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Oedipus the king by Sophocles analysis
Characterisation in the sophocles king oedipus
Characterisation in the sophocles king oedipus
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Oedipride Rex Having pride can be a useful trait when someone wishes to excel and to have pleasure with themselves. Pride becomes harmful when someone transforms into a pompous person and is content, even when they are wrong. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Oedipus attempts to find out the truth about his origins. Oedipus aims to outrun his prophecy of murdering his father and coupling with his mother. When a plague is upon Thebes, Oedipus decides to bring the truth about Laius’ murderer to light. During this process, he finds out that the worst has come true and that he is a husband Jocasta, his mother, and is the killer of Laius, his father. Sophocles uses irony and characterization in order to show that hubris is Oedipus’ downfall. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus is talking to Tiresias about his birth parents and the plague. Oedipus is upset with what Tiresias has to say and disagrees with him, “Mock me for that, go on, and you’ll reveal …show more content…
I abandoned Corinth…” (876). By trying to outrun his fate, Oedipus is showing pride towards the gods. Oedipus believes that he can avoid the prophecy and is overestimating his abilities. While Oedipus certainly stays away from who he believes to be his mother and father, the gods and oracle win out because the prophecy comes true and ruins Oedipus’ reputation. Sophocles wants to show how foolish Oedipus is to believe that he can run away from his destiny. Trying to change his destiny is the most prideful action that Oedipus does because it helps to concrete his fate. If Oedipus instead chose to stay in Corinth, he would not be Laius’ murderer. The prophecy would still come to fruition, but in a different way that does not include Oedipus trying to defy the gods. The latter way, hubris would not be Oedipus’ downfall, but fate would be
The only true statement that Oedipus makes in this quote is pointing out the Queen’s shame. Iocastê has just come to the realization that Oedipus is her son. She must be beyond embarrassment not only because of her failed attempt to abandon her son, but also because she is now married to him. Oedipus believes his birth to be lowly and he takes pride in this. In reality, he is the son of a king.
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 is his arrogance. There are a few opposing views that stray from Oedipus being fully arrogant. First is that he took actions to save himself from 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.
His arrogance is shown in the very first lines he speaks, “Here I am – myself – you all know me, / the world knows my fame: / I am Oedipus” (7-9). When Oedipus is told by the oracle that he will marry his mother and kill his father, he arrogantly thinks he can run away from his fate. Believing that Polybus and Merope were his biological parents, Oedipus fled Corinth, attempting to escape his destiny. Oedipus ' pride is revealed in his belief that he is greater than the gods. He believes that he is capable of establishing his own destiny apart from the gods ' control or help. He flees his home to try to thwart the prophecy; but just as Jocasta’s fate was inevitable, so was Oedipus’. Oedipus ends up committing the two acts the prophecy projected, though he does not know it at the
Ironically, he initially became a King by solving a riddle and now he is trying to solve another to try and maintain his image and control his destiny. “Human happiness is built on an illusion” (Dodds 27). This quote is a good connection to the role of Oedipus, because while attempting to keep the Kingdom under control and keep his image unharmed, he is left in the dark by ignoring the signs. The irony of ignoring the past continues when “Creon brings the information that there will be no relief until the murderer of Laius is expelled from the city… [And] the murder mystery slowly becomes a quest for Oedipus ' identity” (Derrida). Building upon the investigation, Oedipus grows a keen interest for who he truly is. Is there any truth to the prophecies that which he and Jocasta have seemingly forgot about? At this point, it seems as though Oedipus must finally face his fear and discover the truth that he has been avoiding for so long. The only way for Oedipus to find out the lies he has been living is to seek for the only witness of his father’s murder, a shepherd. Only until Oedipus threatens to kill the shepherd does he tell the truth and reveal the tragic events which have been avoided for so long. In this moment before certainty of the past is brought to light, the relationship between self-control and self-image is linked and soon to be changed
In “Oedipus the King” the protagonist Oedipus proves to be a flawed character because of his excessive pride. Oedipus grew up as a prince and was always prideful in a sense Oedipus never earned his pride but was born it illustrating the issue with unjustified pride. Oedipus is a tragic hero because his tales ends with tragedy with his wife killing herself and himself stabbing his eyes out, as well as his flawed character stemming from his excessive pride. In this sense, his pride created his problems thus proving unjustified pride is a horrible monstrosity. Nothing is wrong with pride but rather where the pride stems from is the issue. Oedipus’ excessive pride was his major personality fault because it originated from being born into royalty. If Oedipus’ pride had occurred from something less superficial, for example being, a good person, then he would have never had gotten an unhappy ending. He would of never had killed his father, the former king of Thebes, married his own mother and then later found out all of his own mistakes thus ruining his and his family’s life. A character that contrasts greatly Oedipus yet still proves that justified pride is wonderful is Rostand’s Cyrano. Cyrano is a prideful character yet he has pride for all the right reasons. Cyrano loves the fact that he
Oedipus is the son of the king and queen of Thebes. A prophet tells the king and queen that his son will kill him. This causes the king and queen to become worried of the possibilities so they decide to kill their son in order to prevent the predictions of the prophet from becoming true. However, Oedipus did not die and instead was rescued and eventually adopted. As time progresses Oedipus is told that he will kill his father and this frightens Oedipus so he decides to get as far as possible from his parents. During Oedipus’s journey he stumbles upon his biological father and he was unable to control his anger so he killed his father. As time goes on he eventually marries the queen of Thebes also known as his mom. He found out that her husband was killed a long time ago so Oedipus decided to investigate. A prophet tells Oedipus that he was the one that killed the king who was his father. Oedipus is angered and is told to stop trying to solve the mystery. Oedipus eventually discovers that what the prophet told him was true and is angered. He eventually meets his end. In this case Oedipus’s biggest flaw is his anger. His anger eventually causes him to face defeat. “Who would not feel his temper rise at words like these with which you shame our city” (Sophocles 1572). The quote comes directly from a conversation he was having with the prophet that told him he was
Through Oedipus the King Sophocles presents the paradox of a man whose good side causes harm and whose bad side works good. The character of Oedipus itself is one vicious irony, for his virtues devolve into virulent vices that wreak his complete destruction. Though the story he tells is a heartbreaking and predictable tragedy, Sophocles masterfully employs the tools of his craft to fashion a drama that has captured the fascination of untold generations. Perhaps therein lies the ultimate irony: The name of Oedipus will always be cloaked in a pall of darkest ignominy, but that of Sophocles remains forever radiant in brightest glory.
