Thesis: The completion and substance of Oedipus Rex allows Oedipus to live grief-stricken throughout his successful search for justice.
Hard truth is uncomfortable to deal with; some cope with it with the approach of denial and anger. Oedipus approaches his truth of Laius’s murder and Apollo’s prophecy with denial. In the beginning of the text, an explanation is presented of how Thebes must “drive out a killer” in order to purge the city of the plague (99). Oedipus sets on a quest that includes Tiresias’s baffling words. Tiresias confronts Oedipus with [Oedipus’s] truth by revealing he is the murderer of Laius and “pollutes the land” (352). Oedipus is also bound by Apollo’s prophecy; his [Oedipus] fate is sealed (377). Oedipus displays his denial by refusing that he is the murderer and placing the blame on Creon. Denial is
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When Jocasta enters the play, the subject of Laius’s murder is heavily discussed. Oedipus’s denial suddenly tries to catch up to him (726-727). However, throughout explaining everything to Jocasta, his denial still prevails by claiming he couldn 't be the murderer (843-848). Throughout both displays of denial (the beginning and Laius’s murder), the text is deeply furthered. His denial furthers the plot and is focused on heavily throughout the text. In addition to denial, Oedipus approaches his truth with anger that mirrors fear. Oedipus acts out his anger by attacking Tiresias. The more Tiresias talks and confronts Oedipus about [Oedipus]’s truth, the angrier Oedipus became (334-336). Oedipus’s anger quickly starts as soon as Tiresias starts speaking. Tiresias warns Oedipus of his truth from the beginning of their conversation. He [Tiresias] claims that wisdom was “dreadful when it brings no gain” (316-317). However, Oedipus does not heed his [Tiresias] warning. He verbally attacks Tiresias by preying on Tiresias’s blindness
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).
However, that one trait did not alone take away his position of high authority. Oedipus displayed anger throughout the whole story, which did not help him at all. During the story, we learn of Oedipus' anger as he knocked a passerby at the meeting of the three highways; "I struck him in my rage". Later, this passerby whom he angrily and quickly killed, was revealed to be Laios, Oedipus' father. Oedipus' anger also quickly shifted his judgment of Teiresias. "We are in your [Teiresias] hands. There is no fairer duty", Oedipus' respect for Teiresias quickly changed as Teiresias refused to tell of what was the trouble's cause. Oedipus began claiming that "Creon has brought this decrepit fortune teller" to mean that Teiresias was thought of as a traitor in Oedipus' thinking. Oedipus' anger is also shown as he begins to insult Teiresias by calling him a "wicked old man". Oedipus' anger throughout the beginning of the play hindered himself.
Sophocles’s Oedipus has a greater pride that is constantly setting off his temper. From the very beginning when he accuses Creon, the brother of the queen of Thebes, of plotting against him he lashes out and threatens that he would kill him and not just banish him. This temper lasts throughout the play even towards the end. In a way both characters have the same temper, however Cocteau only sh...
This shows his compassion and determination for the city, and that the people of Thebes believe in him to save the city. As the story moves on, his short temper is revealed. Tiresias won’t tell him the truth so Oedipus taunts in for being blind showing Oedipus true colors. Oedipus believes that Tiresias knows more than he is saying; Oedipus is using him as a witness to the murder and looking for clues to solve the crime. “For the love of god, don’t turn away, not if you know something.
Oedipus is the son of the king and queen of Thebes. A prophet tells the king and queen that his son will kill him. This causes the king and queen to become worried of the possibilities so they decide to kill their son in order to prevent the predictions of the prophet from becoming true. However, Oedipus did not die and instead was rescued and eventually adopted. As time progresses Oedipus is told that he will kill his father and this frightens Oedipus so he decides to get as far as possible from his parents. During Oedipus’s journey he stumbles upon his biological father and he was unable to control his anger so he killed his father. As time goes on he eventually marries the queen of Thebes also known as his mom. He found out that her husband was killed a long time ago so Oedipus decided to investigate. A prophet tells Oedipus that he was the one that killed the king who was his father. Oedipus is angered and is told to stop trying to solve the mystery. Oedipus eventually discovers that what the prophet told him was true and is angered. He eventually meets his end. In this case Oedipus’s biggest flaw is his anger. His anger eventually causes him to face defeat. “Who would not feel his temper rise at words like these with which you shame our city” (Sophocles 1572). The quote comes directly from a conversation he was having with the prophet that told him he was
In Oedipus the King, Sophocles suggests that the impact of seeing the truth is harmful rather than enlightening. Whenever Oedipus strives to discover more to strengthen Thebes’ perspective of him, it leads him closer to his fate as determined by prophesy. Tiresias stands as a model in the play for the individual who is able to see the meaning beyond plot of events although his is blind, and Oedipus represents the oblivious arrogant individual who is never content because they need to be the unsurpassed individual. In the play, Sophocles illustrates the downside of a personality like Oedipus who desires to see the truth by ending the play with the brutality of gouging out his own eyes. Ultimately, the play reinforces that seeing the truth is harmful and being content with what you have, without greedily striving for more, can help avoid fate and a related deposition.
