Comparing Oedipus Essays

  • Comparing Ulysses And Oedipus The King

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    Less Is More When comparing Ulysses and Oedipus, many apparent differences can be seen. Both men are kings but view their sovereignty differently. Oedipus likes being king. He cares for his people and “his heart is heavy with the city’s pain, his own, and the people’s pain.” (i.63-34). When he is informed of the reasoning behind the plague in Thebes, Oedipus is determined to stop at nothing until Laius’s killer is avenged and the city is free of its suffering. Meanwhile, Ulysses is rather unhappy

  • Comparing Oedipus Rex and King Lear

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    Comparing Oedipus Rex and King Lear Oedipus Rex and King Lear are, as their titles announce, both about kings. These two plays are similar in theme and in the questions they pose to the audience. The kings in each play both fall from the pinnacle of power to become the most loathed of all classes in society; Oedipus discovers that he is a murderer and committer of incest, and Lear becomes a mad beggar. Misjudgments occur in both plays, and the same questions about the gods, fate, and free will

  • Comparing Oedipus And Othello

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    If Oedipus and Othello were to relive their lives, one could only hope they make better decisions. However, what’s done is done; they both lived destructive lives due to their pride. These characters that have been considered by many people tragic heroes. A commonality between all tragic heroes is that they have a moment of transfiguration, also known as a moment of realization. Oedipus and Othello finally understand they have been blinded by their tragic flaws; they are able to see the damage they

  • Comparing 'Oedipus And Lysistrata'

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    When first examining the Greek plays Oedipus and Lysistrata, the first comparison we could make is that each of them are the main characters in their respective plays. The plays however are very different in context, with Oedipus being a tragedy, and Lysistrata being a comedy. Oedipus and Lysistrata are both revered as very high ranking people in their respective times. As Oedipus is a king, and Lysistrata helps lead the rebellion of the Greek women from the men who wish to have sex with them, which

  • Comparing the Character of Creon in Oedipus and Antigone

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    Comparing the Character of Creon in Oedipus and Antigone Creon does not learn a lesson from Oedipus' accusatory behavior. Instead he adapts this bad personality trait. Throughout Antigone, he accuses everyone who tries to give him advice of betraying him. Whereas, in Oedipus, he is falsely accused by Oedipus of trying to take over the throne. This paper will compare and contrast his behavior and evaluate if he learned anything from one play to the next. Creon was seen in a different context in

  • Comparing Oedipus and Antigone

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sophocles’ play Oedipus and Antigone have many parallel themes and conflicts. Certain characters and events are mirrored and go through similar sequences in both plays. One conflict that is prevalent in both plays is the idea of loyalty. In Oedipus, many are loyal to Oedipus, including the city of Thebes itself. In Antigone, there is much strife in the relationships as well, and the idea of loyalty arises. In the play Antigone, there are many situations in which loyalty is involved, and in some

  • Comparing the Oedipus of Sophocles and Senaca

    1290 Words  | 3 Pages

    Comparing the Oedipus of Sophocles and Senaca The myth of Oedipus is one of a man brought down by forces aligning against him. Over the years, different playwrights have interpreted his character in various fashions. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus is a man who is blind to the path on which his questions take him and exemplifies the typical tyrannical leader in ancient times; in Senaca’s Oedipus, it is the fear of his questions that give Oedipus a greater depth of character, a depth

  • Comparing Othello and Oedipus the King

    1121 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus the King and Othello are both plays in which are known for their dramatic tragedies. Oedipus the King is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed in 429 BC. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, which was written in approximately 1603. These two plays do a profound job at making sure the audience understands the background of the main characters, however, there are minor characters who are just as important. Emilia, Othello’s wife

  • Comparing Oedipus and Job

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    the tragedy Oedipus the King. Conversely, the Story of Job uses the dramatic tension of a "wager" between God and Satan on the sincerity of Job's devotion to God. Where Oedipus' life, regardless of personal choice, is bound up by fated situations and their fated outcomes, Job's story is one of choice in the midst of supernaturally imposed difficulties. While both strive to teach resignation to the will of God, they each espouse quite different attitudes in resignation. In Oedipus The King, Sophocles

  • Comparing Oedipus the King and Everyman

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    Acceptance. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, and the medieval morality play, Everyman, by and anonymous author, both the title characters travel through these stages throughout the plot when they come to meet their fates or misfortunes. Oedipus, when Jocasta re-tells the details of how Laios was murdered, begins his approach to denial. At first, he searches for more and more information that might prove he didn’t really kill his father. This shows the reader that Oedipus seems to know subconsciously

