipus the King, a Classic Tragedy Aristotle, in his work The Poetics, tries to delineate the idea of a tragedy. Throughout his work Aristotle says that the hero, or at least the protagonist in a tragedy must be substantially good, almost godlike. This hero must bring upon themselves their downfall, due to their fatal flaw. If the hero is not at a high point, an audience will not care about them, and won’t notice their fall. One must fall a long way in social class in order for it to be noticed by the outside man.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how aristotle, in his work the poetics, tries to delineate the idea of a tragedy. he says that the hero must be substantially good, almost godlike.
- Analyzes how oedipus solves the riddle of the great sphinx, which leads him to become the king of thebes. catharsis is necessary for a true tragedy to exist.
- Explains that tragic stories offer a sense of learning about the human condition, which is called catharsis.
- Analyzes how the fatal flaw, or hamartia, that the character makes, in oedipus, does not actually take place during the story itself.
- Analyzes how oedipus' reversal and recognition are realized while his balanced life is hanging from a thread.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes aristotle's definition of a tragic hero, stating that oedipus the king defines the meaning of what he is.
- Analyzes how oedipus proves to be a great and courageous man because of his extreme intelligence and cleverness.
- Analyzes how the heart of the story unravels when oedipus apparently begins to suffer a reversal of fortunes.
- Analyzes how oedipus remains admirable to the audience at the end of the play. he takes full responsibility for his actions rather than fleeing the punishment he so rightly defined for the criminal.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus the king by sophocles is a tragic hero who chooses self-knowledge over self deception.
- Analyzes how oedipus is of high rank, a member of the nobility. the priest is speaking for others by telling him that he gives them strength and that they look up to him.
- Analyzes how oedipus has to have courage to take responsibility for his actions, and his one wish is to last see his children, antigone and ismene.
- Analyzes how oedipus is a tragic hero who lost everything he once held power of. he lost his wife/mother, jocasta, and his children, antigone and ismene.
- Analyzes how oedipus is trying to let others understand that he has a tragic flaw. he is disgusted with himself for marrying his mother and touching her with the hands that killed her husband.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus was considered a tragic hero, according to aristotle, because he acknowledged his mistakes, made himself suffer more than deserved, and thought about his children.
- Analyzes how oedipus acknowledged his mistakes after he began putting the pieces together about the murderer of king laius.
264 wordsRead More - Tragic Oedipusanalytical essayTragic heroes cause intense empathetic reaction, developing an inevitable story of anguish and triumph. In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is such a hero. He has many good, even heroic qualities; however, his deep flaws ultimately cause his undoing and terrible punishment. Although he comes across as a royal being who is basically good, he has flaws that ultimately cannot be controlled and devastate his life. As the readers watch his development and the development of the interwoven themes in the play, we ourselves suffer upon seeing and hearing the ironies of his relationships and motivations. Tragic heroes are relatable and saddening, and the pure idea of their being can draw deep emotion that lasts through civilizations and generations. Oedipus Rex is an iconic example of a tragic story with a tragic main character.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how tragic heroes cause intense empathetic reaction, developing an inevitable story of anguish and triumph. oedipus rex by sophocles has many good, even heroic qualities, but his flaws ultimately cause his undoing and terrible punishment.
- Analyzes how oedipus is the king of thebes, appointed there after solving the riddle of sphinx.
- Analyzes how oedipus's prophecy drives the evil part of his persona. his good-hearted determination to rid thebes of the plague leads to his inadvertent ironic punishment.
- Analyzes how oedipus' tragic flaw is his hubris and arrogance to see the truth around him.
- Analyzes how good and bad are mixed to create oedipus, the perfect example of a tragic hero. tragic heroes thrive on the idea that we control little beyond our own actions.
1020 wordsRead More - Oedipus Tragic Hero Essayanalytical essayThroughout the play, there are many examples that support the argument that Oedipus is a tragic hero. By definition, a tragic hero is “a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat”. Oedipus is a concerned and loving king whose people trust him explicitly. However, throughout the play, he makes choices that put him in bad situations. The play tells the story of Oedipus' journey to try and uncover the mystery of Laius' murder, as told by the oracle. Throughout his journey, he commits horrible crimes, and destroys both himself and his life. Oedipus also drags innocent people down with him. Oedipus is a tragic hero because of his fatal flaws, he was born of noble birth, he showed excessive pride and he became more self aware.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus is a tragic hero because of his fatal flaws, he was born of noble birth, showed excessive pride and became more self-aware.
- Analyzes how oedipus had a fatal flaw that sophocles made clear throughout the play: hubris, which means excessive pride, makes people less fond of him.
- Analyzes how tiresias is telling oedipus his life story, which he will soon find out is true.
- Analyzes how oedipus's increase of self awareness contributed to his downfall towards the end of the play. he eventually discovered that he killed his father lauis.
