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Character analysis of oedipus
King oedipus character analysis
Character analysis of oedipus
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Sophocles's Oedipus Rex: Character and Destiny In a feature in a Texas newspaper feature named “What They’re Saying”, Frank Outlaw coined a famous quote, saying “Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” Character is defined by Merriam- Webster as the way someone thinks, feels and behaves. A less popular definition of character is the way in which an individual reacts to situations that don't go their way. In Sophocle’s Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ character is tested when he receives prophecy from an oracle depicting him killing his father and marrying his mother. However, instead …show more content…
Atonement by Ian Mcewan is another story in which the idea of character is an underlying theme. Robbie has his whole world turned around one day due to the actions of Briony. The whole Tallis house turns on him and it doesn't help that even Robbie’s social class is against him. In contrast to Oedipus, Robbie shows very strong character. While in jail and on the battlefield, Robbie keeps his end goal of one day reuniting with Cecilia in the back of his mind; letting it drive him and motivate up until the day of his death. Although Robbie never reunited with Cecilia , when everything in his life turned against him, Robbie attacked his problems head on. Oedipus however, fled from the negative prophecies and thus created more problems for himself. Sophocle amphitheater quote*. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles uses Oedipus’ weak character to …show more content…
Here, Oedipus was at the top of the social spectrum and likely had a pleasant childhood living in the palace. With the expectation of one day being King, Oedipus grew up with a sense of power and importance. In addition, growing up as the son of a King, Oedipus likely did not face much adversity growing up. Considering all of these components, it is no surprise that when Oedipus is initially faced with any adversity, he handles it very poorly. The first example of adversity that Oedipus faces is through an Oracle of Apollo. This oracle showed Oedipus a prophecy portraying him killing his father and marrying his mother. Instead of facing his problem and attempting to solve it, Oedipus runs “I heard all that and ran. I abandoned Corinth, from that day on I gauged its landfall only by the stars, running, always running toward some place where I would never see the shame of all those oracles come true” (Sophocles 880). If Oedipus had a different upbringing, there is a chance that Oedipus would have the experience to deal with a problem like this. Unfortunately, Oedipus’ poor character shows and he flees. With the Use of Irony, Sophocles shows that as Oedipus attempts to run away from the prophecy, the prophecy iscompleted. On his way out of Corinth, an enraged Oedipus meets a group of travelers that attempt to push Oedipus off the road. Unable to control his rage, Oedipus reacts hastily “I strike
The selfishness that Oedipus possesses causes him to have abundance of ignorance. This combination is what leads to his father’s death. After fleeing Corinth and his foster family, Oedipus gets into a skirmish with an older man. The reason for the fight was because, “The groom leading the horses forced me off the road at his lord’s command” (1336). Oedipus is filled with a rage after being insulted by the lord and feels the need to act. The two men fight, but Oedipus ends up being too much for the older man, and he kills him. What Oedipus is unaware of is that the man was actually his birth father and by killing him, Oedipus has started on the path of his own destruction. Not only does Oedipus kill his father, but also everyone else, “I killed them all” (1336). The other men had no part in the scuffle, but in his rage, he did not care who he was killing.
It is clear to see that Oedipus is an impulsive and passionate man, which causes Oedipus to fulfill the prophecy that haunts him. He flees the kingdom of Corinthian in order to avoid his fate. Along his journey he comes to a crossroad that is blocked by a chariot, and “in a fit of anger” Oedipus kills the father he never knew (Meyer 1422). 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.
While the entire plot to this point, leads up to us believing that Oedipus is a brutal tyrant. As the text continues on, he is exposed as the true-born Basileus. The throne he sits upon is his late fathers, who he killed. A tyrannical leader who was elected as a Basileus, which sounds like quite the contradiction. Through a sick twist of incest, slaughter, and pure fate, Oedipus is a perplexity in himself. It is not until later that we find out that Oedipus is truly tyrannically by destiny and nature itself. He may of done his best to be revered as just and appeasing to the people, destiny had other plans for him. We see this in the fact that Oedipus believes that he would serve his people the best by being blind instead of dead, even though all of the citizens found out about his wrong doings, and the pain that he has brought upon his city. He believed that he could still be the Basileus to his people, even after his status as tyrant was justified by the actions that carried him into the position as their
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
As much as Oedipus tried to run from his fate and change the course of destiny, it eventually worked itself out. By leaving his hometown where he thought his parents were he made the biggest mistake. He did not know that his real parents were the king and queen of Thebes so when he had the chance to marry his mother he did, thinking that she was just a widowed queen. And when he saw a man on the road in his way, Oedipus had no problem killing him because he thought it was just a random person, not his father. Oedipus tried to avoid his fate; but he realized it was inevitable.
