In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and George Lucas’ Star Wars, the protagonists Oedipus and Anakin Skywalker share the same fatal flaw of hubris. Regarded as the saviors of their respective worlds, their pride and arrogance lead to their suffering and downfall. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ unfailing pride and self-assurance causes him to ostracize his allies and blinds him to the truth, leading to his exile. In Star Wars, Anakin’s pursuit of power leads him to reject the counsel of his closest friends, while drawing him closer to the Dark side that he vowed to destroy. Driven by their sense of infallibility resulting from hubris, both Oedipus and Anakin Skywalker stubbornly pursue knowledge, no matter how damaging it may be. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus summons Teiresias hoping to gain knowledge about the plague. Even though Teiresias refuses to reveal the information, warning that it “will lead [him] to ruin” (Sophocles 324), Oedipus ignores this warning and stubbornly presses on, saying, “You know, and will not tell us? Do you wish to ruin Thebes and to destroy us all?” (329). Later on, Oedipus threatens the Theban shepherd with torture to extract information, saying “If you’ll not speak from pleasure, speak …show more content…
from pain.” (1152) These examples illustrate how Oedipus’s conscience is corrupted by his arrogance, as he is willing to hurt innocent people for his selfish motivations. Like Oedipus, Anakin welcomes any and all knowledge with a sense of impunity. However, Anakin seeks information in pursuit of power, whereas Oedipus seeks information about his past. Anakin is aware that he is the Chosen One, and eagerly wants to learn more and become stronger. However, he is held back by the Jedi Council due to his immature and impatient approach to learning, as shown in Star Wars Episode II: “ Yoda: The council is confident in its decision, Obi-Wan. Mace Windu: The boy has exceptional skills. Obi-Wan: But he still has much to learn, Master. His abilities have made him... well arrogant. ” Because of his desire to learn, he is easily drawn to the insidious Dark Side by Palpatine’s constant praise. Palpatine uses Anakin’s impatience and pride to manipulate him, telling him “you don’t need guidance”, and that he was “the most gifted Jedi [he] had ever seen” (Star Wars Episode II). This shows how Anakin’s initial motive of gaining knowledge is corrupted by his immense pride and selfish ambition. Both Oedipus and Anakin’s fear of losing power lead them to turn against their friends, therefore contributing to their downfall.
As the king of Thebes, Oedipus enjoys immense power and influence, which contributes to his sense of infallibility. Believing himself to be sinless, he projects his fears onto others; This is shown when he accuses Creon of conspiring against him without any concrete evidence, saying, “How can you find the impudence to show yourself before my house, when you are clearly proven to have sought my life and tried to steal my crown?” (532). This shows how Oedipus allowed his pride and his fear of losing power to cloud his rational thought. In the process, he loses one of his closest friends and a valuable advisor in a time of
need. As a General in the Clone War, Anakin held a similar degree of power and influence as Oedipus. Because of this, Anakin’s pride outgrew the counseling of his mentors Yoda and Obi-Wan, and anybody who opposed him was seen as a threat to his pursuit of power. However, Oedipus turns on his friends without outside influence, while Anakin is manipulated by Palpatine to distrust the Jedi. Already disillusioned with the Council because they held him back, Anakin’s trust in the Jedi is broken when he is asked to spy on Palpatine. When asked to spy on Palpatine, whom he had grown to trust, he replies, “They want me to spy on the Chancellor? But that is treason!” This loss of trust in the Jedi is what facilitates his turn to the Dark Side, and what provokes him to attack his wife, Padmé. When Padmé pleads Anakin to return from the Dark Side, an enraged Anakin shouts, “Liar! You are with them! The Jedi turned against me. Don’t turn against me!” (Star Wars Episode III). This clearly shows how pride and fear turns Anakin paranoid, as even an expression of love and concern is seen as an act of betrayal. Both Oedipus’ and Anakin’s greatest display of hubris that leads to their downfall is their denial of fate. The most significant contributing factor to Oedipus’s downfall is his unwillingness to accept the truth. In doing so, he challenges the notion that the gods are in control of mortals - the ultimate display of hubris. Ironically, Oedipus calls a curse down on the killer, to “drive him from your doors”, (56) only to suffer at his own hands.
Similarly to Oedipus’s response to Teiresias, Oedipus once again will not take the advice of those who know the truth. He ignores his wife who has this knew knowledge and his arrogance and pride lead him to push her commentary aside and pursue more information. This is a continuing pattern for Oedipus. He rejects any words that do not fit his
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...
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...
A new plague comes over the land of Thebes and Oedipus wants to help his people. He begins searching for the solution. At the same time he worries that he may also be killed by whoever killed King Laios. At one point he is talking to his uncle/ Brother-in-law Creon in which he states, “And not as though it were for some distant friend, But for my own sake, to be rid of evil. Whoever killed King Laios might – who knows? – decide at any moment to kill me as well. By avenging the murdered king I protect myself.” (Prologue. 139-...
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 Oedipus, he wanted nothing more than to help Oedipus rid the city of whatever plague the gods were hurling at them. Creon goes to Apollo's shrine to find out why the gods are angry and then brings Tiresias to help Creon see what has the gods angry. Oedipus does not want to believe the truths Tiresias is telling him and falsely accuses Creon of plotting against him to become king of Thebes. Creon is so hurt by this that he tells the chorus, "This accusation against me by our ruler Oedipus, It's outrageous. (514)" By the end of the play, Creon tells Oedipus that "I'm always as good as my word; I don't speak before I think(1520)."
