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Themes and structure of king oedipus
Character analysis of the character oedipus
Oedipus the King Explanation of important passages
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Thebes— The Thebans have dealt with misery and devastation before, but none compares to what happened to their beloved king, Oedipus. Oedipus, the clever man who once solved the lingering riddle of the Sphinx, was now a blind, old man, with his reputation tarnished.The once prosperous king, was left in exile, after he realized the mistakes he had made. What was meant to be, cannot be changed even by a king of his level. He went from hero to zero due to his high arrogance and hubris. In the rare Golden Ages of Thebes, king Oedipus was running his kingdom smoothly, with no worry in the world. The people looked up to him, as he saved the kingdom once from the Sphinx, they looked at him as a savior. Oedipus was unlike any king, as he did what …show more content…
It also caused women to become infertile, potentially wiping out generation of Thebans. The people believed in their king, as he asserted to end the disease. This began the dark ages for Oedipus and his kingdom. He sent his uncle, Creon, to the Oracle at Delphi, seeking guidance. When Creon returned, Oedipus learned that the murderer of the former King Laius must be brought to justice. The persistence in Oedipus contributed to the downfall of the king. Oedipus was to receive guidance from the widely respected blind prophet, Tiresias. He proposed that the only way the plague will die out is if the murderer of King Laius is given the punishment he deserves, Tiresias, who warned him not to seek Laius' killer as it would lead to fatal consequences. He also mention that Oedipus was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Based off the situation, Oedipus was keen on finding the killer due to his intense hubris. In a heated argument, Tiresias spilled the beans, and told Oedipus that in fact he was the killer. This outraged the king as he accused both Teiresias and Creon of conspiring. Though, in the end Oedipus would realize his own
Oedipus the King conveys many lessons that are relevant to people living today despite the fact that it was written by Sophocles twenty four centuries ago. Oedipus is a child destined to kill his father and marry his mother. During his life, he makes many mistakes trying to avoid his fate. These mistakes teach us about the nature of humans under certain circumstances. Oedipus possesses personality traits which causes him to make wrong decisions. Attributes like arrogance and his inability to make calm decisions in certain scenarios due to his anger causes his downfall. Oedipus’ excessive pride, like many people today, was an important factor that brought him grief. Oedipus’ lack of patience caused him to make hasty decisions which lead him to his greatest agony. Oedipus’ massive ego turned into excessive vanity, this was the first step to his downfall. Oedipus talks to Creon about the murderer of Laius. He declares, “Then I’ll go back and drag that shadowed past to light… but by myself and for myself I’ll break this plague” (Sophocles, 11). Oedipus is saying that he will be the on...
Oedipus goes through denial and then separates himself through self-examination. Although warned to refrain from the search by his wife/mother, Jocasta, Oedipus continues to seek out the truth. This truth seeking leads to the transformation where Oedipus realizes that he is responsible. He had killed his father (although at the time he did not know Laius was his father) and married his mother (he did not know this either), thereby causing the plague. This realization was too much for Jocasta to bear, and so she committed suicide.
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).
In his first dealings with the city of Thebes, Oedipus found them under the curse of the Sphinx. He actually gained his position of King of Thebes by rendering unto the city a great service, namely the salvation of the city from the Sphinx's plague. Aristotle praised the type of cleverness and practical wisdom Oedipus exhibited in his solution to the riddle as being a component of overall goodness. If it were not for Oedipus virtuous action in saving Thebes, the citizens would have suffered untold disasters at the merciless hands of the Sphinx. After proving his worth as a good man and his concern for the citizens of what was seemingly a foreign city, Oedipus was well liked by the people of Thebes.
Oedipus goes on with his journey not knowing about what he is going to do next. Oedipus runs into some people at a crossing on this journey and quarrels with them to there death. After this, he goes along to a city named Thebes where he outsmarted a beast that was cursing the city. He received praise and joy. While gaining the trust of all that lived there he quickly became King of Thebes. The people loved him because he was such a great leader. He was such a great king because he had a lot of love for his people and would do anything in his power to make them happy. As a result of this, Oedipus finds out that the city is in trouble unless the killer of their late king is found and punished. Little does Oedipus know that he is the killer of their late King or that the King was actually his father. Oedipus will strive for awnsers even though he has been warned not to dig to deep, for he will regret it.
