Everyone makes mistakes and has flaws – not even famous celebrities are perfect. With all of the social networking, growth of the internet, and all other media sources, these mistakes by the people we adore are blown out of proportion and shared with the world. In the Ancient Greek Tragic play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the reader learns about the tragic flaw and downfall of Oedipus. While reading, he/she begins to think about all of the celebrities that have also had a flaw which led to a major downfall. Tiger Woods and Oedipus are very similar in that they were both on top of the world but each had tragic flaws which lead to their downfall and exile from the world that they ruled.…
work, “A High Minded Man”. The qualities that Oedipus possess include truth and honour, yet…
In Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, some of the characters cause their own problems. The idea applies not only to the story but to real life as well. In fact, “The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.” The significance of this quotation is that people bring on their own sadness by their own doings. Other people do not cause the grief. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus causes his own grief by trying to escape the fate of the oracle’s prophecy. He cannot blame his grief on anyone but himself.…
Have you ever heard the saying ‘’ the truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.’’ Well behind that there is another question, Is it always good to know the truth? Some say the truth will either break or make a person. Would you rather live your life in a bundle of lies and pretend to be happy? Or would you rather spend your life in shame and suffering because of the truth? It would be a guarantee the guilty feeling will not there because you told the truth. For when you are a child, to tell the truth was good we all were thought right from wrong, truth from lies but most of all the truth is always better than the lies. Take a minute and think on it, is it really always good to know the truth?…
1. Oedipus characterizes himself by in line 7 of scene 1, Oedipus says, "I Oedipus, a name that all men know."(known afar) This shows he has much pride for himself. He feels he is very important, and that no one is above him. He knows the people need his help, and he feels prideful that they would need him. The people view him as their saviour. They are relieved to have him there to help them, and they almost worship him for his help. But as for Oedipus his attitude towards the suppliants is good, he anticipates his subjects needs and is always one step ahead of them.…
What is the effect of Oedipus' insistence and promises regarding the hunting down and punishing of the murderer of Laius? What does this suggest concerning his character as well as the meaning of Sophocles' play?…
From the very start, Oedipus doomed himself by launching a search for the killer of Laius in hopes of further establishing himself as a hero. When the people of Thebes begged Oedipus to find the root of the plague, he was all too eager to declare his greatness by saying, “Now you have me on your side, as is only right. I shall be the defender of Thebes, and Apollo's champion, too (Sophocles 12).” The investigation for King Laius’ murderer serves as the central action of the tragedy, and from the onset it was doomed to end in Oedipus’ destruction. Blissfully unaware of this, he used diction such as “only right”, “defender”, and “champion” to reassure the chorus. These words all have boastful connotations and reveal Oedipus’ actual goal, which was to once again prove his own cleverness to the world. However, this plan backfired, and Oedipus was later faced with the bitter fact that he was the very murderer he had been looking for all this time. Had Oedipus taken a more modest approach in his attempt to save Thebes, perhaps the Gods would not have been angered to the point of ruining his life.…
Another way that Oedipus shows himself to be a tragic hero is through his imperfection. The second of Aristotle's criteria is that the hero is still imperfect, despite his nobility. While Oedipus demonstrates eminence, he also shows himself to be flawed. He is intelligent, yet quick to judge, overly prideful and haughty. Oedipus can see only what he wants to see out of life and hear only what he wants to hear. Because he is quick to judge, he often judges irrationally and incorrectly, which ultimately causes him many problems. Oedipus is unwilling to believe both Creon and Tiresias because of this pride he possesses. They both come to him bearing the truth, telling him that…
For example, Oedipus is shown, from the first scene, to be a benevolent ruler. Sophocles builds this idea through dialogue as Oedipus refers to the people of Thebes as “My children” – this paternal image is also noted by critic Victor Ehrenberg when he writes “Oedipus is a good king, a father of his people”. An ethical belief of the Ancient Greeks was that “each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but in the affairs of the city as well” (Pericles) so Sophocles’s conception of character therefore reflects the ethical beliefs of this society. Similarly to Faustus, Oedipus displays intelligence, for example, he is the only person able to solve the sphinx’s riddle. Famously the Ancient Greeks held knowledge and scholarship highly so again Oedipus is demonstrating contemporary ideals. Furthermore the ideal Athenian leader would have been a “man of action”, something Oedipus definitely was. Frequently he is one step ahead (“I sent escorts, twice, within the hour”) therefore fulfilling this notion. However, initially, whilst he is a man of action he does not behave rashly and thinks carefully prior to acting (“groping and labouring over many paths of thought” before making a decision) and therefore is exemplifying still further this notion of the Athenian…
In Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, the theme of irony plays an important part through the play. What Oedipus does, what he says, and even who he is can sometimes be ironic. This irony can help us to see the character of Oedipus as truly a 'blind' man, or a wholly 'public' man.…
Oedipus however, like all tragic heroes, has one great weakness, or flaw as said by Aristotle; his excessive pride, which the Chorus describes as: “Insolence breeds the tyrant, insolence if it is glutted with a surfeit, unseasonable, unprofitable… But I pray that the God may never abolish the eager ambition that profits the state, for I shall never cease to hold the God as our protector” (Sophocles, Oedipus the King, 875-882). Not only does the chorus refer to his pride, but Oedipus himself hints at it. In line 8 he says, "I Oedipus whom…
A high-minded man is one who speaks the truth. In “The High Minded Man” Aristotle writes “He must care for truth more than for what men will think of him, and speak and act openly. He will not hesitate to say what he thinks.” (Witt 160). He explains how people should see past what others will think of how they act and speak. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus displays this characteristic. Oedipus speaks his mind to Kreon:…
Oedipus' arrogance is a double-edged sword, which propels the story forward and goes in hand in hand with his detrimental hubris. On many occasions he is told to stop wondering. Tiresias, the blind prophet who can see much clearer than our fateful King, tells Oedipus, "Please let me go home. It's for the best." The Corinthian messenger also warns him of such atrocities, which lead him to the next element of Greek…
* All qualities that Pericles ascribes to Athenians of his day in the funeral speech…
This in turn ironically causes him to set up his demise. His ruin is brought on by his stubbornness to learn the truth. Oedipus’ bullheadedness is what makes him ignore Tiresias warnings. This is displayed when Oedipus declares, “Yea, I am wroth, and will not stint my words, but speak my whole mind. Thou me thinks thou art he, Who planned the crime, aye, and performed it too, All save the assassination; and if thou Hadst not been blind, I had been sworn to boot That thou alone didst do the bloody deed” (Sophocles 345-50). This exhibition of Oedipus’s stubbornness, forces Tiresias to speak the truth unwillingly. Hubristic Oedipus, fails to see Tiresias’s premonitions. He stubbornly threatens Tiresias and banishes him from his…