Thinking before Acting: Analysis of Sophocles's Oedipus, The King

1929 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Characterisation and characters in sophocles oedipus and antigone

Aristotle's rules of a tragedy state that the character of a tragedy should be good but not exceptionally amazing, he must not be a perfect character but instead they need to be the victim of a common flaw which is called 'Hamartia'. The idea that even the protagonist of a story can have a tragic flaw allows for the reader to have a stronger connection to the story and as a result it would be better interpreted by them their own way. In the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles the Hamartia displayed by Oedipus is that he makes very rash decisions without thinking of the consequences and this negatively his life and the people around him. Firstly the characters in the play are blinded by their pride and ambition, the Greek word for this is Hubris and it often shows protagonists who do not accept their reality and overestimate their own capabilities and this is most common in characters in positions of power. This pride and ambition is what makes people blind when making their decisions and they regret it in the future proving that it is better to think before acting. Furthermore, when one tries to alter fate by making decisions that go against it they turn out to be decisions that in reality will negatively impact them instead of changing their fate for the better. The play Oedipus the King is still relevant to today's society because of the demonstration of the effects of rash decision making, reminding us that it is better to think before acting. Throughout the play the character are used to send a message to the audience that decisions that are made without thinking always lead to negative outcomes.
A person’s overbearing pride and ambition leads them to make rash decisions that make them regret why they did not think twice be...

... middle of paper ...

...mate themselves and become ignorant. Moreover, when a person tries to change fate by making decisions they will cause fate to come back and be worse than what is was meant to be before. This play shows us that although we make many decisions on a daily basis but we do not take into consideration the bigger picture and how those decisions will affect us in the future, the play Oedipus the King shows the implications of making decisions without thinking and hopefully teaches the lesson the readership.

Works Cited
Sophocles, and E. F. Watling. The Theban Plays: King Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1973. Print.
DeANGELIS, Tori. "Why We Overestimate Our Competence." Http://www.apa.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
"Good Habits Formed at Youth Make All the Difference. | Philosiblog." Philosiblog. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.

Show More
Related

  • The Three Theban Plays by Sophocles

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sophocles, Robert Fagles, Bernard MacGregor Walker. Knox, and Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. New York, NY: Penguin, 1987. Print.

    Read More

  • Sophocles' Oedipus

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Sophocles’ Oedipus The King, King Oedipus of Thebes is confronted. and strangely obsessed with the mystery of who killed Laios. former king of Thebes, for a great plague has overtaken the city of. Thebes because of this murder. During his quest for the truth, he begins to discover that the answer to his query is also the answer to another disturbing mystery about himself, who am I?

    Read More

  • Hope in Oedipus at Colonus

    2213 Words  | 5 Pages

    Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus The King, Oedipus At Colonus. Penguin Books. New York, New York. 1982, 1984.

    Read More

  • Oedipus The King: A Narrative Fiction

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    On a warm, Summer's afternoon, I sat in my room, a Wii remote clutched in my right hand and a Wii Nunchuck in the other.

    Read More

  • Oedipus: Riddle of the Sphinx as a Metaphor of Life

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sophocles. "Oedipus the King." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 1902.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: The Tragic Flaws Of Oedipus

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    The great Sophoclean play, Oedipus Rex is an amazing play, and one of the first of its time to accurately portray the common tragic hero. Written in the time of ancient Greece, Sophocles perfected the use of character flaws in Greek drama with Oedipus Rex. Using Oedipus as his tragic hero, Sophocles’ plays forced the audience to experience a catharsis of emotions. Sophocles showed the play-watchers Oedipus’s life in the beginning as a “privileged, exalted [person] who [earned his] high repute and status by…intelligence.” Then, the great playwright reached in and violently pulled out the audience’s most sorrowful emotions, pity and fear, in showing Oedipus’s “crushing fall” from greatness.

