Oedipus the King Paper
Sabrina Bousbar
9/19/12
Period 5
English II Honors
Part 1 Oedipus the King, lines 1-750 1) What were your initial thoughts about the character of Oedipus? My own initial thought about Oedipus is that he is very nice towards his “parents” because he thinks he will be saving his family and not killing his father. Then when he kills the king I was wondering why he would start a fight to the death when they could have just solved it peacefully. Then I thought he was very stuck up and spoiled because he became king for getting rid of the Sphinx and was very stubborn to his brother-in-law (uncle). Then I thought that he needs to stop talking and listen to his own thoughts and think everything threw. 2) From lines 1-89, what qualities do the people attribute to Oedipus? What heroic qualities does he attribute to himself? The qualities people attribute to Oedipus is that they see him as a very kind, smart, and a strong man mostly because he faced the Sphinx. The heroic quality that he attributes to himself is that he saved the kingdom by getting rid of the Sphinx. Oedipus though does not know it was him who killed the king. 3) Teiresias is blind but sees. Oedipus has eyes but is blind. (Line 413) Why is Oedipus, the man who solved the riddle of the Sphinx, so slow to solve the riddle of his own identity? Oedipus is slow to solve the riddle of his own identity because he doesn’t see how he killed the king. He doesn’t see that the prophecy is never wrong and that he was suppose to kill his father and marry his mother. He doesn’t see that he killed a man the day the king went missing. He is too stubborn to see what is in front of him. Most people don’t want to know the truth so they find a way to make another reason instead of the truth, which exactly what Oedipus is
9/19/12
Period 5
English II Honors
Part 1 Oedipus the King, lines 1-750 1) What were your initial thoughts about the character of Oedipus? My own initial thought about Oedipus is that he is very nice towards his “parents” because he thinks he will be saving his family and not killing his father. Then when he kills the king I was wondering why he would start a fight to the death when they could have just solved it peacefully. Then I thought he was very stuck up and spoiled because he became king for getting rid of the Sphinx and was very stubborn to his brother-in-law (uncle). Then I thought that he needs to stop talking and listen to his own thoughts and think everything threw. 2) From lines 1-89, what qualities do the people attribute to Oedipus? What heroic qualities does he attribute to himself? The qualities people attribute to Oedipus is that they see him as a very kind, smart, and a strong man mostly because he faced the Sphinx. The heroic quality that he attributes to himself is that he saved the kingdom by getting rid of the Sphinx. Oedipus though does not know it was him who killed the king. 3) Teiresias is blind but sees. Oedipus has eyes but is blind. (Line 413) Why is Oedipus, the man who solved the riddle of the Sphinx, so slow to solve the riddle of his own identity? Oedipus is slow to solve the riddle of his own identity because he doesn’t see how he killed the king. He doesn’t see that the prophecy is never wrong and that he was suppose to kill his father and marry his mother. He doesn’t see that he killed a man the day the king went missing. He is too stubborn to see what is in front of him. Most people don’t want to know the truth so they find a way to make another reason instead of the truth, which exactly what Oedipus is