Analysis of Oedipus the King Essays

Sophocles' play Oedipus the King has endured for over two thousand years. The play's lasting appeal may be attributed to the fact it encompasses all the classical elements of tragedy as put forth by Aristotle in Poetics nearly a century before it was written. According to Aristotle, tragedy needs to be an imitation of life according to the law of probability or necessity. Tragedy is serious, complete, and has magnitude. It must have a beginning, middle, and end and be spoken in language that is fit for noble characters. Furthermore it must be acted, as opposed to epic poetry, which is narrated. Tragedy shows rather than tells. Finally it must result in the purging of pity and fear, or a catharsis. Tragedy is based in the fundamental order of the universe, it creates a cause-and-effect chain that clearly reveals what may happen at any time or place because that is the way the world operates. Tragedy arouses not only pity but also fear, because the audience can envision themselves within this cause-and-effect chain. Tragedy as a whole is composed of six elements: plot, character, language, thought, spectacle and melody. Melody and language are the media by which the effect of imitation of action is carried out, spectacle is the manner or way the tragedy is carried out, and plot, character and thought are the means that initiate the action. Oedipus the King possesses all of these elements.

The ancient Greeks were famous for their tragedies. These dramas functioned to “ask questions about the nature of man, his position in the universe, and the powers that govern his life” (“Greek” 1). Brereton (1968) stated that tragedies typically “involved a final and impressive disaster due to an unforeseen or unrealized failure involving people who command respect and sympathy. It often entails an ironical change of fortune and usually conveys a strong impression of waste. It is always accompanied by misery and emotional distress” (20). The play, Oedipus the King, by Sophocles definitely demonstrated the characteristics of an impressive disaster unforeseen by the protagonist that involved a character of

Oedipus is a complex character who possesses attributes that many of us can identify with. He is an intelligent, prideful, arrogant man with a relentless, stubborn determination to find the truth. It is this arrogance and stubborn determination that ultimately leads to his demise.

Irony is “incongruity between the actual results of a sequence of events and the normal or expected results (Merriam – Webster).” This means that a person may think that something is going to happen based on what they see or what they believe, when in reality the exact opposite happens. Irony can be further specified as dramatic or tragic irony. These types of irony often occur in plays, stories, and movies; where viewers or readers are led in one direction and director or author reveals different results than what is expected. The sudden twists and turns create drama and keep people interested thus, deserving the name dramatic irony.

King uses strong visual imagery to compare Jack and Ullman’s positions in the power structure. When Jack first meets Ullman he describes his suit as being reassuring to the customers. However he thinks, "To the hired help it spoke more curtly: this had better be good you” (1). Jack describes Ullman’s suit as being very demanding. The word "spoke" personifies a suit, giving it more power. The suits demanding presence also portrays Ullman’s dominance over his employees. Ullman's suit is described as dark, perhaps the color black. The color black holds holds a great significance. Ullman tells Jack how, “ This year the overlooks accounts were written in black ink for the first time in almost 7 decades” (9). The color black translates into success,

Oedipus was a thoughtful king in the book Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles. Before Oedipus was born, Laius and Jocasta (Parents of Oedipus, King and Queen of Thebes) went to go see Apollo. Reason being, they wanted to talk to Apollo to see what future was ahead for their family. He told them that their baby (Oedipus) would end up killing his father Laius and marrying his mother Jocasta. Them hearing such awful news, they pierced his feet together and gave him to a servant/shepherd to leave him in the woods to die. Baby Oedipus was given to another shepherd, from corinth, out of pity and was then given to his adoptive parents, Polybus and Merope (King and Queen of Corinth).

Aristotle says that “a tragic event involves a fall from greatness, brought about, at least partially, by the agent’s free action.” Oedipus’s demise is attributed to his pride and uncontrolled anger. Oedipus ran from his home in fear of a prophecy that he would not have fulfilled if he had stayed. He let his anger blind him and unknowingly killed his biological father on the road. “I struck him in my rage...I killed him. I killed them all.” Oedipus kills Laios, and everyone with him, over being asked to move out of the way to let the king pass. His anger issues would not immediately qualify Oedipus as a tragic hero, but when combined with his noble stature and his morals, he begins to fit Aristotle’s description. A summary of Aristotle’s writing states, “The combination of the hero’s greatness and his responsibility for his own downfall is what entitles us to describe his downfall as tragic rather than as merely pathetic” (pg. 1253). Oedipus’s high stature as a compassionate king as well as his own personal mistakes is what makes his demise

Oedipus the king written by sophecles when read for the first time the reader will realize that the audience already knows what is going to happen its just the way that the characters deal will with it. There is an oracle that says that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother.