  • Comparing the Fate of Oedipus and Phaedra

    2334 Words  | 5 Pages

    Oedipus' destruction was foretold to his father and mother, Laius and Jocasta, when he was born. It was told to him again when he was a young Corinthian prince, to which he ran from home ("I heard all that and ran" 876). Tiresias tells it to him again during the passage of the Oedipus Rex. The destiny of Oedipus has been laid down, unalterable from the moment he was created. He was fated to marry his mother and kill his father. Phaedra is not controlled by fate. She is possessed by a frivolous deity

  • Comparing The Infernal Machine and Oedipus Rex

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    Comparing The Infernal Machine and Oedipus Rex (the King) The myth of Oedipus’s incest and parricide has been retold many different times. The basic story line has remained the same. Oedipus leaves Corinth to try to escape a fate of incest and parricide. After he leaving the city, he ends up saving Thebes from the Sphinx, becoming king of the city and in the process fulfilling the prophecy. The character of Oedipus changes in each play to help support a different meaning to the entire myth.

  • Comparing Hamlet and Oedipus the King

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    Images of disease dominate Shakespeare's Hamlet as well as Sophocles play, Oedipus the King, Both Hamlet and Oedipus face many problems with death. Hamlet is seeking out the killer of his father as well as Oedipus. They feel that justice hasn't been served properly and they must seek out the killer of their fathers' in order for justice to be served. In both Hamlet and Oedipus the King, there is mass turmoil amongst family relationships, the inner problems they face, and the lack of free will

  • Comparing Antigone and Oedipus The King

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    Compare and contrast the part that the city or state (polis) plays in Antigone and Oedipus The King. Antigone is a play about the tension caused when two individuals have conflicting claims regarding law. In this case, the moral superiority of the laws of the city, represented by Creon, and the laws of the gods, represented bt Antigone. In contrast, Oedipus The King is driven by the tensions within Oedipus himself. That play both begins and concludes within the public domain, the plot being driven

  • Comparing the Tragedies of Hamlet, Oedipus the King, and Death of a Salesman

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    Comparing the Tragedies of Hamlet, Oedipus the King, and Death of a Salesman The tragedies Hamlet, Oedipus the King, and Death of a Salesman have strikingly different plots and characters; however, each play shares common elements in its resolution. The events in the plays’ closings derive from a tragic flaw possessed by the protagonist in each play. The downfall of each protagonist is caused by his inability to effectively cope with his tragic flaw. The various similarities in the closing

  • Comparing Grendel and Oedipus Rex

    2796 Words  | 6 Pages

    between Grendel and Oedipus Rex A messenger hurriedly arrives at a palace to tell king Oedipus, that his father, Polybus, the king of another town, has died at an old age of natural causes. The message's receptor and his queen, therefore, assume that Oedipus has escaped his fate as told by the oracle at Delphi that he should murder his father and marry his mother. There is reprieve of worry until it is revealed that the man who died was merely Oedipus' adoptive father and that Oedipus had indeed once

  • Comparing A Doll's House and Oedipus Rex

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    Comparing A Doll's House and Oedipus Rex Ibsen's drama "A Doll's House", serves as an example of the kind of issue-based drama that distinguishes Ibsen from many of his contemporaries. The play's dialogue is not poetic, but very naturalistic, and the characters are recognizable people. Given the sense of modernity which the play possesses it seems unusual to compare it to a Greek tragedy produced more than two-thousand years previously. On closer examination however, there are certain

  • Comparing the Tragic Flaws of Macbeth and Oedipus

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tragic Flaw(s) of Macbeth and Oedipus Macbeth visualized himself as a forceful, powerful ruler who begins the trilogy in absolute control of the situation. As the story progresses, however , Macbeths’ power and pride are broken down because he made it his destiny. As for Oedipus, he was a pitiful man who has been crushed by the avenging gods and fate. He seems to be a wiser, soberer man, rising majestically above his misfortunes. When Oedipus the king begins, Oedipus exhibits wisdom, love for his

  • Comparing Hubris in Antigone and Oedipus

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hubris in Antigone and Oedipus The idea of hubris is monumental in a plethora of Greek mythological works. In many ways the excessive pride of certain characters fuels their own destruction. This is certainly true with respect to the characters of Pentheus, Antigone, and Oedipus. All three of these characters demonstrate, through their actions, various degrees of arrogance that seem to undercut the traditional role of the Gods, and thus largely contribute to their downfall. However, it should

  • Comparing the Strategy of a Runner with that of King Oedipus of Oedipus Rex and Creon of Antigone

    1872 Words  | 4 Pages

    Comparing the Strategy of a Runner with that of King Oedipus of Oedipus Rex and Creon of Antigone A runner must use a strategy that is specific to that style of racing. If a distance runner attempts to apply pacing to a short sprint he has lost the race before approaching the start. Although racing strategies differ between every individual race it is possible to associate some basic strategies used in particular types of races. These techniques are common amongst the runners of a particular