Throughout the Oedipus trilogy by Sophocles, the Greek concept of hubris is a prominent cause of the constant disastrous results. Most characters who show great pride and self-confidence have disastrous consequences. The character most represented by this shortcoming is none other than Oedipus. Oedipus constantly shows his weakness of excessive pride.…
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Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King in the 5th century BCE, in contrast with the work of the Roman Ovid. The character of King Oedipus demonstrates his attitude of overconfidence from the beginning, as he speaks to the children outside his palace and introduces himself as, “I, Oedipus whom all men call the Great” (Oedipus the King 73). As a result of this hubris, he tries to defy the prophecies given by the gods, but he goes on to follow the prophecy as it was laid out and do exactly what he was most afraid of doing (Oedipus the King 83). The Oracle of Delphi gives him the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, but his overconfidence convinces him that he can overcome this; instead of taking the advice of the prophet Teiresias, he attacks Teiresias in anger over the prophecy (Oedipus the King 80-81, 86). He embarks on an adventure towards Thebes from Corinth, and on his way, he kills an old man and marries the queen of Thebes (Oedipus the King 105), completely unaware that in doing so, he is fulfilling the prophecy. Throughout the story, his pride shines through both his actions and his attitude, as he attempts to prove that he knows more and is more powerful than the prophet, stating, “it has no strength for you because you are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes…You life is one long night so that you cannot hurt me or any…
Oedipus' pride is an innate characteristic. Even before his glory and power as King of Thebes he allowed his conceit to cloud his judgments and rule his actions. Self-confidence in his own wisdom is an outstanding feature of his character, Oedipus says:…
The people believed at the time of Sophocles that an individual achieves his destiny as a result of his own fate. This is true in the case of Oedipus the king, whose anger; pride and blindness towards the truth bring his tragic downfall. At the start of the play, Oedipus is depicted as a confident ruler, who saved Thebes from the curse of Sphinx, furthermore, he becomes the king overnight. He declares his name gladly just as it were itself a recuperating charm: “Here I am myself— / you all know me, the world knows my fame: / I am Oedipus” (7–9). At the end, this pride becomes the curse for him (Sophocles, 1882).…
Oedipus announces his name proudly, for he has become the savior and the king of the great city of Thebes, almost overnight. In the opening page of "Oedipus the King", he states, "Here I am myself, I, Oedipus, whose fame is known afar". He also says "I grieve for you my children". This shows that Oedipus thinks of himself as a father to the entire city and that he was proud of his name and title. This all changes by the end of the play, however, and Oedipus' name becomes a curse, that everyone frights at when they hear it. By doing this Sophocles' showed that pride was bad in any form, even if it was substantiated by actions that one could be proud of. Personally I believe that this lesson is the most important of the four in modern day society. Arrogance and conceit, both brought on by pride, are problems commonly faced in today's…
Richard C. Armitage's quote “I have a bit of pride, which is always my downfall.”, is an acknowledgement of a personal fatal flaw, pride, which incidentally is a flaw shared by many of history's great leaders. One example is Napoleon Bonaparte, the emperor of France, whose pride drove his desire to conquer all of Europe, eventually leading to the downfall of him and the nation he built. Similarly, the Greek word Hamartia, a fatal flaw leading to one’s downfall, applies to many historical leaders as well as a particularly iconic figure in Greek mythology, Oedipus. In Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, there is a tragic figure named Oedipus who fled his home in Corinth in fear of a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. On his journey away from home, he, unknowingly, kills his father and when he arrives at Thebes, Oedipus is able to solve the riddle of the Sphinx thus filling himself with pride. The people of Thebes crown Oedipus as their king and Oedipus marries the queen of Thebes, Jocasta. However,…
Oedipus The King is most likely one of the greatest tragedies ever recorded. This play tells the story of the great downfall of a once honored king who by the end of the story, becomes a great curse. This is mainly due to his great sense of pride. It was believed by the Greeks that people with this immense pride thought that they were above the gods. Aristotle believed that the protagonist of every tragedy must have some type of tragic flaw that will eventually lead to his demise. To Oedipus ,of Oedipus The King, pride is his tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. Some examples of his pride taking over him were: when he correctly answered the Sphinx’s riddle, when he abandoned his adoptive parents in Corinth, and when he killed Laius in the crossroads.…
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (rpt. in James P. Place, Literature: A reader for Freshman Composition II, 1st ed. [Boston: Pearson, 2011] 122-168), the oracles had prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and beget children by his mother. Oedipus does not want to do the things that Apollo predicted; he is no puppet, but indeed the controller of his own fate. Oedipus was unwilling to have his fate come true; he was frightened that he would kill his adopted parents. He believes they were his real parents, therefore he left to Thebes. The decision he made was based on the stories he heard. This led to Oedipus’s own downfall.…
“I, Oedipus, a name that all men know” said a very hubristic and “blinded” Oedipus. There are three causes that result in hubris, or overwhelming pride, that occur through Oedipus numerous times throughout the play Oedipus The King, and many other leaders. These three causes are: A situation in which a kingdom or a society is experiencing a downfall and is in need of a savior, something fortunate happens that puts the character in a favorable position and in an ideal setting in place, and an above-average denial, ignorance, or “blindness” to new-found knowledge which may place the character in an unfavorable or degrading position or situation with people of the kingdom or society in which the character is located.…
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.…
“Oedipus the King” was a tale depicting the human experience; each human has a great victory, shortly accompanied by a great demise; the rollercoaster of life. Oedipus had his great success soon become the reason for his fall. With Oedipus’ deadly flaw being ‘hubris’; his excessive pride led him to believe he was on the level of ‘gods’. Once he paraded that he was invulnerable (untouchable by even the gods), his fall would be all the more tragic. Throughout the tale however, Oedipus uses many rhetorical devices towards all his subjects without even recognizing.…
* showcase your critical thinking skills through analysis and insight and must demonstrate control of the topic at hand.…
In this play, Oedipus the King, there are any references to eyes, sight, and the lacks thereof are made throughout Oedipus the King. There are parts where characters have limited physical sight, such as Teiresias's blindness, and there are also parts where their sight, in the form of perception, is limited. Most importantly, sight is used in the play as a symbol for knowledge, such as the how the oracles and the "seer" (16), Teiresias, can 'see' the truth. The play is about Oedipus's quest for knowledge and his attempts to avoid his fate. The underlying question of Oedipus the King is if one can escape their fate. Sophocles presents this question by using sight as a symbol for knowledge, and then leaves guidance for answering the question by showing that being sighted or blind can determine if one can control their fate.…
In the polis of Thebes, Oedipus was the not only the king but he was also the hero of the community. The security and health of the community depended on him and he was expected to meet every urgent crisis with a plausible solution. He was celebrated for acting decisively and making decisions and then acting on them. With all his past accomplishments and achievements, Oedipus developed a strong sense of confidence, which fueled his over inflated ego. Unfortunately, when circumstances did not turn out in his favor, such as in his conflict with Tiresias the blind prophet, Oedipus became rigid and refused to see the problem on any one else’s terms except his own. Oedipus only wanted things to go the way he thought they should go. Whatever stood in his way he tried to overcome publicly and without any compromise from the opposing party, which was illustrated in his argument in front of the palace with Creon over the murder of the former King Laius. Ultimately his attitude of confidence with no compromises contributed to his disastrous and sad end. In most cases, intelligence and diligence are valuable traits to possess, but for Oedipus they contributed to his eventual downfall. Oedipus was known for being extremely intelligent and was very talented at solving riddles. To earn the right to be King of Thebes, Oedipus solved a riddle, which as a result…