Two of the minor tragic flaws that lead to Oedipus downfall were his arrogance and short temper. Trough out the book we are able to see how Oedipus humiliates and gets into arguments with the people that telling him the truth about his real parents and that are trying to help him to find the “unknown”
Oedipus had a very short temper. Oedipus did not want to hear what Tiresias had to say after he begged him to tell him all that he knew. "Am I to listen to such things from him! May you be damned! Get out of here at once! Turn around and go!" (Literature, Oedipus the King, Ln. 434-436, page 1085) Oedipus went into a rage when Tiresias told him about the evils that Oedipus was living with.
O’Brien, Micheal. “Introduction.” 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 8-10. Print.
Oedipus is stubborn thought he was going to be betrayed by Creon. Oedipus confronted Creon that he was going to banish him, which Creon responded “It is not right to adjudge bad men good at random, or good men bad” it is not right to assume that a bad men is good and that good men bad at any time he/she encounters him/her (Sophocles 142). Creon explains that you must get to know someone before you can tell what they are. As time goes on, you can tell what they are and not on rash judgement.Their character is not completely shown until after a while. Creon was not the only person Oedipus judged, Oedipus also judges Tiresias. Tiresias, being blind and a godly figure, was summoned to Thebes and was there to expose the murder of Laius. He confesses to Oedipus that he was the killer and that he was the one that murder Laius. Oedipus does not handle the situation and tells Tiresias that “there is not strength, since you are maimed in ear and in wit and in eyes” that Tiresias is weak because he is injured in the ear and has no eyesight (Sophocles 136). Oedipus attacks the man verbally for his disabilities instead of getting to know more about the truth. Judging Tiresias cause him many tenses hardships. His judgement resulted in him being blind at the end. Oedipus finds out the truth and was aware that Tiresias was right. Oedipus judge Creon and Tiresias before getting to know them and this resulted in his
In this essay of Oedipus Rex there are four characteristics I will discuss. The first
(Aristotle, 15). The impetus for the downfall of Oedipus, "known far and wide by name" (Sophocles, 1), is his anger. Enraged he slew King Laius, and in anger he hastily pursued his own ruination. From the aforementioned recriminations of Tiresias to the conflict with his brother-in-law Creon (his ill temper again displayed - "Tempers such as yours most grievous to their own selves to bear,. . Sophocles, 25; through the revealing exchanges with his wife/mother Jocasta and her slave (whose pity saved the infant Oedipus), damming insight grows in a logical sequence, all the while fueled by the Oedipal rage.
The priests of Thebes have come to Oedipus to stop the plague that is killing the people of Thebes. They revere him for his knowledge, since he solved the riddle of the Sphix many years before and became the king. As the reader is introduced to Oedipus, they are given many facts about his life so that they become familiar with this man who has done great things. But Oedipus learns from his brother-in-law, Creon who he had sent to Delphi, that Apollo has placed this plague upon Thebes until they "Drive the corruption from the land, don't harbor it any longer, past all cure, don't nurse it in your soil - root it out!" ¹ Oedipus swears an oath before the priests and the chorus (which represents all people of Thebes) that the murderer would be found and driven from the land.
...if the prophecies he has been hearing are true too. Although Jocasta told him that he is not the murderer, he doesn’t want to take any chances. Oedipus knows that there is a possibility that he is the man that he was looking for the entire time. This is because he states “I am afraid, Jocasta, that I have said too much that’s why I want to see this man.”(44). Oedipus also realizes that his pride, dignity and ego brought him to the situation that he is in right now.
Oedipus and Tiresias, characters of Sophocles' play "Oedipus Tyrannus," are propelled to their individual destinies by their peculiar relationships with truth. Paranoid and quick to anger Oedipus, is markedly different from the confident and self-assured Tiresias. In the dialogue between the two men, Oedipus rapidly progresses from praise of Tiresias as a champion and protector of Thebes in line 304, to blatantly accusing the blind prophet of betraying the city in line 331, to angrily insulting him in line 334. Rather than be intimidated by the protagonist's title and temperament, Tiresias draws strength from what he knows is true and is able to stand his ground.