Would you kill your father, marry your mother, and father four children with her? The obvious answer here is no. However, in Sophocles famous playwright, Oedipus rex, the protagonist, Oedipus did not have the choice of answering no, for his fate had already been decided. One of the main topics brought up by readers and critics is the question of whether Oedipus Rex was admirable or significantly flawed. Though Oedipus has had his fair share of sins that make him a flawed character such as committing patricide and incest, I believe that his admirable traits such as his sense of justice, love for his family, love for his country and people outshine the darkness controlled by fate. To begin with, Oedipus, unlike many ancient kings and those in …show more content…
Leaving one’s wealth, family, and life behind to start over again in rags is extremely difficult. However, Oedipus did just that when he explained “I heard all this and felt. And from that day Corinth to me was only in the stars descending in that quarter of the sky” (Antistrophe 2 270). Upon hearing the prophecy, Oedipus could have easily dismissed it and continued leading his life of luxury as the heir to Corinth. He was able to choose the right decision given the current circumstances and flee Corinth so as to not cause disturbances to his family and country.After discovering the truth about his crimes and his identity and blinding himself due to his grief, Oedipus again chooses the right thing to do as we learn when the second messenger claims “He is calling for someone to open the doors wide so that all the children of Kadmos may look upon his father’s murderer.and then he will leave Thebes, self exiled.” (Antistrophe 2 65) Oedip for his crimes and his treason. He does not give himself the easy way out when it could very much be arranged as he still held significant influence in Thebes. Instead, he treats his own crimes as how he would when dealing with anybody else’s. Oedipus is never one to shy away from proper punishment for the proper crime, even when it would only devastate himself, this proves …show more content…
In Greek literature, heroes are often times full of pride and self-confidence. Oedipus for one, is no different as he claims “I know you are all deathly sick; and yet, as sick as you are, not one is as sick as I” (Parados 60). In this excerpt from the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is arrogant towards his subjects as he believes their pain from the deadly plague cannot possibly compare to the pain he feels when he sees his citizens suffering and dying. However, Oedipus explains later on, “I was not sleeping, you are not waking me. No, I have been in tears for a long while and my restless thoughts have walked many ways. In my search I found one remedy.” (Parados 70) Here, we can see that though Oedipus’s wording may have made him sound arrogant and with much hubris, he actually means well by his message as he was trying to portray how worried he is for his citizens. Despite the bad execution, Oedipus means well to his country and
As tragic hero Oedipus displays all of the usual canon; power, arrogance, and pride. Oedipus manifests himself in a position of confidence, which he derives from his success at solving the riddle of the Sphinx and marrying a queen.“It was you who came / and released Cadmus’ Town from the tribute / we paid to the cruel songstress…” (Sophocles, 33-35) , “CREON: Then tell me this - / are you not married to my sister?” (Sophocles, 696-697). In turn, it also enabled him to make rash decisions, such as slaying his father, without personal recompense. “I was to slay my father. And he dies, / And the grave hide...
In “Oedipus the King,” an infant’s fate is determined that he will kill his father and marry his mother. To prevent this heartache his parents order a servant to kill the infant. The servant takes pity on the infant and gives him to a fellow shepherd, and the shepherd gives him to a king and queen to raise as their own. The young prince learns of the prophecy and flees from his interim parents because he is afraid that he is going to succeed. The young prince eventually accomplishes his prophecy without even knowing he is doing it. He murders his father and marries his mother unknowingly. While it may seem to some that Oedipus was destined to carry out his fate, it is also true that Oedipus’ personality led him to his fate.
Oedipus becomes a more admirable character by the end of the play then during the prologue of the play. This is because his history is reveled and his fate seems to be less of his fault and more of something that was doomed to happen to him, also by his drive to help the city of Thebes shows that he cares for the city and his ability to accept his fate but to try and help others from suffering.
Even the best leaders have a few flaws. In the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles, he showed that having flaws does not mean a person is a bad leader, it just means they are human and will make mistakes. Oedipus had received a prophecy when he was younger that he would harm his father and sleep with his mother. He left the city of Corinth, to avoid the prophecy and save his parents, and went to rule Thebes. Thebes King had just been murdered and Oedipus was determined to find the prior King’s murderer, but he soon found out he was the murderer. Even though Oedipus may have made mistakes, he was still a great leader. Oedipus would rather hurt himself before he ever hurt his people. When Oedipus realized his wrongful acts,
tells the priest and the suffering people of Thebes. If Oedipus did not care for
Oedipus’ personality clearly reflects pride and determination throughout the play. When Oedipus heard the oracles’ prediction that he was to kill his father and marry his mother, he was determined to prevent the prophecy. Therefore he left his homeland of Corinth never to return. Then when he solved the Sphinx’s riddle, Oedipus’ pride rose to a new level. He was praised by the people of Thebes, resulting in his marriage to Jocasta, Queen of Thebes. Oedipus also shows his determination when in search of Laius’ murderer. He stated that he would avenge the King’s death as if Laius were his own father. He cursed the murderer, announcing “May he drag out an evil death-in-life in misery.” These characteristics of pride and determination, which Oedipus emanates throughout the play, may appear to be positive attributes to one’s personality. However, Oedipus’ actions, based on these characteristics, are what led him to his eventual downfall and suffrage.
