King Parpus: A Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King

956 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The characterisation of Sophocles's king Oedipus

Some perceive Oedipus, in Oedipus the King, to be an evil villain, while others a completely innocent man who is plagued by fate. Sophocles, however, desired to portray Oedipus as a mix between the two- as a tragic hero. According to Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus fits the criteria of a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, Oedipus is a tragic hero because he vigorously protests his situation, believes he has his own freedom and has a supreme pride. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus continually protests the idea that he is subjected to a prophecy. He avoids taking responsibility for the murder of Laius because he fears that he has lost to fate and so he diverts the blame of the murder on others. Oedipus protests his fate since he originally learned Oedipus is cursed by a terrible change in fortune when he goes from believing that his “father’s death has lightened up the scene” (52) to realizing that Polybus is not his father and, in reality, he has killed his father and then that he has had children with his mother. Oedipus goes from believing he is finally free from his cursed fate to suddenly realizing his treachery; this dramatic turn of fortune leads Oedipus in undergoing a severe transfiguration. In his transformation, Oedipus who was once supremely prideful and confident becomes a man “deluded, lost and damned” (60), “that deepest damned and god-detested man” (73). Oedipus sees himself as a “monster” (73) and blinds himself in shame. Oedipus is changed from a revered king to a sinful outcast. The audience fears this impending change of fortune and pities Oedipus after his grotesque transformation. Instead of blaming his actions on ignorance, which would likely have been a somewhat acceptable response to his people, he self-inflicts a punishment that is far too severe. In blinding and condemning himself an abominable exile, Oedipus impacts the audience and his country by evoking a sense of pity within them. “Oh, the pity and the horror!” (71) the Chorus cries, summarizing the emotions that Oedipus’ turmoil A tragic hero is one with a supreme pride, yet has an unfaltering sense of commitment and is a good man overall. A tragic hero has the capacity to suffer and, because of an error in judgment, will experience a dramatic transformation that evokes a profound pity. This is a tragic hero and based on this conception, Oedipus is an evident

Show More
Related

  • The Tragic Hero In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Aristotle, Oedipus in Sophocles's play, Oedipus the King, would be considered a tragic hero. Oedipus is considered a tragic hero not only because he made the mistake of killing Laius, because he ends up exiling himself from his own city. At the end of Sophocles’s play Oedipus eventually reaches an all time low. This downfall is caused by him discovering what negative things he has done to his family and to his city. This downfall was caused by Apollo, the Greek god of Prophecy. Apollo is the cause of the downfall because it is proven many times in the play that you can’t control your own destiny which ultimately means that Oedipus’s fate was already written out for him by the

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: Narcissistic Oedipus

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Extended Metaphors In Oedipus Rex

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus is a tragic hero being that he was a king who had a high position in his community to a person who wished to be released from the city forever. Oedipus says " Cast me out as quickly as you can, away from Thebes, to a place where no one, no living human being, will cross my path" (Sophocles ll. 1697-1699). Oedipus was once a person who citizens looked to for answers to problems, and a person who had control over a whole city. To a person who wished to be banished from a new king of Thebes. The use of tragic hero in the story shows a slow slope of not only his position as king, but a man who loses his family and gains information about his real identity. Sending him to his

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: The Tragic Flaws Of Oedipus

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Self-Deception In Oedipus The King

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    What would you do if someone told you you would end up killing your father and marrying your mother when you grow up? You would do anything to keep that from happening, wouldn’t you? Oedipus did in Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Unfortunately, Oedipus fails in avoiding his fate. Faced with a choice between pursuing the truth which everyone tells him would lead to his destruction or accepting a life without knowing any better, Oedipus chooses self-knowledge over self-deception. This makes Oedipus a perfect example of a tragic hero. In Greek drama, a tragic hero is a protagonist of a noble birth who possesses a tragic flaw that leads to his down fall but shows the courage to accept responsibility for his own actions.

    Read More

  • Sacrifice In Sophocles Oedipus The King

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the reader finds Oedipus as an overzealous king, but one that cares deeply for the people who are under his rule. After solving the mystery of the Sphinx and under the belief that he has escaped the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother, Oedipus’ self-confidence goes into over drive. His compassion, for the pain and suffering his people are under, causes him to pronounce a curse on the murderer of Laius. Unknown to the king, he is condemning himself for the crime he committed years ago.

    Read More

  • Philosophy: Oedipus and Aristotle

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through Aristotle’s specific definition of a tragic hero, it can be concluded that Oedipus is a tragic hero. Oedipus The King was written by a well-known tragic dramatist named Sophocles. This story is considered to be one of the greatest tragedies of all time. In fact, the Marjorie Barstow of the Classical Weekly says that it “fulfills the function of a tragedy, and arouses fear and pity in the highest degree” (Barstow). It is also very controversial because of the relationship that Oedipus has with his mother, although it was unknown at the time that they were related. The qualifications of a tragic hero, according to Aristotle, include coming from a royal family and falling from power due to actions that only the protagonist can take responsibility for. The main character must also have a tragic flaw, which is defined as a “weakness in character” (Gioia). There have been many protagonists in other plays that represent a tragic hero, but none exemplify Aristotle’s tragic hero traits quite as well as Oedipus does because of many reasons including his royal history, his tragic flaw, his hamartia, and his his fall from power.

