Use of Character Flaws and Literary Devices to Teach Morals in Oedipus Rex
The Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex is an excellent example of how an author can use literary techniques and personality traits to teach a certain moral or theme. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles communicates his themes and morals to the reader through the character flaws of Oedipus, a tragic hero.
The most prominent character flaw that Oedipus possesses is his excessive arrogance. One way this flaw is displayed is Oedipus' repeated use of the pronoun "I". In lines sixty seven through eighty alone, Oedipus uses the word "I" eight times, projecting his haughty personality. "I have found one helpful course, and that I have taken: I have sent Creon…to Delphi…" states Oedipus as he describes what action he has taken to help the people of Thebes recover from there ill state (70-73). This quote is just one of the many that exhibit Oedipus' pride through the over use of the pro-noun "I".
Another example of Oedipus' hubris is the way he speaks in a condescending tone to who ever he may be speaking to. "I have sent Creon…to Delphi, Apollo's place of revelation to learn there, if he can, what act or pledge of mine may save the city" (74-77). In these lines Oedipus suggest that Creon is inferior to him by stating, "if he can"(77). Oedipus often indicates, as he does here, that people other than himself are insolent and incapable of completing tasks correctly. He also indicates in the above quote that he, the all mighty Oedipus, is the only person who could possible save the city of Thebes by saying, "what act or pledge of mine may save the city" (75). This extreme arrogance, demonstrated through patronizing speech, is apparent throughout the en...
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...tions of Oedipus Rex, edited by Michael J. O’Brien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.
Jevons, Frank B. “In Sophoclean Tragedy, Humans Create Their Own Fate.” In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997.
Murray, Robert D. Jr. “Sophocles’ Moral Themes.” In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997.
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Van Nortwick, Thomas. Oedipus: The Meaning of a Masculine Life. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
Woodard, Thomas. Introduction. In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Psychologists have shown that there exist two major social behaviors that are widely associated with a person as they mature into young adulthood: extraversion or introversion. Carl Yung, a swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, coined the term “introversion” versus “extroversion”. His idea was further elaborated upon by Hens Eysenck, a British psychologist, who defined extroverts and introverts by their baseline arousal. As Jerome Kagan, Professor of psychology at Harvard says, ““Introverts” and “extroverts” are not definitive diagnoses like blood types”, a person displays more or less of one of these two traits; extroverts generally has a more advantage over introverts but each of these personality traits has its own strengths and building on these strengths is what one ought
Segal, Charles. Oedipus Tyrannus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993.
The great Sophoclean play, Oedipus Rex is an amazing play, and one of the first of its time to accurately portray the common tragic hero. Written in the time of ancient Greece, Sophocles perfected the use of character flaws in Greek drama with Oedipus Rex. Using Oedipus as his tragic hero, Sophocles’ plays forced the audience to experience a catharsis of emotions. Sophocles showed the play-watchers Oedipus’s life in the beginning as a “privileged, exalted [person] who [earned his] high repute and status by…intelligence.” Then, the great playwright reached in and violently pulled out the audience’s most sorrowful emotions, pity and fear, in showing Oedipus’s “crushing fall” from greatness.
Insuring the portrayal of his theme, Sophocles targets the tension of his tragic play, Oedipus Rex, through the growth of the main character, Oedipus, rather than the mystery. Utilizing literary devices such as dramatic irony, soliloquies, and foreshadowing, Sophocles reveals to the audience the conclusion to the mystery of Oedipus before the hero has solved it himself; forcing the audience’s attention towards character growth of the hero, over the actual development of the mystery.
Symphony of Destruction is interpreted to have a political message. You take a mortal man,
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. Another example of Oedipus’ presumptuous temperament is when he immediately assumes that Creon is trying to take his power from him. Creon sends Tiresias to Oedipus to help him solve the crime of the plague, and when Tiresias reveals that Oedipus must die in order to save the people of Thebes, Oedipus assumes Creon is trying to take his throne. Creon even tells Oedipus, “…if you think crude, mindless stubbornness such a gift, you’ve lost your sense of balance” (Meyer 1438).
Gioia, Dana, and X.J. Kennedy. "Oedipus the King." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, Compact Edition, Interactive Edition. 5th ed. New York: Pearson; Longman Publishing, 2007. 887-924. Print.
The role of the nurse is diverse and complex, and is not only concerned with the patient’s body, but also their mind and soul. Nurses are not simply trained to perform tasks, but are trained to be professionals who utilize evidence-based practice with a compassionate and empathetic approach to care. These tasks carry a heavy weight and responsibility, and require that we treat all patients with honor, dignity, and respect. While I had a small idea of these things before beginning school, their gravity has become more of a reality in recent weeks. I hope to be a nurse who utilizes evidence-based practice combined with excellent patient-centered care to touch my patient’s lives and care for them in meaningful
Sophocles. “Oedipus the King.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.
Segal, Charles. Oedipus Tyrannus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge. New York: Twayne, 1993.
The ineffaceable impression which Sophocles makes on us today and his imperishable position in the literature of the world are both due to his character-drawing. If we ask which of the men and women ofGreek tragedy have an independent life in the imagination apart from the stage and from the actual plot in which they appear, we must answer, ‘those created by Sophocles, above all others’ (36).
O’Brien, Micheal. “Introduction.” 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 8-10. Print.
A personality is unique to each person, and has developed because of various elements in that person’s life. Theorists have studied personalities and their formation for hundreds of years now, and each theorist has their own view on how a personality is formed, and what affects the growth of that personality.
Students are still bullied, even if they are wearing identical outfits. This is due to the fact that clothing is only one of the many factors that students are bullied over. Students can still be made fun of due to how they look in a school uniform or even the way they wear a uniform provided by the education