This instantly places him right on top and boosts him up to fulfill the Kings position. His intuitive instincts and drive to put together his life signified him as a man always on a hunt. These qualities where huge attributes to his life however, he also had many negative traits which would end him. He was a man with a huge temper which leads right to his downfall. Since his temper is what ultimately killed his father, it was obvious that it would not stop there. His lack of emotion and sensitivity to these killing sprees was a sign of a broken man unwilling to wear his heart of his sleeve. A man of pride. This follows even more problems for Oedipus as time continues. He refuses to listen to Teiresias, the blind seer of Thebes. He is informed about his future and is taking back by all that makes sense to him now. He is left alone to figure out what to do next. Instead of handling the situation calmly and effectively, he goes out on an rampage and seeks to kill his wife/mother for not telling him to the truth. Once he arrives, he instantly finds her hung by her own hair. This forces him to completely lose his right state of mind and punishes himself by gauging his…
Many people believe that this was the retribution he paid for his crime, but I would argue that Oedipus had no choice in the matter and simply had fulfilled his destiny. Oedipus does not consciously know of what he was doing at the time, and thus, his crime was not entirely premeditated. And one cannot condemn ignorance no more than one can realistically condemn good intentions, for Oedipus was both truly unaware of what he had done and of no desire to harm whom he had thought to be his…
While reading the play, a first impression of Oedipus can be portrayed as a compassionate and caring ruler and person. He wants the kingdom to be well and not to suffer. He shows confidence and intelligence to the people due to his previous encounter with the Sphinx. Furthermore, Oedipus wants to learn of the cities troubles himself as he stated "it would not be appropriate for me to learn of this from any other source, so I have come in person" showing his concern for his citizens. He is already showing his interest to aid in the troubles because the people "can be confident that [he] will help...[to] assist" them in any way that he can.…
Oedipus Rex is full of people searching for justice. Throughout the play Oedipus acts upon what he believes is justice.…
“Oedipus the King” is a drama that portrays misfortune that dwells among mankind. The tragic sequence of events first starts with the birth of Oedipus. His biological parents are stricken with grief when they discover a secret that causes them to banish their son from the city of Thebes. Little did they know that, despite their actions, fate would still play out which would, in turn, cause the society of Thebes to be stricken by the plague. Although many people suffered from the unfortunate destiny of Oedipus, perhaps the person that suffered the most was Oedipus himself. Oedipus endured an unforgiving reality check after being blindsided by the current state of his life.…
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.…
A tragic hero is defined as “a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake” (“Aristotle”, n.d.). Therefore, a tragic hero has some sort of tragedy that surrounds their life. A tragic hero also makes dramas more interesting and makes readers think. Dramas sometimes either exemplify or refute Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. Oedipus by Sophocles exemplifies Aristotle’s definition in four different aspects. The first aspect involves both Oedipus’ ignorance and knowledge of his life situations, the second involves his hamartia, the third involves the actual plot itself, and the fourth involves the characterization of…
A. King is caring, investigator he is determined, as a husband and father he is loving, and as an arch-criminal he is reluctant to give up power…
Any great story has its critics ready to critique every great detail of a story. Sophocles’s Oedipus the King is no exemption. Oedipus the King was written around 430 B.C. so this play has had plenty of time to be critiqued. Not only has this Greek tragedy been around for so long, but it is considered a masterpiece; it only makes sense for something very famous to be criticized even more.…
However, if the people chose not to speak up and were covering up for a family or friend they will be banished and not spoken to or able to attend religious activities. He will be cursed and live a life in misery. Oedipus summoned Tiresias as suggested by Creon and also the chorus. When Oedipus asked Tiresias of whom the murderer is, Tiresias refuses to say anything and…
“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.…
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.…
Sight and Blindness has many different meanings throughout the world. The concept of blindness can be seen as the literal inability to look at the world and it is also perceived as being blind to a situation or event that is obvious. The Sophocles Tragedy, Oedipus the King, portrays both of the viewpoints of sight and blindness. The characters in Sophocles’ work live a hectic, ever-changing, life with twists of fate.…
Upon the revealing of his sins, Oedipus was in control of the outcome. In punishment, he gouged his eyes out to make himself blind. The chorus asked Oedipus what god urged him to do this action. He replied with, “Apollo, my friends-these things are Apollo, who brought to pass these evil, evil sufferings of mine. But no man struck me with his hand, but I myself dared it” (Sophocles 1360-1363). When Oedipus realized the magnitude of his sins, he took full responsibility for his behavior. In turn, he accepted the burden of those actions by imposing his own punishment. If Oedipus believed he was not the one to blame for the misdoings, he would have undoubtedly turned to the gods for their next step. However, since he clearly knew he was the only…
What is justice? This may seem like a simple question to answer but for many in today’s society it is not. Individuals throughout society have their own explanation of justice. It is a word in which every person has a different meaning. Although "Justice" has a vast list of meanings, it can somewhat be defined. Loosely, it can be defined as “The quality of being just; fairness”. Although what justice means to me is being punished for a crime that has been committed. The offender has to pay for his/her causes. Punishments include variations such as death sentence or imprisonment etc. For most of the people justice has moreover the same meaning. Personally I believe that punishment should fit the crime. Two wrongs do not make a right. I believe that every victim has a right to get justice. In the eye of the law , justice should be given fairly to everyone no matter how but it should be given to some extent. Justice is usually…