    Read More

  • Oedipus Rex

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus is a hero, as defined by Johnston. According to Johnston, ‘a hero is someone who confronts fate in a very personal manner and whose reaction to that encounter serves to illuminate for us our own particular condition’ (Johnston, Part 2). Oedipus definitely confronts fate in a personal manner. Among other things, he challenges the mysterious qualities of fate by pursuing the Shepherd despite warnings from Jocasta (Sophocles, 71). Oedipus follows through on confronting fate with his individual approach of uncompromising persistence and integrity (Johnston, Part 3). Even at the end of his downfall, Oedipus maintains that Kreon should banish him and that he must obey the curses he himself ordered for the murderer of King Laios (Sophocles, 89-90). Despite being so broken and publicly shamed, Oedipus still persists with his former way of interacting with fate : noble defiance (Johnston, Part 3). Although this quality itself is admirable, Oedipus takes uncompromising to the extreme, losing insight on everything else. Oedipus becomes ignorant to his surroundings, leading to his downfall (Johnston, Part 3). Oedipus’ story also challenges the fundamental belief that life should be rational and just. (Johnston, Part 3) His story illuminates that fate is arbitrarily cruel and will sometimes pick the gre...

    Read More

  • The Hubris of Oedipus in Oedipus the King

    1857 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, Oedipus’s pride, or hubris was the tragic flaw throughout the play that ultimately led him to the state he finds himself in at the end of the play. As John Weigel puts it “The play is not a tragedy of fate. Not only does the protagonist act freely, but his own character is essential to events. The oracles set in motion a group of free mortals whose encounters are governed partly by their own choices, partly by apparent chance. As so often, causes seem to be both divine and human. “ (Weigel, p. 731) However, Oedipus is still a tragic hero because he eventually becomes aware of his faults (after great loss) and accepts responsibility for his actions.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King as a Tragedy

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus Rex qualifies as a tragedy. It fits all the characteristics as defined by Aristotle. The tragic hero of a play is a man of some social standing and personal reputation, but sufficiently like ourselves in terms of his weaknesses that we feel fear and pity when a tragic flaw, rather than an associate, causes his downfall. Oedipus is the tragic hero in this play for many reasons. Even though he does not know it, he fulfills the oracle's prophecy by killing his father, Laius, and then sleeping with his mother, Jocasta. His father was just a tragic mistake. Oedipus thought that the person he killed was just a random person that was harassing him.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Oedipus of Sophocles and Senaca

    1290 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 he must overcome if he is to survive his ordeal.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King as a Tragic Hero

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    In fact, every feature in the definition of the tragic hero can be applied to the character of Oedipus. First, he is a good man. He made a virtuous service to Thebes and save the city by solving the riddle of Sphinx. In addition, he is good king and he can feel the suffering of his people because of the plague. He tells them "each one of you is enclosed to himself" he tells them that his suffering is greater than ...

    Read More

  • Oedipus As A Tragic Hero

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    When it comes to the history of drama, Sophocles’ Oedipus is the king of all tragic heroes. From killing his own father and marrying his own mother, Oedipus’s tragic downfall leaves the reader emotionally scarred for life. Yet he still holds on to his morality and prevails over it all. Famous Greek philosopher Aristotle defines what a tragic hero is, and Oedipus fits it perfectly. Oedipus is a true embodiment of Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero through his ability to preserve his virtue and wisdom, despite his flaws and predicament.

    Read More

  • The Tragedy of “Oedipus the King”

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tragic hero is a character of noble stature and has greatness but is triggered by some error and causes the hero’s downfall. Oedipus is the tragic hero of “Oedipus the king”. Oedipus has a noble stature and has greatness. From the beginning of the story Oedipus is shown as a noble caring man. He is greatly worried about the plague in Thebes “but my spirit grieves for the city, for myself and all of you” (75-76) he tell the priest and his people of Thebes. If Oedipus didn’t care for his kingdom, he wouldn’t have tried to seek out who was Laius murderer. Oedipus solves the riddle of the sphinx. By solving the riddle the people of Thebes respected Oedipus because he had saved the city from the sphinx. The priest prays to Oedipus rating him “first of men” (41). Solving the riddle of the sphinx “not knowing nothing, no skill, no extra knowledge”, (46-47) he triumphed. By solving the riddle Oedipus became grand and short tempered and these characteristics brought him to his downfall. He is too proud to see any truths and he refuses to believe that he killed Laius his own father and married his own mother Jocasta. Tiresias, the servant of Apollo, is being called a lair after he told Oedipus that he was the one that killed his father. Oedipus refuses to believe that he could have been responsible for such horrible crime. He tells Tiresias that “envy lurks inside you” (435) and he thinks Creon sent Tiresias to try and overthrow him. Oedipus just accus...

    Read More

  • Tragedy In Oedipus The King, The Tragic Hero

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus is depicted as a “marionette in the hands of a daemonic power”(pg150), but like all tragic hero’s he fights and struggles against fate even when the odds are against him. His most tragic flaw is his morality, as he struggles between the good and the evil of his life. The good is that he was pitied by the Shepard who saved him from death as a baby. The evil is his fate, where he is to kill his father and marry his mother. His hubris or excessive pride and self-righteousness are the lead causes to his downfall. Oedipus is a tragic hero who suffers the consequences of his immoral actions, and must learn from these mistakes. This Aristotelian theory of tragedy exists today, as an example of what happens when men and women that fall from high positions politically and socially.

    Read More

More about King Parpus: A Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King

Open Document