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Philosophy of sophocles
The characterisation of Sophocles's king Oedipus
Make a comparative analysis of the characters of king oedipus in sophocles play
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Oedipus The King is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles warning about the dangers of arrogance and power, as well as the power of fate and the Gods. Oedipus is the tragic hero of the plot who was destined from birth to kill his father and marry his mother, which prompts his parents, the King and Queen of Thebes, to send him to the mountainside to die. However, the King and Queen of Corinth save him from death. As a man, he returns to Thebes, in order to not fulfill the prophecy against his parents, but he does not know about his origins. On his way to Thebes he kills a man, and at Thebes he solves the riddle of the Sphinx which earns him the title of King and marries the queen. When the murder mystery of the previous king, King Laius, resurfaces, it is discovered the Oedipus killed King Laius without knowing he was king or his father and married his mother, this fulfilling the prophecy. Full of misery and guilt, the queen Jocasta, commits suicide and Oedipus blinds himself. Due to Oedipus’ excessive hubris, he creates his own misery throughout the play and his downfall. The notion of hubris is introduced when Oedipus reopens the murder case of King Laius, followed by his blindness to the truth, and the end of his reign and banishment from Thebes. …show more content…
Through Oedipus’ mistakes, the audience grows cautious of their own traits of hubris and its negative effects in their lives. Light versus darkness is a major theme of the play, which is compared through the ability to see and being blind. Having able eyes does not mean one can see the truth, nor does being blind mean one is oblivious to the truth. The importance of being honest is crucial to the equilibrium and peace of the world, as other characters besides Oedipus, such as Jocasta, and King Laius, would have avoided fatal ends if they said the truth. The characters’ mortal fates are the last, but strongest reminders of the impact hubris on human
Oedipus Rex is a Greek play written by Sophocles. The play is set in Thebes; Thebes is infected with a plague that is killing its crops and unborn children. This plague is caused by the prophecy. The prophecy states that Oedipus would kill his father and wed his mother. Laius threw out Oedipus when he was a baby to avoid this fate, but he failed because Oedipus was not killed. Oedipus was raised as a prince in Corinth. One day he was told the prophecy and feared that he would kill his father Polybus. While running away from Corinth to escape the prophecy, Oedipus killed Laius. When Oedipus arrived in Thebes, he freed the people from the sphinx. He was named king and married Jocasta. Towards the end of the play, Oedipus finds out that he had fulfilled the prophecy and is exiled from Thebes.
"You have your eyes but see not where you are in sin, nor where you live, nor whom you
In Sophocles’ work, Oedipus the King, Oedipus definitely fits Aristotle’s meaning of a tragic hero which is a man of honorable importance. He is not a usual man, but a man with outstanding superiority and immensity about himself. A man of his own ruins goes for a greater cause or principle. Oedipus conveys many mistakes. In the play Oedipus the King, things really had taken a turn from good to bad. Using Aristotle’s meaning defines will be proven that Oedipus is a 1main example of a tragic hero Nobleness, Tragic flaw, and Hardship are all characteristics that Aristotle described as to what a tragic hero really define as. These are also four features Oedipus proves his well- being of a catastrophic hero.
In Sophocles' "Oedipus the King" which is a tragic play, which discusses the tragic discovery that Oedipus has killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus is the embodiment of the perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Oedipus gained the rule of Thebes by answering the riddle of The Sphinx. Sophocles used the riddle of The Sphinx as a metaphor for the 3 phases of Oedipus' life and to further characterized him as a tragic hero.
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is depicted as a morally ambiguous character; neither purely evil or purely good. Oedipus runs from his fate initially to prevent himself from pursuing what he believed was his fate; however, he is lead straight towards his real fate. He kills his biological father as he is headed to Thebes, where he takes the throne. Once he has taken the throne, he begins to try and save his city from the plague by looking for the murder of king Laius. However, what he does not know is that the prophet has told him who has slew the king; therefore, he presents his ignorance as a leader. Not only does his ignorance create the flawed character inside himself, but it also causes him to run from his fate. The significance of Oedipus being a morally ambiguous character is that he cannot run from his fate
It seems as if the classical works are replete with dysfunctional families. Oedipus the King is no exception. If the core of a society is found in the nuclear family, then it may be sensible to assume that the Greeks were maligned at the center. On the other hand, they may have been the pinnacle of familial honor if they rooted out their most devious and dangerous escapades in the theater rather than the commons. Whatever the interpretation, there may be value in seeking greater understanding of these people and the meanings of their theatrical themes. One way to gain insight on these matters is to consult one of the greatest critics of ancient times. Aristotle made an interesting commentary about Oedipus the King. He branded the main character of the play a tragic hero. Perhaps, there is more to Oedipus and his tragic story than meets the eye.
