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analysis of king oedipus by sophocles
The characterisation of Sophocles's king Oedipus
summary of king oedipus by sophocles
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Ancient literatures are known for having intriguing poetry, drama and also comedy that are still remembered and studied nowadays. The Most recurring themes in the works of ancient literature are lamentation, hubris and predestination.
The first recurring or common theme in ancient literature is lamentation. Lamentation can be found in some of these early literatures. What is lamentation? According to the dictionary, lamentation is the act of lamenting or expressing grief (Dictionary.com). In the ancient Literature Oedipus the king, lamentation was present a few times in this interesting story. Oedipus the king is written by Sophocles. Sophocles is an ancient Greek tragedian. This story is an example of a tragic hero. The Beginning of this
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What is Hubris? Hubris is the excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance (Dictionary.com). Hubris is a significant theme because it is a weakness and downfall of some of the ancient heroes, warriors and kings. The gods punish and put to shame these heroes and kings known for being arrogant. Also, hubris tends to occur when a person has power or money or have something that others do not have. In the ancient literature Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, king Oedipus was known for being arrogant or having egotistical. He was also known as a hero for saving Thebes by giving the correct answer to the riddle of the Sphinx. In the story, Oedipus showed hubris to an old blind prophet called Teiresias. Even though Oedipus showed hubris and insulted the prophet, Teiresias still warned Oedipus that his pride would be his downfall, and his children and he would be of the same rank. Yet, Oedipus didn’t believe the prophet and kicked him out of his house. One illustration of hubris in Oedipus the King was when the strophe said “If a man walks with haughtiness of hand or word and gives no heed to justice and the shrines of Gods despises may an evil doom smite him for hiss ill-starred pride of heart” (Oedipus the king, part 1, lines 1010- 101) This quote means that if a man is showing too much hubris without any care for justice and shrines of gods, he should be punished severely because his pride. Oedipus was …show more content…
What is predestination? According to the google, Predestination is the divine foreordaining of all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not other (google.com). Predestination is illustrated in Oedipus the King written by Sophocles. According to the story, Jocasta said “There was an oracle once that came to Laius,… it was from his servants-- and it told him that it was fate that he should die a victim at the hands of his own son, a son to be born of Laius and me.”(Oedipus the King, part 1, line 813-822). This quote represented a tangible occurrence of predestination. The quote showed that Jocasta told Oedipus about the oracle that came to Laius before he died. The oracle said that Laius will be killed by his own son Oedipus. Oedipus knew that he was going to kill his father and he tried everything he could to prove the oracle wrong. Unfurtunately for Oedipus, he already killed his biological father along time ago without knowing. This showed that the oracle was right. Oedipus, unknowingly killed his real father, became king and married his real mother. Whatever is meant to happen will come to
“Cleveland Museum of Art: Building,” Cleveland Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Web. 25 March, 2014.
The chorus sites hubris, the Greek word referring to mortal pride or arrogance, as being the cause of many bad fates. Someone guilty of hubris aspires to be more and do more than what the gods allow, resulting in severe punishment and a tragic destiny. As an example, the chorus recites the story of Ouranus in lines 168-175 of Agamemnon. They tell of his pride and arrogance, and how both ultimately led to his fall. They continue to list two of his successors who suffered the same fate. Hubris is also discussed in lines 461-470, explaining that, "The gods are not blind to men who... unjustly prosper." The chorus views this arrogance as a terrible offense to the gods, and warns all those who dare set themselves beyond Justice to limit their belongings to what they need and what the gods allot them. They offer this warning so that all people might "avoid this suffering," (Agamemnon, lines 370-381).
The St. Louis Art Museum is one of the United States most renowned art museums that is located in our very own St. Louis. It has over 30,000 pieces of exquisite art that I had the privilege to witness. While there, I mainly examined the art pieces that were modern art, since that is of what I have a good working knowledge. There is a wide range of art that I also got to witness including the sculptures and the museum itself. In the past year, they have recently installed a new sector of their establishment that has done nothing less than enhance the entire museum’s overall beauty. The St. Louis Art Museum, there are many beautiful works, but there were three special projects that caught my eye while I was there. The Contemporary art periods, Modern art periods, the American art periods, and the museum itself.
Hu•bris /ˈ(h)yo͞obris/ noun: excessive pride or self-confidence. Hubris is believed to be the most serious of all seven deadly sins. Some say it was the original sin that led to all others. A word with such loathsome synonyms like arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, pomposity, and egotism was seen as one of the worst possible sins in Greek culture. They believed that no matter your social status those who exhibited it were destined to fall down into damnation. Yet some Grecian heroes seemed to ooze hubris in the form of confidence or cockiness. There was a fine line between the two that they should never cross. One hero in particular showed this sin on more than one account. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus, shows the sinful trait of hubris, in the form of cockiness when he talks to Polythemus, his crewmen, his wife, and his son.
