Arrogance In Oedipus The King

Due to his arrogance and narcissism, Oedipus fails to take heed of Tiresias warning of whom Creon sent him and decided that the accusations that were being made against him are attempts to steal his throne. Likewise, Oedipus tells Tiresias when he was reluctant to tell Oedipus is Laius’ killer, “What then, thou knowest, and yet willst not speak!/Wouldst thou betray us and destroy the

Oedipus assumes that Creon desires to have him killed so that he could be King of Thebes. Oedipus also does not want to believe what Teiresias said because that would indicate that the prophecy has came true; he will be the one killed or thrown into exile. He does not believe the truth until he hears from a messenger and a herdsman. When Oedipus asks where the child came from the herdsman replies, "It was a child, them, of the house of Laius" (Sophocles 141). He is finally no longer suspicious of Creon. Without suspicion these characters would have failed terrible in their pursuit to live.

Another example of Oedipus trying to escape his fate occurs when he talks with Teiresias. Oedipus' pride is so great, he cannot stand being accused of killing Laius. Instead, Oedipus "think[s] [Teiresias] [was] complotter of the deed and doer of the deed in save for the actual killing" (441). Oedipus knows he has killed an innocent man at a crossroads before, yet he cannot admit to the murder to aid in the investigation. Instead, his hubris restricts him from doing so, he cannot be seen negatively. Oedipus' could have avoided the death of his mother, Jacosta, had he told Teiresias about his murder. Instead, due to this prolongation, Oedipus loses his vision and his wife/mother. Oedipus also shows hubris in his swift decision to kill Creon, accusing him to be the "murderer of that man [Laius]" (444). Again, Oedipus only finds blame in others, not in himself. Disaster can be averted if the severity of his tragic flaw is mitigated. Even though the claim against Creon is baseless, Oedipus' excessive pride and his trait to make swift decisions almost lead to the death of his brother-in-law. Oedipus' hubris controls the events of the play, and eventually leads to his

Oedipus’ foolish decisions ultimately lead to his downfall in the play. Oedipus chooses to kill Laios. He chooses to marry Iocaste. He chooses to forcefully, and publicly, assume the mission of discovering the identity of Laios’ murderer saying ironically, “I say I take the son’s part, just as though I were his son, to press the fight for him and see it won,” (633). He proceeds on this mission and chooses to ignore the warnings of Creon, Iocaste, Teiresias, the messenger, the shepherd, and anyone who attempts to stand between him and the truth; and, he chooses to blind himself. In the end, Oedipus’ most foolish choice prevails throughout the play; the choice of illusion over reality ultimately costs him his life.

Throughout the tragedy by Sophocles, the king Oedipus relies on his personal glory to attain long lasting fame and balks when confronted with anything that might shatter this perception that he is the best. While both characters have done marvelous deeds in the past, their inherent arrogance, which is part of the tragic flaw of each of the characters,

Additional evidence of Oedipus’ tragic flaw of arrogance can be found later during Oedipus’ conversation with Tiresias. The two start out talking in a civil manner but things start to heat up when Tiresias refuses to tell Oedipus what he knows. With all the anger and frustration Oedipus has for Tiresias he blows up and says “You helped hatch the plot, you did the work, yes, short of killing him with your own hands -and given eyes I’d say you did the killing with your own hands” (Sophocles 394-397).

In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the character of Oedipus displays so much hubris, and arguably is easily angered, and jumps to conclusions causing the reader to conclude that he is a bad leader.

Creon returns and says that Thebes must find the murderer of the former king. Oedipus seeks for information, regarding the murder of Laius. Oedipus welcomes Teresius, the oracle, to come to his palace, but Teresius regrets it immediately. He says that Oedipus is the cause of the Black Plague, and Oedipus says that Teresius is committing treason with Creon. Then, Oedipus accuses Creon of treason, but Creon defends himself. Jocasta,

    From the beginning of this play, Oedipus made many risky actions that will take him to his downfall. Out of empathy for his suffering people, he had Creon go to Delph as he could have waited for the plague to end instead. "Upon the murderer I invoke this curse- whether he is one man and all unknown, or one of many- may he wear out his life in misery or doom! If with my knowledge he lives at my hearth, I pray that I myself may feel my curse.” (Sophocles, 477; lines 266-271) Other than just finding clues to the murderer of King Laius, Oedipus summons a terrible curse on them. Without knowledge of who it could be yet, he is actually putting the curse on himself. When Oedipus was told that he was responsible for the murder of Laius, he threatens Teiresias, becomes enraged, calls the old oracle a liar, and ignores everything the oracle says. “If a man walks with