His pride gets him into a lot of bad situations. The ultimate downfall of Oedipus is that he is unwilling to accept is fate. This drives him throughout the whole story to get down to the bottom of numerous questions. Such as, who killed his father? What is his fate and how can he avoid it? Also he was questioning the loyalty of his brother-in-law, Creon. Oedipus is genuinely concerned by the damage the plague is doing to his people and seeks to help. Creon informs him that the plague is the result of King Laius's murder and that the murderer must be found and killed or expelled. Oedipus seeks counsel from Teiresias the prophet. However, the prophet is afraid of divulging the truth about the situation. Reason being is because the prophet knows that Oedipus is guilty of killing his father. However, even though Oedipus has done many things that are frowned upon, the reader has to
Oedipus, by Sophocles, was written around 441 B.C. Sophocles’ story is considered a Greek tragedy. Aeschylus is the person who coined the term, but “it was Sophocles who brought it to perfection” (Struck). Oedipus is one of the most famous classical dramas, and it is because of Aristotle the story reached that status. Aristotle stated his opinions in his book Poetics, which made it popular (Thorburne 384). In the story, Oedipus displays hubris when he defies the gods and runs away from his true fate which leads to his downfall.
Oedipus was a victime of fate, his futur was foretold by an Oracle, he had no way of knowing that his wife was his mother nor that the stranger he killed was his father. Oedipus could not prevent his own downfall. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, he became king when he cured the city of a deadly plague. He cured the plague by solving the riddle of the mythical creature, the Sphinkx. Now the city is suffering from another plague and as king Oedipus must solve the riddle of this one.
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.
The tale of King Oedipus is well known. An enraged Oedipus unknowingly slays his father (Laiusq, King of Thebes) and supplants him as monarch and as husband to his own mother (Queen Jocasta). As each successive "layer of the onion" is unpeeled, Oedipus is brought a step closer to realizing the true nature of his actions. Foretold in prophecy and initiated by his anger, the downfall of Oedipus comes to fruition as all facts gradually come to light.
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.
Before Oedipus came to Thebes, the city was under siege by a sphinx. It sat by the road and questioned would be travelers with a now famous riddle about a creature who walks on four legs in the morning, two in the day, and three in the evening. No one, it seems, could solve the riddle and many wise and valiant men lost their lives to the sphinx's appetite. Enter Oedipus. A wanderer, traveling far, separated from his family and his homeland, he becomes the unlikely hero of the city, weds its queen, fathers its heir apparent, and loses everything when the mystery of his past reveals the sham of his marriage and the abomination of his offspring.
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.
Oedipus demonstrates hubris when searching for the person responsible for the death of Laius. He refuses to listen to suggestions or early examples of the prophecy. His blindness to prophecies and clues cause him to feel as if his judgment is the only valid one, leading Oedipus to believe he is the judge, jury and executioner. In fact Oedipus is so confident he will find the murderer that he is asking Thebans to pray to him instead of the gods. “You are praying. As for your prayers, if you are willing to hear and accept what I say now and so treat the disease, you will find rescue and relief from distress.”(Sophocles 14). Oedipus is stating how the prayers to get Thebes out of this suffering and torment. Oedipus strongly believes that he will rid the city of the plague, as he did the same with the Sphinx. This also shows that the citizens of Thebes trust in Oedipus, since this would not be his major accomplishment as the ruler of Thebes. In fact Oedipus refuses to listen to any criticism that anyone wants to give him. This is proved when he visits Tiresias.
Sophocles' Oedipus Rex (the King) is a tragic play that discusses the discovery of Oedipus that he 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 Sphinx. Sophocles used the riddle of the sphinx as a metaphor for the three phases of Oedipus' life and to further characterized him as a tragic man.