The aim of tragedy is to evoke fear and pity, according to Aristotle, who cited the Oedipus Tyrannus as the definitive tragic play. Thus pity must be produced from the play at some point. However, this does not necessarily mean that Oedipus must be pitied. We feel great sympathy ('pathos') for Jocasta's suicide and the fate of Oedipus' daughters. Oedipus could evoke fear in us, not pity. He is a King of an accursed city willing to use desperate methods, even torture to extract truth from the Shepherd. His scorning of Jocasta just before her death creates little pity for him, as does his rebuke of the old, blind Tiresias. But with this considered, we must not forget the suffering he endures during his search for knowledge and the ignorant self-destruction he goes under.
“There is no safety in unlimited hubris” (McGeorge Bundy). The dictionary defines hubris as overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance. In The Odyssey, Homer embodies hubris into the characters Odysseus, the Suitors, and the Cyclopes. Odysseus shows hubris when he is battling the Cyclopes, the Cyclopes show hubris when dealing with Odysseus, and the Suitors show it when Odysseus confronts them at his home.
Tragic 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 The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Allen Mandelbaum, Homer retells the story of Odysseus’s expedition from Troy to his homeland, Ithaca. Along the way, Odysseus faces numerous challenges—from dealing with Poseidon’s wrath to getting trapped on Calypso’s island. With Athena’s guidance, he returns to Ithaca to reunite with his son, Telemachus, and loyal wife, Penelope. Throughout the book, hubris or excessive pride is in display especially with Odysseus and the suitors. Hubris causes the them to neglect the gods and create careless mistakes which backfire in the future. Their incapability to make good decisions is affected by their pride which blurs what is and is not a good idea. In addition, hubris is also a trait looked down on in Greek culture. Homer lets his audience understand how pride can be part of one’s success. However, hubris will not only cause his or her downfall but also of those around them.
Both the "Odyssey" and "Back From War, But Not Really Home " depict the concept of grief by the description of the characters emotions. For instance in the odyssey Odysseus washes up on new and strange lands. This land that Odysseus washed up on was the home of the Phaecians. The Phaecians treated him well and fed Odysseus. Ironically they tried to entertain him by telling the tales of the Trojan war. Odysseus the brave hero cried, he was grieving.
In Histories, Herodotus’ uses a variety of themes to narrate historical events and a common theme revolves around hubris. Extremely common amongst Greek literature and Greek mythology, hubris appears to be the infamous human trait. Greek mythology sees hubris as a great atrocity and results in an unrelenting punishment. The idea of hubris is that an individual with an authoritative position, a strong or influential leader, becomes extremely proud of his exceptional qualities and forms a delusion of his position to be on par with even the Gods. This blinds the hubristic individual into believing he can defy the Gods and elude ones inevitable fate. Herodotus’ Histories is no exception to containing individuals that display hubristic qualities similar to many other significant historical entities. In Histories, the theme of hubris assists the reader in making a connection between the excerpts from the end of book 1 (1-204-206) to other books and excerpts in Herodotus’ Histories.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said that our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Americans complain relentlessly about the government and presidential candidates, but that is as far as it goes. When they are given the opportunity to enable a change, one that they cry out for, they meet the opportunity with reticence. They are supposedly so angry that it leads them to rebel in massive rebellions demonstrated by silence. The silence is not only restricted to noiselessness but rather it refers to “doing nothing.” However, what Americans fails to perceive, is that doing “nothing” is doing “something.” Consequently, silence is often the action that leads to destruction.
In “The Odyssey”, Odysseus is the hero with excessive pride. Excessive pride was such a common theme in tales about heroes it got its own name, hubris. These heroes are very concerned with making sure others will hear of their fantastic deeds and this is exactly what gets Odysseus into trouble. He disregards the safety of his crew because his pride blinds him from thinking of the consequences. This causes many hardships during his voyage home which could have been easily avoided, but he let his pride get him and his crew into trouble when he shouts at the Cyclopes… “Cyclopes, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes' son, whose home's on Ithaca!”(l.673, book 9). It seems as if Odysseus must brag after doing anyt...
Predestination, in the dictionary, is said to be "the doctrine that God in consequence of his foreknowledge of all events infallibly guides those who are destined for salvation." Scripture has 2 very good passages for defining what predestination is: Jeremiah 1:5 which says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." God is talking about Jeremiah in this passage and how God chose him before time; he was predestined for his job. Romans 8:28-30 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called them he also justified: and whom he justified them he also glorified." This passage speaks about God's ultimate omniscience concerning our predestination and how we would react to the message of God's Word.
According to Aristotle's theory of tragedy and his definition of the central character, Oedipus the hero of Sophocles is considered a classical model of the tragic hero. The tragic hero of a tragedy is essential element to arouse pity and fear of the audience to achieve the emotional purgation or catharathis. Therefore, this character must have some features or characteristics this state of purgation. In fact, Oedipus as a character has all the features of the tragic hero as demanded by Aristotle.
The theme that the lives of humans are controlled by the gods, in Oedipus, show that everything humans do are futile and result in no gain but only loss. This theme is mainly shown by the character Oedipus, king of Thebes. In the beginning of his life, Laius the king planned to kill his son by leaving him on Mount Cithaeron to die. "...at the moment I was your savior."