Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Themes in Oedipus the king
Guilt in oedipus the king
Oedipus the king themes determination
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Themes in Oedipus the king
(Better Grabber) In the Harry Potter Series, the character Snape is a tragic hero. Just like Oedipus, he has too much pride in himself when he only helps Harry because his true love was Lily Potter, Harry’s mother. This later leads to his downfall when he ends up dying. Despite their good intentions, the two characters are blinded from the impact of their actions as they unknowingly harm their families. In the play All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Joe Keller’s blindness of the larger society and In the short story Oedipus The King by Sophocles, Oedipus the King’s arrogant attitude lead to his downfall. Joe Keller’s tragic flaw was more tragic because his flaw impacted more than just himself but it impacted other people around him.
In the stories, the two character's tragic flaws lead them to cause harm on their families. In the play All My Sons, Joe Keller ships out faculty airplane parts, and blames it on his co-partner Steve Deever. Joe Keller begs his son to take over the company, when he says “A business, and business for you (Miller 70.) This evidence shows that Joe Keller lied about the airplane parts to save his family. He gave up his morals for the wellbeing of his family. He knew it was wrong to ship out the damaged airplane parts, but he did it anyways because his family was the most important aspect of his life, and wanted to make sure they are taken care off. His tragic flaw is his obsession with his family. His life is devoted to helping his family, mainly his son Chris. Furthermore, Oedipus the King’s arrogance leads him to hurt this family. Unknowingly, Oedipus does not know how lucky he is to see the truth. He knows that disease is corrupting the city, but he is angered when Teresis will not tell him informatio...
... middle of paper ...
...scape his fate. The only way to deal with his flaw was to find some comfort. Piercing out his eyes gave him a sense of comfort in the sense that he can see the truth all along. It also showed the readers that he realizes he is the one really blind. Overall, the two characters tragic flaw leads them to harm the outside world.
Overall, Joe Keller’s tragic flaw impacts the world around him as well as his family. Oedipus’s tragic flaw blinds him from the surroundings that he lives in. Keller is obsessive of the wellness of his family, and Oedipus is blind to truth that he does not notice the curse placed upon him. In this society, people are obsessed with the idea of being perfect. They do not understand that each person in this world has flaws. In reality, people become blinded by the media and other outside sources to distract them from the real truth. (Zinger)
There are several cases in which we, being the humans that we are, do unintelligent things. This central theme has been used throughout the ages in literature, poetry and theatre. In Socrates' Oedipus, he shows that even people in high positions, like King's, are unable to realize the information in front of them. In most Greek tragedies, characters have what is called a hubris which is pride or humans believing that they are more powerful than the Gods or people ordained by gods to be messengers. In the case of Oedipus, his hubris was also his hamartia or tragic mistake which makes him the tragic hero of the play. His hubris caused several reactions that effected the people around him including: effecting his country through the plague, effecting parents through fulfilling the profecy, and effecting his own life and his eventual downfall by making himself blind.
Before he even knew better, he murdered a man and married a woman whose husband had been killed. Aristoteles’s “Theory of Tragedy” says that the tragic flaw in Sophocles’ play Oedipus is the King’s “self-destructive actions taken in blindness,” which lead to the even worse and more tragic flaw of arrogance. Throughout Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus’ arrogance comes out again and again.
In literature, the tragic heroes Oedipus and Othello allow the pride they have to cause their own demise by putting too much emphasis on the lives they have created for themselves. Oedipus, who blinds himself after finding out he has killed his birth father and married his birth mother, refuses to believe he has truly fulfilled his fate because he is so proud of what he has accomplished since he left Corinth. Othello demonstrates his pride by believing that the people closest to him would never betray him because of his powerful position as a General of the armies in Venice. Both characters example of hubris, or excessive pride, causes the downfall in their lives, which eventually leads to life-long blindness for Oedipus and death for Othello.