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.
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.
Oedipus’ personality clearly reflects pride and determination throughout the play. When Oedipus heard the oracles’ prediction that he was to kill his father and marry his mother, he was determined to prevent the prophecy. Therefore he left his homeland of Corinth never to return. Then when he solved the Sphinx’s riddle, Oedipus’ pride rose to a new level. He was praised by the people of Thebes, resulting in his marriage to Jocasta, Queen of Thebes. Oedipus also shows his determination when in search of Laius’ murderer. He stated that he would avenge the King’s death as if Laius were his own father. He cursed the murderer, announcing “May he drag out an evil death-in-life in misery.” These characteristics of pride and determination, which Oedipus emanates throughout the play, may appear to be positive attributes to one’s personality. However, Oedipus’ actions, based on these characteristics, are what led him to his eventual downfall and suffrage.
Oedipus' pride is an essential characteristic throughout the play. Even before Oedipus came into power as the King of Thebes he allowed his arrogance to control his judgment and reign over his actions. Oblivious to his knowledge, Oedipus fulfills Apollo's oracle when he encounters a band of men at a crossroad. The driver offends Oedipus as he brushes by, inciting Oedipus' anger. Although the contact is just a slight intrusion, Oedipus, outraged that someone would have the gall to trouble him and ends up killing all of them. “A thief, so daring, so wild, he’d kill a king? Impossible unless conspirators paid him off in Thebes.” (p. 621 ln.140-142) in which unknowingly Oedipus is describing himself, as he recalls the incident to his wife and biological mother Jocasta he is not remorseful for the loss of life nor for his part in the crime. Instead, Oedipus comes off as that he is satisfied that he had taken revenge. Had his arrogance and pride not interfered, Oedipus would not have made the rash decision to kill all of the party and in turn, wouldn’t have fulfilled Apollo’s oracle that was made to Laius and Jocasta.
Oedipus is living in a dream from which he is only just beginning to awake. In this dream, he not only believes that he is in control of his own fate but that he is in control of his own identity. He assumes that he has three virtues: wisdom, reason, and self-control. When he attempts to use these virtues, however, he discovers that he is mistaken on all three counts. His first mistake is believing that he is wise. From this wisdom he hopes to maintain control over the events around him, but true wisdom is actually surrendering to the fact that control is an illusion, a "seeming." His second mistake is believing that he is a rational man. Indeed, Oedipus has great cognitive powers. He has insight, but this insight is quickly negated when it clashes with his own anger, which ultimately drives Oedipus to fly in the face of reason. His third mistake is believing that he is his own man, self-created. He believes that this makes him completely free, but, in fact, he is deeply tied to his roots. By rejecting his parentage, he attempts to avoid his fate. The chorus claims that no "man on Earth wins more of happiness than a seeming and after that turn[s] away" (Sophocles 64).1 Oedipus turns himself away from happiness because he believes that he is already happy. In his hubris, he becomes the agent of his own destruction. He serves as the paradigm for the self-deluding and self-destructive spirit of the human condition.
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
Irony used from beginning to end and with each statement made by Oedipus about finding the killer of Laius. Although the audience is familiar with the story they are fully invested in Oedipus. Because Sophocles uses irony in his play it makes the audience empathize with the protagonist. Oedipus becomes human, a tangible character that experiences the same emotions as everyday people. The thing that makes Oedipus even more human is that he is a victim of a fate assigned to him before he was born. He unknowingly carries out the prophecy destined for him which leads to the discovery that he was abandoned at birth by his biological parents; with this discovery a sense of his identity is taken from him. A character so arrogant normally does not receive empathy from the audience, however, he is still very much an innocent fragile human being punished for his father’s defiance. Sophocles used irony to bring a new twist to a familiar story. The use of irony keeps the audience ahead of the protagonist yet still eagerly awaiting his reaction to the obstacles before him; even though they know his fate the audience wants to see how he deals with his unfortunate
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.