“Shepherd: I am on the brink of dreadful speech/ Oedipus: And I of dreadful hearing yet I must hear” (Sophocles 63) With this Oedipus shows that he wants the truth to be reveled so that he can save the city and have the truth realized. It does not matter what the truth is only that he must know who he needs to kill or banish to save the people of Thebes. Oedipus also shows his care for the city of Thebes when he finally learns the truth about who his parents were and that he had in fact fulfilled the prophecy that he had so desired to not do. Oedipus chooses to still banish himself and stick to what he promised the city at the beginning of the play. “conceal me somewhere far from Thebes” (Sophocles 75) Oedipus does this to not only hid from the shame he receives from fulfilling the prophecy but to also end the plague and to save the people of Thebes. Finally Oedipus shows his quality of care for his children a trait that makes him more admirable in the play. This moment is shown after Oedipus finds out that he has fulfilled the prophecy and is the reason for the plague. Then he blinds himself and prepares to banish himself but before he is banished he asks for Creon and asks of a favour “Take care of them Creon do this for me” (Sophocles 77) Thus Oedipus shows his compassion for his children
Aristoteles’s “Theory of Tragedy” suggests that the tragic flaw in Sophocles’ play Oedipus is the King’s “self-destructive actions taken in blindness,” but a worse flaw if his arrogance. There are a few opposing views that stray from Oedipus being fully arrogant. First is that he took actions to save himself further pain. Second by putting himself in charge was the right thing to do as the leader of his people. Third Oedipus never tried to outwit the gods but used the prophecy as a warning to leave Corinth. All three opposing arguments shows a different side of Oedipus other than that of arrogance.
Self-control can be defined as the ability to control oneself, in particular one’s emotions or desires, especially in difficult situations. Comparatively, self-image is the idea one has of one’s abilities, appearance or personality. Often self-image and self-control are thought of as separate entities, but in the case of the tragic play “Oedipus Rex,” Sophocles demonstrates the connection between the two through the tragic events that occur. Integrated in the plot is the growth of the character of Oedipus, for it is he whom indices the investigation to stop the current plague in his kingdom of Thebes, his personal rashness and ignorance of the past come back to haunt him. Oedipus’ incautiousness when discovering the true state of Thebes is
Oedipus is shown to be a well-liked and trusted king among all his townspeople. Solving the riddle of the Sphinx and saving Thebes brought him great fame and popularity. When time came to save the town from Laios’ killer, Oedipus relied much on his intellect. He searched for information about the night of the murder from Creon and Teiresias, but as he learned more details, Oedipus realized not only that he was the killer but also that he married his mother. Throughout his inquiry he believed he was doing good for his people as well as himself, but eventually it brought him shame. Oedipus was humiliated and disgusted and stated, “…kill me; or hurl me into the sea, away from men’s eyes for ever(p882, 183).'; Oedipus’ wanted to be isolated from the people of Thebes because all his respect and fame was destroyed by 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...
Sophocles intentionally gave certain flaws in character type to Oedipus—he intended a downfall. That was the purpose of all ancient Greek drama: it was meant as “a dramatic reminder of [their] own mortality”. Sophocles used his plays in order to force people to learn at other’s mistake. Oedipus is a perfect example. His tragic flaws, persistence and ignorance caused his inevitable doom
Despite earlier Teiresias being referred to as: “A lord clairvoyant to the lord Apollo” (Scene 1. 966). Teiresias is the one: “in whom, alone of all men, truth was born” (Scene 1. 967). Yet, when provided the divine wisdom, Oedipus rejects it and creates his own wisdom. He feels he is above the gods and anything foolish enough to get in his way. However, this incident is not the last time Oedipus’s arrogance rears its ugly head. For instance, he accuses Creon of plotting to kill him with no proof. After his violent argument with Teiresias, Oedipus summons Creon to confront him about his plot to over throw him. He has no proof in this accusation and even has the audacity to tell Creon: “You are evil incarnate” (Scene 2. 975). Oedipus assumes he has the power to rightfully accuse and judge Creon as an enemy of the gods as if he were a god himself. The chorus echoes this sentiment: “Prove his heroic mind! These evil words are lies” (Ode 1. 972). His illogical accusation is cautioned against others but still, he finds his truth to be absolute: “Let him go. And let me die, If I must. / Or be driven by him in shame from the land of Thebes” (Scene 2. 976). In a tactful choice of words, he both allows the ones who oppose his assumption that Creon is guilty and protects his
Greek politician and playwright, Sophocles, in his play, Oedipus the King, depicts a series of chronological events of the consequences of Oedipus’ downfall caused by his excessive pride. Sophocles’ purpose is to instruct readers that too much pride can dismally lead to unfortunate events. Sophocles illustrates an effective tone in order to inform the readers of the negative outcomes of stubbornness and denial.
Hubris is defined by the Webster-Miriam dictionary as “Exaggerated pride or confidence” (Miriam-Webster Dictionary) in Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, In Oedipus The King, by Sophocles, the onslaught of pain assailing the protagonist is a result of his tragic flaw. Sophocles often used a characters’ flaw to alter or influence the outcome or future of the hero. Oedipus' hubris influences him to fulfill the oracle and further intensify his punishment from the Gods.