Chaos And Chaos In Oedipus

This denial causes him to make decisions that only lead to his downfall and further deterioration. He himself leads to his own downfall through his foolish beliefs. To further, Oedipus makes more destructive decisions when he summons the Sheppard to reveal who the murderer of Laius is. Oedipus says, “I must pursue this trail to the end, till I have unraveled the mystery of my birth” (Sophocles, 113), illustrating his mental deterioration considering that this obsession to deny his position as the murderer is consuming his life. Oedipus forces the Sheppard to tell the ill-fated truth and is told: “I hadn’t the heart to destroy it, master” (Sophocles, 118), demonstrating that Oedipus was the cursed baby who was sent to his death, but as fate had planned, Oedipus lived. Not only did he live, he went on to accomplish each revelation the Oracle declared he would. At the end, once the truth has been revealed, Oedipus reaches his breaking point and cannot bear the truth. His mental deterioration from discovering the truth consequently influences him into literally blinding himself, resulting in his downfall. These examples establish how Oedipus’s internal madness played the role of influencing him into believing he could alter the will of the Oracle. He displayed madness when he continuously denied the truth despite the evidence that went against his beliefs. He was blinded by madness into

“You came and by your coming saved our city, freed us from the tribute which we paid of old to the Sphinx, cruel singer”(39-41), This tells us Oedipus’ pasts and how his insight helped him become king of Thebes. “Not twice you shall say calumnies like this and stay unpunished”(417-418), Here Oedipus claims that Teiresias accusing him of the murder is wrong and impossible. Due to his ignorance, Oedipus believes that Creon and Teiresias are plotting to overthrow him from the throne. Even later in the play there is a point when he absentmindedly remarks, "Strange, hearing you just now . . . my mind wandered, my thoughts racing back and forth”(800-802), where he is maybe considering that he may actually be the murderer. Yet Oedipus does not blame himself for the plague of the city, instead he tries to place the burden onto others as he continues his investigation, blindly trusting his own superior ability while ignoring the obvious evidence that surrounds him. Continuing the metaphor of sight and blindness, Sophocles uses it to shows how Oedipus is unwilling to accept his true fate and is blinded, and ignorant to his past actions. This also brings about irony due to the fact that Oedipus was made famous in Thebes for his keen insight, by solving the riddle of the Sphinx, but is unable to clearly see his current

Oedipus was a powerful man that had his life ruined by his excessive pride and selfishness. The same qualities that helped him to rise and become the king of Thebes also caused him to feel a lot of pain. He lost everything that he had gained in a short period of time. Oedipus learned that having power was not all that he thought it was. His life had been a lie and he actually didn’t know anything about the place he was born until he was instructed to save it. Oedipus himself caused his downfall with his selfishness and pride.

In short, Oedipus is a poor leader. He is irrational which leads to him being hot headed, and ultimately leads to him being naive and blind to the truth. The irrationality of this character shows readers that negative actions will lead to someone’s

From a prideful, heroic king at the beginning of the play, to a tyrant in denial towards the middle, and finally to a fearful, condemned man, humbled by his tragic fate, Oedipus’ change personifies that which makes an unforgettable drama. When Oedipus is first introduced, he appears to be a confident, valiant hero and reasonably so. Taking into mind the background of the drama, we learn that this foreigner to Thebes arrives at the city limits, braves death, solves the Sphinx’s riddle and releases the city from the horrible terror. Only a man like Oedipus, a man possessing tremendous intelligence and self-confidence could have such courage. Although at times Oedipus questions the gods’ accuracy and authority, the people don’t mind because of the great deed he had done.