Benjamin Whichcote once said, “None are so empty as those who are full of themselves.” The words ring true through the character Oedipus whose tragic flaw of arrogance brought his downfall. In his timeless play, Oedipus Rex, author Sophocles unflinchingly illuminates the haughtiness and hubris displayed by the hero Oedipus. Through his candid exploration of the ship/captain and light/dark motifs, Sophocles makes an effort to ultimately bring the reader to the realization that arrogance creates an illusion to the truth and the potential dangers such pride poses for both the guilty party and those for whom the arrogant are responsible.

621 ln. 149-150) after Creon tells him why they stopped searching for Laius’s killer. Dramatic irony is present when Oedipus tries to skirt the horrible prophecy of him killing his father and coupling with his mother, because in fleeing Corinth to avoid murdering Polybus, he is actually taking the correct path to fulfill the prophecy. Again his overconfidence and pride contributes to his impending doom; in believing that he has outwitted the gods he challenges his fate. Although he has enough reverence to the deities not to assume himself to be an equal with the gods, but greater than them it is clear through the word usage that Oedipus perceives himself to be of a greater importance than the lesser mortals that surround him “One of you summon the city here before us, tell them I’ll do everything. God help us, we will see our triumph-or our fall” (p. 621 ln. 163-165). He is conceited to think that he can shape his own destiny and the gods punish him for this arrogance.

In addition, to his irony of fate, shows that he has a fate of pride. His fate of pride forced him to murder his own father. The evidence of Oedipus’ efforts can be found certainly towards him leaving his parents who raised him in order to save them and to avoid fulfilling the prophecy. He fails in this effort, offering some strong proof that he is a “victim of fate.” Oedipus’s pride soon prevents him from seeing the truth. Oedipus is blinded by his pride because he cannot accept his fate due to the certainty that he tries to avoid his own fate. Had Oedipus not had so much pride, he would listened to Creon and Teiresias ideal belief of who had really killed King Laius, which was Oedipus. The evidence of Oedipus’ efforts can be found that he accuses his brother, Creon, of trying to

Oedipus, throughout the book, displays great determination. This may be an effect of his hubris, his overconfidence in the way he views himself has led him to believe that he can do anything, so he tries to. Soon after Oedipus discovers that he must find a murderer in Thebes, he vows to Creon that he will find this murder, and questions him vividly. “Oedipus: Where are they? Where would a trace of this old crime be found? Creon: The clue is in this land, so said the God.” (10) Oedipus truly wants to find the killer, whether this is to prove himself or save Thebes is up to interpretation, however he asks Creon many questions about the killer. If Oedipus was just hubristic and not determined he wouldn’t care about Laius’ murder, because he would view himself above the Gods and their punishments. However, he questions Creon and vows to find the murderer with him. Along with his questioning of Creon, Oedipus invokes a curse onto the

Because of his commitment to his people and their suffering, he sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to Delphi to see the gods to find out why his city is under such a great plague and what he can do to stop it. Creon returns and says, “… It was murder that brought the plague-wind on the city” and that it was King Laios that was murdered years ago (Prologue, 104-105). Vowing to bring the murderer to justice and being a just King, Oedipus decrees that if the murderer reveals himself he will not be killed, he will be exiled. This determination and tenaciousness was the beginning of the end of King Oedipus.

In Oedipus’ palace, Creon attempts to plead his case after Oedipus accuses him of being the murderer, as well as a traitor to Thebes. The feud between the two men is broken up by Jocasta, who is Oedipus’ wife and Creon’s sister. Her intervention prevents the exile or execution of her brother. In addition, she manages to quell her husband’s anger and gets Oedipus to talk about the problem at hand. At this point in time, Oedipus still is adamant that Creon is guilty. He recalls what Tiresias told him about him being the murderer of Laius. Jocasta reassures Oedipus by saying that the prophets aren’t always correct. She recounts of a time when Laius visited the Oracle who told Laius that he would be murdered by his own son. In result, Laius supposedly killed his child by riveting his feet together and leaving him on a mountainside to die. However, Jocasta’s reassurances have the opposite effect. Oedipus discovers that Laius was murdered at the same crossroad, in which Oedipus had an altercation with a band of travelers that were harassing him. The only witness to the crime was a servant, who became a shepherd. Oedipus requests for the shepherd to confirm his story.