Sophocles depicts the rise and fall of heroes from their excessive pride and hubris. The heroes,…
Like Sophocles’ famous tragedy Oedipus, Leslie Norris’ short story “Shaving” explores the formative influence of fathers on their sons’ lives. Oedipus and Barry, the protagonists in each work of literature, have different levels of knowledge about their past, which plays into the fact that their fathers amount of involvement in their lives shapes who they have now become. Their fathers’ involvement not only affects their level of knowledge, but also shapes their personalities, creates a shift in power from father to son, and in the end, impacts the decisions they make when they realize the truths in their lives.…
In the Phallic stage of psychosexual development, a boy’s decisive experience is the Oedipus complex describing his son–father competition for sexual possession of mother. This psychological complex indirectly derives from the Greek mythologic character Oedipus, who unwittingly killed his father and sexually possessed his…
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the Greek audience experiences Oedipus’ heartbreaking journey to find out who he really is and how his hubris and many other fatal flaws contribute to his downfall. The Greeks loved a good tragedy and Oedipus Rex did not disappoint. In this play Oedipus was put on a mountaintop as a baby because his birth parents, King Laïos and Queen Iocastê, were told that one day Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. To prevent this from happening King Laïos and Queen Iocastê put holes through his ankles and tied them with leather so Oedipus would not crawl away from the mountaintop and eventually come back and fulfill his prophecy. King Laïos and Queen Iocastê left baby Oedipus to the Gods on top of the…
To be selfless is to be concerned more with the needs and wishes of others rather than one's own wishes; whereas to be self centered is to be preoccupied with oneself and one's affairs. One may easily refer to someone as "self-centered" simply because that someone may be acting very vain. However, one has to be ignorant of others emotions, actions, etc. to be definitively considered self centered. In Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles, Oedipus' life is haunted by a prophecy that he would kill his father, marry his mother and also have children with her. When King Laius is killed, Oedipus steps in and becomes the new king of Thebes. He makes it his duty as the new king to solve the crime that he unknowingly commit. Although Oedipus thinks he is…
and led to his status as a static character. A static character is a character who does…
Oedipus’ situation is presented in a manner which is both complex and unsettling, “To the children whom he lives now he will be/Brother and father—the very same; to her/Who bore him, son and…
When half human monsters walked the Earth and mythical Gods ruled all of creation, one man was destined to suffer the worst fate ever imaginable. Oedipus Tyrannous is a classic Greek tragedy written by Sophocles around 470 BC. According to Aristotle's Poetics, Greek tragedies should follow certain guidelines in order to be effective tragic drama. Many of Oedipus' character traits ultimately justify his place as a perfect specimen of Aristotle's tragic hero. According to Aristotle's Poetics, Oedipus Tyrannous is tragic hero due to his hamartia and peripeteia.…
Another flaw of Oedipus that leads to his self-destruction is his excessive self-pride. He made it his mission to find the killer of Laius in order to end the misery that the plague in Thebes caused. He was sure of himself that he will save the land, ironically not realizing that he is the one at fault. He sees himself as being all mighty since he presumably escaped his fate. He was able to save Thebes from the Sphinx so he thinks history can repeat itself and he can be a hero ones again for his people.…
"What walks on four legs at dawn, two legs at noon, and three legs at nightfall." This was the riddle posed by the Sphinx who at the time was destroying the city of Thebes. The riddle was solved by none other than Oedipus who was made king for ridding the city of the Sphinx. Ironically though, Oedipus in his life comes to embody the riddle of the Sphinx and its soulution. Firstly, the Sphinx is percieved as a curse on Thebes and Oedipus also becomes a curse by the end of the play. Secondly, Oedipus's physical health embodies the riddle. Thirdly, Oedipus's emotional state also resembles the riddle. Lastly, the events of Oedipus's life relate to the theme of identity in the play.…
The downfall of Oedipus or tragic flaw was when his father sent Oedipus to be killed by shepherd as a infant since the prophecy foretold that Oedipus would murder his father and marry his mother. Unfortunately the shepherd did not killed Oedipus but gave it away to a king and queen who cannot conceive a child of their own. As Oedipus gets older he is told he is adopted. Oedipus travels to Delphi to speak with the Oracle in order to learn the truth about his parents. The Oracle response to his question the way it responded to his biological father. Oedipus, afraid of what he is foretold leaves the kingdom and heads to Thebes to prevent the prophecy from happening. On his way to Thebes he is confronted by his real father King Laius in a fork road. Oedipus and…
The father holds many positions for the son to obtain a foothold on the creation of his self and his masculine identity. He acts as a mirror for the boy, allowing him to identify with who is considered the same as himself. The father gives the boy something to copy not only physically but also emotionally and psychically. At the same time the father helps to develop the boy 's individuality by helping to interfere with the connection of the primary love object, which is the mother. With out the father there to act as a mirror in the pre-Oedipal stage and be a source of anxiety in the Oedipal stage, it will offset the balance that is so carefully created through nature by the Oedipus complex. There is no replacing the father. A stepfather or grandfather cannot recreate the bond that a son can only share with his father. Because of the father 's main roles in the identification of the self as a male, the absence can be detrimental to the development of a boy and create many stigmas that will remain with the boy for…
Movies, books, and television all thrive off of the Oedipal complex. One such example is the movie Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock, we witness the main character Norman Bates obsession with his mother. When Bates’ father passes away, the young boy becomes dependent on his mother. It is later revealed that Mrs. Bates sexually abused Norman. Thus, Norman never moved on and remained reliant on his mother (Oedipus Complex, N.D.). In Shakespeare’s Hamlet we see the similarities. Hamlet has a distaste for his stepfather/uncle and feels protective over his mother. The Oedipal complex has been prevalent in society as early as Sophocles’ Oedipus…
The Oedipus complex or Oedipus theory is a psychological concept, created by Sigmund Freud in the 1920s, that explains the unconscious desires and some sexual attractions of pubescent males and females. This theory stems from a cluster of Freud’s ideas about the human subconscious as well as from direct events from the play, Oedipus Rex, and from relationships between characters within the play. All of these factors combined have produced the modern day idea of the Oedipus Complex. Sigmund Freud was a psychologists present during the early 1920s that studied psychosocial psychology and the workings of the human unconscious. Freud is frequently referred to as the “Father of Psychology”, because he is one of the earliest psychologists…
Oedipus goes through many changes. He goes through a state of innocence or ignorance, then through a state of denial and finally a state of acceptance and guilt. Throughout these different stages in his life, he reveals to his audience who he really is.…