A key example to how one’s image can be altered through the loss or gain of self-control, is demonstrated when the horrifying past that was avoided until this point is revealed. Furthermore, the shepherd went on to tell the truth even after Jocasta begged not to. It was unveiled that Oedipus was the cause of the plague, killing his father, and marrying his mother. The shock is so incredibly horrifying for both Oedipus and Jocasta that they both take extreme measures to try and forget about what they had just heard. Jocasta hangs herself, and Oedipus gouges out his own eyes and requests to be exiled from Thebes. “Oedipus is a kind of symbol of the human intelligence which cannot rest until it has solved all riddles-even the last riddle,” which ironically is that both characters relate to the relationship being examined, as they both lose all control of the situation and destroy and image that they had. Consequently, the abrupt actions taken by Oedipus to blind himself from the world as he now knows it is in a way courageous. He takes responsibility for his actions by saying “this horror is me…and no one but I is strong enough to bear it.” Although his image is altered forever he shows great self-control by acting responsible for the plague and taking his anger out on himself. As Dodds points out “Oedipus is great because he accepts the
Both protagonists, Oedipus of “Oedipus the King” written by Sophocles and Okonkwo from “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe, possess tragic flaw that leads to their eventual downfall. Oedipus and Okonkwo are portrayed to be tragic heroes of their respected story. Tragic hero is someone who falls of power not necessarily because he is a “bad” or evil person, but he is destined to his downfall. In both stories, fate and free was a major theme that decided both characters fortune. Both characters, Oedipus’ and Okonkwo’s individual actions and their individual character traits led them closer to their downfall. However, narrow-mindedness leaves them both at fault for their self-destruction. Both Oedipus and Okonkwo’s fate and actions through
Oedipus from the drama, “Oedipus the King” and Hamlet from, “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” are two characters that are different, yet they both share the same title of being a tragic hero. Oedipus and Hamlet have many characteristics of a tragic hero that separates them in varieties. However, some of those characteristics show that both characters have and use similar thought processes and methods, which classify them as tragic heroes of their dramas. The five characteristics of a tragic hero are: nobility, tragic flaw, peripeteia, anagnorisis, and lastly irony. Both Oedipus and Hamlet hold or have a nobility position in their drama’s plot. Oedipus is the son of the king, and fate has foretold that he will kill his father and take over the kingdom. Hence, Oedipus was fated into his nobility, so he is required always remain in a status above all others. Hamlet is also the son of the former king that is now dead. Hamlet was born into this nobility, and this makes him the prince. Both characters are royalty, yet their morals and values are what make their nobilities the same. Their actions create heavy and dramatic outcomes, which lead to many more complications. Both men try to resolve their problems different, so their fortunes become reversed. Oedipus and Hamlet are very different, yet almost have the same fates. Out of all the five characterizes, three of them describe and separate both men best as tragic heroes. The tragic flaws, which is defined as hamartia, both men have are the main reason they are heroes of tragedy, their recognitions of their situations, which is an anagnorisis, are at different points in their stories, and lastly both men meet an ending that is meant to be an irony of their fate.
Two of the minor tragic flaws that lead to Oedipus downfall were his arrogance and short temper. Trough out the book we are able to see how Oedipus humiliates and gets into arguments with the people that telling him the truth about his real parents and that are trying to help him to find the “unknown”
Because of that eye, the narrator decided that he should just outright murder his old man. He said that he did not want to murder the old man, but instead the “evil eye.” He was willing to kill a man that he admitted that he loved, all for the sake of making himself feel better.
Oedipus the King is a very interesting play written by Sophocles. It explains the story of the unfortunate prophecy of Oedipus. In this fate, he was supposed to kill his father and marry his mother. It vaguely describes the tragic story of this prophecy and its effects. Oedipus did however possess a tragic flaw that lead to his demise. Anger took over him in most of the play. This lead him to do many things that were not very good for him. For example, Oedipus angrily left his home in Corinth to seek the truth about himself. He also killed Laius at the crossroads while arguing over who had the right of way. This is how his tragic flaw, anger, lead him to his downfall.
It is ironical that despite his blindness, he manages to envision the certain inaccurate ways better than those who can see. He sees Oedipus destiny and his past as well even without eyes. Oedipus, on the other hand, is blind because after learning of the Oracle's prophesy, he thinks that Merope and Polybus, the couple that raised him would be the victims and therefore runs away to prevent fate from happening (Sophocles). He does not understand that he could not avert fate because those were not his birth parents. After he left the parents that adopted him, he comes across Laius on the way, and he kills him after a conflict. He is blind to the fact that he just murdered his biological father. Parts of the Oracle’s prophesy had passed. Still, in his oblivion, he becomes the King of Thebes after which he gets married to Laius widow blind to the fact that it was his mother, Jocasta. The blind men prophesy had come to
According to Aristotle, the protagonist in a tragedy must have a tragic flaw that ultimately becomes the cause of his ruin. Oedipus in Oedipus the King by Sophocles tragic flaw that caused his downfall was his pride. Three examples of when Oedipus’ pride got the better of him were: when he left his adopted parents in Cornith, the second is when he goes against Creon, and the third is when Oedipus is demanding that the messenger tell him all he knows about who his real parents are.
Oedipus was often looked upon as exceptional rather than typical; a prominent man brought from happiness to misery. His character’s stature is important because it makes his fall all the more horrific. In today’s world, newscasts are filled with daily reports of tragedies, such as a child being struck and killed by a car; an airplane crash; or a devastating fire. A literary tragedy presents courageous individuals who confront powerful forces within or outside themselves with a dignity that reveals the depth of the human spirit in the face of failure, defeat, and even death.
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...
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.
The horrible fates of Oedipus and Creon are due to their tragic flaws. Even though both fates of these characters are absolutely terrible, Oedipus experiences the greatest tragedy. Oedipus’s flaw of ignorance might not be directly his fault but it results in horrific actions that no one else can be blamed for. Creon's flaw of pride causes him to make irrational decisions that end up harming the people he loves. Both characters directly cause the deaths of loved family members as a result of their flaws and decisions. Nothing can be worse that this. Oedipus The King and Antigone demonstrate the horrific tragedies of life.