In “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, Oedipus, the king of Thebes finds out that he kills his father and that his wife is his mother. Oedipus is very concerned for his kingdom and his people. He wants to “drive the corruption from the land” (Sophocles 109) by finding Laius’s murderer and killing him. Through his curiosity, Oedipus finds out that the man he kills long ago is Laius, who is his father, and that his wife is his mother—all in accordance with Oedipus’ prophecy. After coming on this realization as well, Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife, commits suicide, and Oedipus gouges out his eyes as a result of this. In his search for the murderer, Oedipus strives to be a fair king. Ironically, he often is not fair to the people he sees or things that are essential to him. This play demonstrates the theme of justice through Oedipus’ denial of justice in three situations—Oedipus’ meeting with Tiresias, Oedipus’ gouging out of his eyes, and Creon’s asking of Oedipus to adjudicate fairly
He is blind from the truth even though he has physical insight. A fellow Theban, Tiresias knows the truth, but even when he told Oedipus that he was the murderer of his King Laius, he refused to believe it. Oedipus refuses to believe anything he was told because he believes that he ran away from his true fate. Without knowing anything about his real father or mother, he ends up fulfilling the prophecy. He kills his father, Laius and married his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus displays his arrogance many times throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, he says “Yes, I whom men call Oedipus the great” (Sophocles 23), showing a sign of his arrogance. Oedipus shows off his arrogance again by saying that everyone should know him because of the deed he has done (Sophocles 33). He saved them the Sphinx and gained an enormous amount of confidence because of it and also because he was rewarded the Queens hand in marriage. Oedipus once again shows his arrogance when he tells the people of the Thebes that he can find the murderer of Laius on his own without any help (Sophocles 28). The irony of Oedipus’s hubris is that he even determines what his downfall will look like: “That man, whoever that man be, I, this country’s reigning king, cut off from every fellowship of speech and contact, sacrifice and sacrament, even ritual touch of water, in this realm” (Sophocles 32). Oedipus’s downfall can only be blamed on him because of his
There is overwhelming evidence corroborating the notion that the perplexity as well as bewilderment underlying man’s destiny along with his deeds is what may qualify Sophocles “Oedipus” as a real human tragedy in the sense that the whole story is about mysterious and enigmatic inquiries about truth as well as human tragedy.
This essay will illustrate the types of characters depicted in Sophocles’ tragic drama, Oedipus Rex, whether static or dynamic, flat or round, and whether protrayed through the showing or telling technique.
Oedipus did not have a fair start in life. His father, Laius, heard prophecy that Oedipus would one day kill his father and sleep with his mother. In order to prevent this, Laius gave Oedipus to a shepherd to be killed. Fortunately, through a string of events, Oedipus's life was saved, and he even went on to become the honored king of Thebes. Despite this feat, Oedipus still managed to make several decisions that ultimately fulfilled the original prophecy told to Laius, and inevitably sealed Oedipus?s fate.
“Which animal has one voice, but two, three or four feet being slowest on three?” This riddle was said by the monster Sphinx to all who wanted to enter into Thebes. She destroyed all that could not solve her riddle (Willson). Oedipus, whose life seemed to be controlled by fate, answered correctly. His life was one of tragedy and disaster. He is now the patron of philosophers, scientists, poets, artists, and of all truth-seekers (Wilson).
Oedipus is motivated by his desire to know the full truth which unfortunately leads to him learning that his terrible fate has been fulfilled and he loses everything he holds dear. In the beginning of Oedipus Rex, the audience sees that Thebes is suffering a terrible plague. Oedipus, being crowned King after his defeat of the Sphinx, desires to save his city from the plague and restore it into a place of peace and stability. Creon tells Oedipus that the oracle said that Thebes is cursed because the murderer of Laos still lives in Thebes unpunished. Oedipus is determined to find the murder of Laos and He saved Thebes once from the Sphinx and he wants to be hero of Thebes again. He could go down in history as the great Oedipus who redeemed Thebes from a plague and saved the citizens from the Sphinx. At first he thinks of himself as almost equal to the gods in greatness. Jocasta tries to calm Oedipus down, telling him that her son was prophesized to kill her husband, but the child was killed so he could not. Oedipus, however, is still haunted by his fate. As a result, he seeks out the knowledge of the blind seer Teirisius and later the knowledge of the Shepherd. However, from the information from Teirisius and the Sheperd Oedipus finds that he could not outrun his fate. He had children with his mother and had murdered Laos. John Green says, "the irony is that the one who saved Thebes is the one destroying it." Oedipus goes from being a great hero and respected king to being disgraced and condemned. All his glory and honor turns into suffering and ruin. He feels "deserted by the gods" (Sophocles 71) and is weak. This is like how Caesar goes against the warnings of his own wife, the soothsayer, and Artemidoris in order to not look we...
The play, Oedipus Rex, expresses the two themes of fate and persistence throughout the plot. The play was written by Sophocles in the Greek era. Oedipus Rex is included in what is known as the Oedipus collection of plays. These plays were performed in Greek theaters around 420 BC and beyond. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_the_King). Throughout the story, fate and the choices that Oedipus makes allows him to change into a new person by the end of the story. The themes of fate and persistence play a large role in the outcome of the play.
The ancient story documented in the writing Oedipus Tyrannus by Sophocles follows the story of a clever and strong hero who has tragedy befall him. He is fated to kill his father and marry his mother as a result of his father not heeding a warning from the gods. Upon discovering this, Oedipus blinds himself in excruciating guilt, to cut off his senses from the world around him. This guilt is not deserved by Oedipus because he committed the heinous crimes unwittingly he thus, making him innocent of the actions that spurn on the tragic events that occur. While Oedipus possesses some character flaws, they were not conducive to the tragedies that transpire. Rather, he is a heroic and just man who suffers for no fault of his own because of a curse