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Philosophy of sophocles
The characterisation of Sophocles's king Oedipus
The characterisation of Sophocles's king Oedipus
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A perfect example to use New Criticism or as many would refer to it “close reading” would be Sophocles's Oedipus Rex. This masterpiece is very well-known for the time period it was written in yet we can learn quite a few things about it by looking at the text itself instead of the work as a whole. There are quite a few literary devices that can easily be overlooked while having the background knowledge of the author, setting and time period in mind. By clearing these from our conscience and focusing our attention on the text itself by applying that literary analysis lens we can see that the words and word placement have so much more significance while examining the book this way. Sophocles's demonstrates his idea of fate in his book Oedipus Rex by giving the protagonist the idea that he is in control of his free will but is doomed by the unexpected revelation of the truth in …show more content…
The use of “concrete” examples is what this lens bases it’s analysis on (135). By using this New Criticism lens in the analysis of Sophocles play Oedipus Rex we can make very clear observations on what the author meant as he created this piece of art without having to look at the background information behind the text. The main idea of this lens is that most of the time background information may confuse the reader into thinking that the text means something completely different that what it is. Without using this lens many people will examine all the information at once and overthink or make wild claims regarding the meaning of the actual text. The idea with this lens is to reduce all that fog in the readers head that doesn’t let the reader assume clearly and cut it down to just one thing, the text. We will take a closer look at the analysis of some examples of the book in the next
"Now I've exposed my guilt, horrendous guilt, could I train a level glance on you, my countrymen? No, if I could just block off my ears, the springs of hearing, I would stop at nothing---I'd wall up my own loathsome body like a prison, blind to the sound of life, not just the sigght. Oblivion---what a blessing... for the mind to dwell a world away from pain
Oedipus accuses Creon of plotting with Teiresias in order to overthrow the king, thus resulting in the exile of Creon.
The name “Oedipus” means “swollen feet” in Latinized Greek. His parents, Laius and Jocasta, gave him this name while piercing a metal rod through the ankles of his feet, in order to prevent the fulfilment of the oracle’s prophecy. Despite this heinous act, their efforts were in vain as Oedipus’ free will conquered the theme of fate. In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the tragic hero, Oedipus, demonstrates hamartia, a fatal error in judgement, which brings about his own downfall. It was Oedipus’ hubris that was responsible for the tragic ending of this play. Evidence of this statement occurs when Oedipus’ determination towards solving the mystery behind Laius’ death ironically lead to the truth behind the oracle’s prophecies. Additionally, Oedipus’ overweening pride and ego resulted in the murder of Laius, which was a major stepping-stone in the prophecy. He illustrates his error in judgment through his pride, blindness, and foolishness and therefore is at fault.
The images of vision and blindness are an important part to the theme of ignorance of truth in the play because it relates to why Oedipus blinds himself instead of joining Jocasta in suicide. In the play there were many parts where Oedipus was at the verge of truth and yet he could not see it because of his ignorance even though he had eyes, yet Tiresias who is blind can see clearly of the terrible things that happened and will happen. In the quote said by Oedipus while arguing with Tiresias, “Oh I will let loose, have such fury in me now I see it all. You helped hatch the plot, you did the work, yes, short of killing him with your own hands – and given eyes I’d say you did killing single-handed” (395-397) is ironic because Oedipus said he has given eyes and he accuses of Tiresias did the killing because Oedipus can see things clearly and acknowledges the truth, but in contrast he was blinded by his anger and ignorance when Tiresias accused him of doing it.
Oedipus Rex. A play that enacts the story of a man who’s ignorance, battle with fate over his free will, and his blindness to truth; lead him into his own demise. With so many critical elements in one play, there must be a climax where all of these elements come together and culminate into one key passage.The passage in lines 350-450 accomplishes this. In this passage there are several elements, but there are five significant ones: character development, the theme of: ignorance, fate versus free-will, and blindness to truth are revealed; and there is also foreshadowing of Oedipus’ demise as a result of these elements. The purpose of this essay will be to investigate these elements and establish this passage as a key passage of Oedipus Rex.
Sophocles’ tragic drama, Oedipus Rex, presents to the reader a full range of characters: static and dynamic, flat and round; they are protrayed mostly through the showing technique.
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
As a reader that is using the Reader-Response Criticism, the production of different responses of the text of Oedipus Rex is always different for each reader. The reader needs to examine the words thoroughly in their mind to come to an arguable conclusion. Oedipus has no fault in the actions that he did because he did not know at the moment, but how he tried to resolve things was not the way to go. The feeling I felt while reading the play is pure shock and hatred because of his actions, but he wouldn’t have done those things if he had known the truth. Although Oedipus was trying with all his power to find the culprit of his father, but while doing so, he showed weakness by his attributes, that led to his destiny.
Aristotle is the most influential philosopher in the history of Western thought. A Greek drama by Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, was praised in the Poetics of Aristotle as the model for classical tragedy and is still considered a principal example of the genre. In this essay I will analyze Oedipus Rex using Aristotle's concepts praxis, poiesis, theoria.
In the epic, Oedipus serves as the king of Thebes, who is told by many of a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Also, he will have children who will also be his siblings. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus exemplifies his anger, hubris and status in very specific ways. When Oedipus sends for Tiresias the blind prophet to inform him of what he knows about the murder. Oedipus becomes angry that Tiresias will not tell hi. He goes as far as to blame Tiresias as the cause of the murder. Oedipus suffers from hubris because he feels that he once saved Thebes from Plague before and he can anything now. When Creon comes back from the oracle, he denounces him as a traitor. He continues to show hubris by denying his fate after numerous
Here is a story where Oedipus the King, who has accomplished great things in his life, discovers that the gods were only playing with him. He has everything a man of that time could want; he is king of Thebes, he has a wonderful wife and children, and great fame through out the lands. He has lived a good life, but in the end everything is taken from him.
Sophocles’ tragic drama, Oedipus Rex, presents to the reader a full range of conflicts and their resolution after a climax.
According to Sigmund Freud, one of the biggest blows to man’s narcissism was the psychoanalytic discovery that “the ego is no longer master of its own house.” Human beings naturally define and understand themselves as their individual conscious experience. The idea that an unfamiliar, unconscious part of ourselves is the true leader in command threatens our intuitive concept of free will and undermines the hierarchy in which we invision consciousness to be above the unconscious, and to be much larger and more authoritative. The value of Freud’s notion is that the ego, disguised as the angel on our shoulders, is not the true master of our fate, and there is little else we can do about this but let it be. Freud proposed that there is an entire
Greek Drama had three main categories The Comedy, Satyr Plays, and The Tragedy. The most popular of the three is The Tragedy, its themes are often such as loss of love, complex relationships between men and the gods, and corruption of power. These dramas taught the people of the city the difference between good and bad behavior and the ramifications of going against the gods. According to Aristotle, the perfect tragedy consisted of the downfall of the hero through a great misunderstanding, causing suffering and awareness for the protagonist meanwhile making the audience feel pity and fear. The prominent writer who Aristotle based his perfect tragedy theory was Sophocles, his drama Oedipus the King had all the elements of a perfect tragedy.
Technology is a very helpful tool that should be implanted into all urban and high poverty schools. “Technology is treated as a tool to help accomplish complex tasks (rather than as a subject of study for its own sake) that engage students in extended and cooperative learning experiences that involve multiple disciplines” (Griffin and Holland, 2008). Technology is a good tool to use when accommodating different learning styles. Therefore technology can become a motivator for students to keep them interested in the lesson. Collaborative-team-learning settings aide student with retain formation by implementing technology.