As the play opens, Oedipus displays qualities of a good ruler. He is intelligent and noteworthy for his compassion and his sense of justice. He is above average because of his social standing and also because he is intelligent and the only person who was able to unravel the mystery and solve the Sphinx's riddle. He appears confident in his ability to rule and also because he was able to save Thebes by getting rid of the Sphinx. This is best illustrated when Oedipus says, " I have come myself to hear you- I, Oedipus who bear the famous name." He demonstrates compassion when he tells the plague-stricken citizens of Thebes that he is concerned about their health and well being. However, later in the play we see that he also behaves in a rash, angry manner and is unable to control his temper. This is quite evident when he tells the story of killing a man in a chariot and his attendants who attempted to run him off the crossr...
With every Greek disaster, there is main character, also known as a “Tragic Hero” who posses tragic flaws, which lead into their downfall. Oedipus demonstrates three tragic flaws, intolerance, stubbornness, and a short temper, each of which lead into his downfall. An example of Oedipus’ stubbornness’ could be when he demands on finding the murderer of Laius and proving that the prophecy hasn’t come true. However, Jocasta Oedipus’ queen and mother already is aware of the fact that all of this chaos is true and chooses to hide the truth. "That man, why ask? Old shepherds, talk, empty nonsense, don’t give it another thought; don't even think “Oedipus replies with, “What- give up now, with a clue like this? Fail to solve the mystery of my birth? Not for all the world!” Oedipus demonstrates his impatience when he is insists on knowing the truth of his birth. In fact, how could you blame him? "That man, why ask? Old shepherd, talk, empty nonsense, don't give it another thought, don't even think “Oedipus replied with, " What- give up now, with a clue like this? Fail to solve the mystery of my birth? Not for all the world!" His temper is shown when he is unbelievably upset with Tiresias for accusing him that he is the murderer of Laius. "No, I can't say I grasped your meaning. Out with it again" Tiresias replies saying,” I say you are the murderer you hunt” Oedipus demonstrates his temper once again, and threatens Tiresias
In the beginning of the play Oedipus is hopeful to discover about his family background. He is struggling to accept the truth about his past, and he decides to investigate his past, and he becomes his own worst enemy by destroying relationship with his family and with himself. For instance, when Oedipus was becoming an adult he overheard from the Oracle that his actual parents were not his real parents. As time passed, he strongly believed that his adopted parents were his real parents then he decided to migrate to the thebe because he is trying to avoid the prediction of his fate that the Oracle’s had made. Oedipus character is based on his actions, and he felt hopeful about himself. Most of the time people are confident because they are searching for the truth about themselves. The conclusion of the play is tragic; he feels that he should be responsible for his own actions. People don’t have control over fate, but they have chances in life to make decisions that impacts their life.
A Greek tragedy is one with a tragic outcome that is an inevitable result of the key character's personal flaws. It is a calamity he or she was destined to. However, is it possible that a hero’s laudable qualities could lead to his or her catastrophic fate? Oedipus demonstrates several admirable qualities that are portrayed throughout Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Compassion, diligence, and justness are three qualities that contribute to the internal struggles that Oedipus faces resulting in his appalling downfall. Taking a deeper look into understanding these virtuous qualities will depict how it led to Oedipus’s horrendous demise.
Actions and words can easily be the backbone of character building. Oedipus aids to his description
As protagonist, Oedipus is at the center of the story. The dialogue, action and motivation revolve about the characters in the story (Abrams 32-33). Werner Jaeger in “Sophocles’ Mastery of Character Development” pays the dramatist Sophocles the very highest compliment with regard to character development:
First of all, Oedipus cannot accept things the way they are and he is very head-strong in
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. Realizing the heinous nature of his actions, Oedipus blinds himself in a fit of anger and remorse - now, as Tiresias, he can see.
Another aspect of a tragedy is character. These are the qualities that are imbued in each character in the story. There have to be admirable traits in the characters, or the readers would not care what happened to them. Some of these characteristics can include honor, bravery, and intelligence, as with Oedipus. If readers did not care, there would be no catharsis...
Oedipus’s own admirable traits only lead to the discovery of his fate to which he was a victim. Which shows that even without his temper, the characters fatal flaw, his most heroic deeds were never enough to redeem him or tear him from his fate. Concluding that Oedipus only had the illusion of choice and was never the master of his destiny only an instrument of