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
Initially, Oedipus is a confident leader who believes he is educated and knows the truth about himself and the land he presides over, Thebes. This is because he was proclaimed the most famous man alive as a result of his answering the Sphinx’s riddle to save Thebes from a tragic epidemic. However, at the beginning of the play there is another plague causing grief to the members of Thebes, and Oedipus goes so far as to say that he will stop at nothing to rid Thebes of this pollution. He states, "Each of you grieves for himself alone, while my heart must bear the strain of sorrow for all--myself and you and all our city’s people. No I am not blind to it," (p.4). Yet in essence he is blind to it because he is the indirect cause for the epidemic in Thebes. Oedipus finds out that the cause for the Epidemic is that nobody came forth as an avenger in the murder of King Laius. Oedipus then states, "I shall not cease until I bring the truth to light. Apollo has shown, and you have shown, the duty which we owe the dead," (p.5). This is ironic in that Oedipus vows to make the truth come to light so that everybody can see it, including himself. Moreover, th...
While his intentions were well meaning in the beginning, Oedipus finds himself weighed down by his own flaws. Tragically his flaws cause him to lose focus of his true objectives and damn himself to a life of misery. The tale of Oedipus depicts his rapid descent from Oedipus, savior and king of Thebes to Oedipus Tyrannus the man who slew his father and married his mother. Since Oedipus has so many tragic flaws there is a plethora to choose from. However, if Oedipus’s tragic traits could be described with two words it would be arrogant and imperceptive. First, Oedipus is arrogant. Additionally, Oedipus is imperceptive.
It is impossible to speculate what may have happened to Oedipus had he stayed in Corinth, but it is the attempt to avoid his fate that dooms him to not only to fulfill the prophecy, but to suffer yet greater consequences. To think that he himself has the power to circumvent the prediction from the Oracle of Apollo, shows that he did not feel humbled before Apollo. Punishment for this lack of faith takes the form of the plague which Apollo imposes on Thebes, an eventual consequence of Oedipus’s defiance and hubris towards the him. (The death of Laios at the crossroads, was caused, in part at least, because Oedipus left Corinth. Speculation as to whether Oedipus would have killed him anyway is futile.) The punishment of all of Thebes is infinitely worse than the original prophecy, which involved only Oedipus’ family members.
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...
Oedipus the King tells the tragic story of Oedipus and how Oedipus unwittingly fulfills his prophecy. Oedipus prophecy was that he would murder his father and marry his mother. Oedipus grew up in the kingdom of Corinth where he believed that he was the son of the Kings of Corinth; when Oedipus discovered that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus decides to leave Corinth and try to prevent the prophecy from happening. Unknowingly to him during his escape from his destiny, Oedipus murderers his father and eventually marries his mother and fulfils the prophecy. After reading Oedipus the King I believe that one of the main ideas of Oedipus the King is that Oedipus own tragic flaws lead to the fulfillment of the prophecy and his eventual downfall.
The Odyssey follows the tale of Odysseus and his tribulating journey back to Ithaka to enact revenge on the suitors who have taken over his palace. It is within this journey that the Odyssey represents heroism through Odysseus’ ability to overcome challenges using his physical strengths and mental acuity. On the surface, Odysseus is the embodiment of a hero, he is brave, determined, and cunning. However, upon further analysis, Odysseus is shown to have no regard for human life, is arrogant, and is fundamentally manipulative. My essay will explore the complex nature of what it means to be a hero in the Odyssey, ignoring the conventional meaning of hero by highlighting Odysseus’ flaws and moral obscurity.
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 choices weren't so favorable as Oedipus chooses to kill Laius as well as forcefully publicly assume the mission of discovering the person who killed Laius also he marries Jocasta who he doesn't know is his mother. Then Oedipus proceeds this mission by choosing to ignore Jocasta, the shepherd, the messenger, and anyone who tried to attempt to stand between him and chooses to blind himself from the truth. Oedipus shows himself to be very imperious exceeding the cause of his demise.