    Read More

  • Seeing the Truth in Sophocles´ Oedipus the King

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Philosophy of Sophocles in Oedipus the King

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Greek tragedy the natural forces are destructive. These forces might be nature, gods or fate. Man is helpless in facing these powers.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Setting and Characters in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sophocles, a Greek author and philosopher, created a magnificent work of literature, Oedipus Rex. Oedipus Rex describes the legendary tales that King Oedipus of Thebes took in order to confirm that his biological parents were King Polybus of Corinth and his wife Merope. This tragedy of fate explores the depths of modern psychoanalysis as Oedipus unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother in an attempt to avoid the very prophecy he ultimately fulfills. The play was created by Sophocles, an intellectual philosopher that was born in 495 B.C. about a mile northwest of Athens. Sophocles has become one of the most prominent playwrights of the golden age. He was a son of a wealthy merchant, therefore, he enjoyed all the benefits of a thriving Greek empire. As an accomplished actor, Sophocles performed in many of his own plays, such as Oedipus Rex. The famous Sophocles is known as one of the greatest innovators of the theatre. The Theatre of Dionysus is where the greatest playwrights performed their infamous tales, it was a major open-air theatre build in Athens, the theatre was dedicated to the god of wine and fertility, it hosted the City Dionysia festival. The Theatre of Dionysus is where Oedipus Rex is first acknowledged to the world. Oedipus Rex embodies the nature of life and society in ancient Greece.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Oedipus The King By Sophocles

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tiresias, from “Oedipus the King” by the Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, is a blind prophet and whilst he is only on the stage for a little time he plays a major role by what he does and what he represents. Tiresias enters the play after being summoned by Oedipus to tell him of the murderer of Laius, the recent King. Tiresias for the sake of Oedipus does not tell him the truth at the start saying that “what will come will come. Even if I shroud it all in silence”. In is conversation, Sophocles, uses Tiresias as a turning point in the plot as it is the beginning of Oedipus’ downfall. As well as that Sophocles uses Tiresias to represent many of the key ideas in the play. Tiresias represents the idea of fate and how

    Read More

  • The Psychology of King Oedipus

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus Rex, an ancient Greek tragedy authored by the playwright Sophocles, includes many types of psychological phenomena. Most prominently, the myth is the source of the well-known term Oedipal complex, coined by psychologist Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s. In psychology, “complex” refers to a developmental stage. In this case the stage involves the desire of males, usually ages three to five, to sexually or romantically posses their mother, and the consequential resentment of their fathers. In the play, a prince named Oedipus tries to escape a prophecy that says he will kill his father and marry his mother, and coincidentally saves the Thebes from a monster known as the Sphinx. Having unknowingly killed his true father Laius during his escape, he marries the widowed queen of Thebes, his mother Jocasta. Many events in the story should lead to suspicion of their marriage, but out of pride and ignorance Oedipus stubbornly refuses to accept his fate. Together, these sins represent the highest taboos of Greek society, revealed by Socphocles’s depiction of the already pervasive story. Before the Thebian plays, the myth centered more around Oedipus’s journey of self-awareness; meanwhile, Sophocles shows Oedipus’s struggles with his inevitable desire toward his mother throughout these stages of psychological development.

    Read More

  • Free Oedipus the King Essays: Hamartia in Oedipus Rex

    483 Words  | 1 Pages

    According to the Aristotelian characteristics of good tragedy, the tragic character should not fall due to either excessive virtue or excessive wickedness, but due to what Aristotle called hamartia. Hamartia may be interpreted as either a flaw in character or an error in judgement. Oedipus, the tragic character in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, certainly makes several such mistakes; however, the pervasive pattern of his judgemental errors seems to indicate a basic character flaw that precipitates them.

    Read More

  • Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Oedipus the King - Power of Prophecy

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sophocles.  "Oedipus Rex."  An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed.Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al.  New York: Longman, 1997.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Oedipus the King

    465 Words  | 1 Pages

    Here is a story where Oedipus the King, who has accomplished great things in his life, discovers that the gods were only playing with him. He has everything a man of that time could want; he is king of Thebes, he has a wonderful wife and children, and great fame through out the lands. He has lived a good life, but in the end everything is taken from him.

    Read More

  • The Perfect Aristotelian Tragedy: Oedipus the King

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus the King by Sophocles has the ingredients necessary for a good Aristotelian tragedy. The play has the essential parts that form the plot, consisting of the peripeteia, anagnorisis and a catastrophe; which are all necessary for a good tragedy according to the Aristotelian notion. Oedipus is the perfect tragic protagonist, for his happiness changes to misery due to hamartia (an error). Oedipus also evokes both pity and fear in its audience, causing the audience to experience catharsis or a purging of emotion, which is the true test for any tragedy according to Aristotle.

    Read More

More about Thinking before Acting: Analysis of Sophocles's Oedipus, The King

Open Document