- Explains that all tragic novels, short stories or plays have a tragic hero. in the play, oedipus rex, he was categorized as being born of noble stature, showing extreme pride in themselves, and to gain knowledge of self awareness.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus is a tragic hero who suffers the consequences of his immoral actions, and must learn from these mistakes.
- Analyzes how oedipus' determination to seek the truth and care for his people makes him an admirable man and respectable king.
- Analyzes how oedipus has hamartia or flaws that lead to his demise. one of them is his excessive pride in the control over his life but in reality he has no control.
- Analyzes how oedipus could have avoided his suffering by never killing a man and never marring women old enough to be his parents.
- Analyzes how oedipus' life arouses pity from the audience because his weakness lies in that he was human.
- Analyzes how oedipus was a man dedicated to fighting and avoiding evil but he himself was the cause of so much tragedy. his ideal qualities of being intelligent and powerful, but not perfect, were not enough to keep his falling into misfortune
997 wordsRead More - Oedipus Rex Essay Assignmentanalytical essayExplained by Aristotle, the characteristics of a good tragic hero must be “better than we are,” a man who is superior to the average man in some way. A man one might say closely resembles Oedipus Rex. But Oedipus is more imperfect than perfect, as he commits his actions in haste and is unable to see what is happening around him. His hamartia was the main reason for his downfall. In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus demonstrates his errors in judgement through his hubris, blindness, and foolishness and therefore is at fault. Oedipus’s great hubris led him to a path where he couldn’t come back from. His blindness and ignorance to the truth caused Oedipus to take actions that he thought would aid him escape the prophecy told by the oracle. His actions justify the line of events that occur in the play.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how aristotle explains that a good tragic hero must be "better than we are." oedipus is more imperfect than perfect, as he commits his actions in haste and is unable to see what is happening around him.
- Analyzes how oedipus's hubris led him to a path where he couldn't come back from.
- Analyzes how oedipus' blindness and ignorance to the truth caused him to take actions that he thought would aid him escape the prophecy told by the oracle.
- Analyzes how oedipus' errors in judgement are portrayed through his hubris, blindness, and foolishness throughout the play.
756 wordsRead More - The Tragedy Of Oedipus The King As A Tragic Heroanalytical essayOedipus is widely known for being the man that killed his father and married his mother. After Oedipus finds out about what he has done he proceeds to jab both of his eyes out and remains blind for the rest of his life. By Oedipus doing this it means that his fate that was told to his parents at the beginning of the story had come true. With Oedipus jabbing his eyes out, this made it clear that this was a tragedy. Oedipus is the perfect fit of being a tragic hero. First of all by being born into royalty and throughout his life he held a royal persona. Also he makes some choices that leads him to his own destruction. For example, with him already marrying his mother and his mother had already had several of his kids their was nothing that he could do when he found out that his wife was also his mother. In the story as he went back to confront his mother/wife, she had already hung herself. As for being a hero, he done many heroic things throughout his life. For example, when he arrived at the city where he met his mother and father, there
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus is the perfect fit of being a tragic hero because he was born into royalty and held the royal persona. he solved the riddle of the sphinx, which made him an honorable man.
- Narrates how oedipus was born into a royal family, but when the family found out about his fate, they sent him with the man to kill the baby.
- Analyzes oedipus' reversal of misfortune. his curiosity kept him busy trying to avoid his father's death, and his arrogance led him to leave thebes.
- Opines that oedipus did all he could to avoid the horrible fate that was placed onto him and his fate eventually took over his life.
1209 wordsRead More - The Tragic Flaws of Oedipus Rex At one time in our lives there is a moment that we may think of ourselves as better than someone or something else. There may also be a point when making a decision leads to a great error in judgment. In the play Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, both of these characteristics can be seen in the main character. These characteristics are known as tragic flaws. These flaws are known as hubris meaning excess pride, leading to overconfidence, and hamartia meaning errors and weakness in judgment.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the tragic flaws in the play oedipus rex, written by sophocles, are the main reason of destruction and downfall in mankind.
- Analyzes how oedipus rex is seen as a tragedy. a tragedy portrays the conflict between human beings and some superior, overwhelming force, and this outcome seems inevitable.
- Analyzes how oedipus shows an error in judgment when he disregards teiresias's warning, and creates his own downfall. he ignores all the information given to him because
- Analyzes how oedipus is told by the gods above that he would, in his future, kill his father and marry his mother, but nothing can change his fate.
- Analyzes how oedipus' hubris can be seen when he is talking to teiresias. he treats the man with disrespect and acts as if they are inflicted with some sort of horrible disease.
- Analyzes how oedipus' temper leads to his downfall and destruction. he gets mad easily and becomes violent when he kills laios out of "road rage."
- Analyzes how character and fate bring the destruction and downfall to the main character. the tragic hero is quick to anger and judgment. he is ignorant and doubts the power of the gods.
695 wordsRead More