Sophocles’ play, King Oedipus is a perfect example of a clear Aristotelian tragedy. In fact, it was so perfect that Aristotle himself considered it the ideal tragedy. An Aristotelian tragedy is “serious action in a dramatic text that portrays incidents arousing pity and fear, causing catharsis in the audience.” Aspects of a tragedy include a tragic hero, who is neither good nor bad, who has a hamartia which causes him to ignore a divine warning or violate a moral law. A common example of hamartia is hubris, or pride. A tragedy is also often accompanied by a peripeteia, which is when the tragic hero has a sudden change of fortune. The tragic hero moves us to pity and also to fear, by showing us how what happened to him could happen to us as

exercising his free choice by making bad decisions . Oedipus certainly meets these portrayals of a tragic hero. The dialect of tragedy consists of two circles: one is a relative point and the other is impacted and the effect on its audience. Sophocles and Aristotle’s achieve that task with absolute clearness. The modern reader, coming to the classic drama not entirely to the enjoyment, will not always surrender himself to the emotional effect. He is apt to worry about Greek ‘fatalism’ and the justice of the downfall of Oedipus, and, finding no satisfactory solution for these intellectual difficulties, loses half the pleasure that the drama was intended to produce . In dramatizing stories, there will dependably blends of passionate sentiments, suspense, and fervor to discover what’s

“The only thing worse than being blind, is having sight with no vision”. This quote by American author Helen Keller perfectly captures the main characters journey in the play Oedipus the king by Sophocles. In this play the reader finds out that to see the truth one does not have to have eyes but have an open mind. The reader learns this through the quest the main character takes to solve a mystery in his kingdom. The main character, Oedipus is the king of a Greek city called Thebes who was from Corinth. He came to Thebes because there was prophecy stating that he would kill his father and marry is mother, so he left for Thebes where he solved the riddle and took the crown. While Oedipus was the kings, the city of Thebes fell into bad times

Although Oedipus the King was written by Sophocles when the Ancient Greek civilization was at its peak, far before the textbook you will read it from was created, its ideas and themes can still be applicable. Despite being far older than the simple platitude, one theme of Sophocles’ tragedy is perhaps best explained with the phrase “ignorance is bliss”. Oedipus the King also has a second theme, people pick and choose what they want to believe as it suits them. Both themes, developed through the symbolism and irony throughout the tragedy, cause us to question our own pursuits and beliefs, making it a story worth examining further.

The Greek play, Oedipus the King, shows how easy it is for a man to fall apart, while trying to make things right. Sophocles’ tragedy tells the story of Oedipus, a regular man turned king of Thebes. Throughout the tragedy, Oedipus searches for the cause of the chaos and havoc encompassing his land; however, he discovers that he is the one responsible for the hardships plaguing Thebes. As the tragedy continues, Sophocles’ exposes a dark side to power, fame, and ambition. Further, Sophocles’ exposes the fear that many have of the truth, and exposes the grave danger in hiding from it.

Oedipus the King: Literary Analysis Essay Sophocles was one of the great classical Athens’ playwrights, creating dramas to not only captivate but also to deliver a message, wisdom being the main idea behind most of his tragedies. In Sophocles’s Oedipus the King, the plot was driven by Oedipus’s ignorance towards his prophecies. Because of his ignorance he acted on impulse rather than finding the truth, therefore, creating an iron barrier around himself, trapping the image of an heroic and innocent savior to the people of Thebes. Oedipus is used to portray the lack of truth due to blindness by putting up a shield of ignorance.

Oedipus did not have a fair start in life. His father, Laius, heard prophecy that Oedipus would one day kill his father and sleep with his mother. In order to prevent this, Laius gave Oedipus to a shepherd to be killed. Fortunately, through a string of events, Oedipus's life was saved, and he even went on to become the honored king of Thebes. Despite this feat, Oedipus still managed to make several decisions that ultimately fulfilled the original prophecy told to Laius, and inevitably sealed Oedipus?s fate.