Oedipus is a man of unflagging determination and perseverance, but one who must learn through the working out of a terrible prophecy that there are forces beyond any man’s conceptualization or control. Oedipus’ actions were determined before his birth, yet Oedipus’ actions are entirely determined by the Gods who control him completely. In the beginning of this tragedy, Oedipus took many actions leading to his own downfall. He tried to escape Corinth when he learned of the prophecies that were supposed to take place in his life. Instead, he

Although Oedipus is an ideal leader who once saved the city of Thebes from the monstrous Sphinx, his fatal flaws of anger and pride ultimately lead to his tragic downfall. Oedipus’s harsh temper leads him to make rash decisions and often causes him to show disrespect to people. For example, Oedipus displays his quick temper when the blind prophet, Tiresias, accuses him of murdering Laius, the former king of Thebes. Although Tiresias is physically blind, he sees the truth, while Oedipus sees but is blind to the truth. Oedipus becomes furious with the old man and begins to yell at him for this ghastly accusation. “You miserable old man! You’d drive a stone to fury,” Oedipus screams violently. He even goes as far as to describe Tiresias as a “night-hatched thing.” Oedipus truly is an ideal leader; however, this flaw aids in his

However, in spite of all of his positive qualities, he is a man that is prone to arrogance and impulsive behaviors. At the opening of the play, when he addresses the city about the plague, he tells them not to worry for “Here I am myself...the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus” (7-8), implying that he can solve any problem simply because of who he is. Oedipus also shows his arrogance by comparing himself to the gods. After hearing the chorus’ cries to the gods for help he tells the city of Thebes to “Let [him] grant [their] prayers...listen to [him]”(245-246). Oedipus displays his quick temper after the prophet Tireseas declines to tell him who Laius's murderer is; he hastily becomes infuriated at the prophet, telling him he is "scum of the earth . . . [a man who] would enrage a heart of stone" (381).

A plague has stricken Thebes. The citizens gather outside the palace of their king, Oedipus, asking him to take action. Oedipus replies that he already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle at Delphi to learn how to help the city. Creon returns with a message from the oracle: the plague will end when the murderer of Laius, former king of Thebes, is caught and expelled; the murderer is within the city. Oedipus questions Creon about the murder of Laius, who was killed by thieves on his way to consult an oracle. Only one of his fellow travelers escaped alive. Oedipus promises to solve the mystery of Laius’s death, vowing to curse and drive out the murderer.

Oedipus’ dedication about fighting the plague and controlling fate demonstrates that he is heroic. After the priest lets Oedipus know about the plague on the city of Thebes, Oedipus says, “ I sent Menoeceus’ son Creon, Jocasta’s brother, to Apollo, to his Pythian temple, that he might learn there by what act or word I could save this city” (Pg.13, L.69-73). Oedipus’ full attention is about finding information about the plague. Oedipus displays commitment in helping the citizens in his town by doing everything in his power to defeat the plague. Oedipus’ commitment is presented clearly and the citizens respect him for his actions and view him as a hero. Next, after Oedipus talks to an oracle and learns his fate about killing his father and marrying his mother, he says, “ when I heard this I fled” (Pg. 45, L. 794). Oedipus left Corinth to try to change his destiny, and entered the city of Thebes. As Oedipus entered Thebes, a Sphinx was eating the citizens and to win the hand of Jocasta, he answered the riddle. Soon after the Sphinx left, Oedipus was crowned king and was known as the hero of Thebes because he saved them from the vicious Sphinx. Lastly, after Oedipus finds out he is the cause of the plague, he says “ Take me away, and haste-to a place out of the way! Take me away, my friends, the greatly miserable, the most accursed, whom God too hates above all men on earth” (Pg.69, L. 1340-1343). Oedipus is asking Creon to exile him from the city. Oedipus feels really guilty and does not want to be seen by anyone so he wants to leave. Also Oedipus asks Creon to exile him so the plague will stop harming the city because he cares

Initially, Oedipus remains in a state of ignorance throughout the establishment of the tragedy by virtue of his strong characteristics that include pride, ego, and obliviousness. In the drama, Oedipus speaks about what would happen if the killer was a royal member of Thebes. The play reads, “If by any chance / he proves to be an inmate of our house, / here at my hearth, with my full knowledge, / may the curse i just called down strike me” (284-287). Oedipus placed a cure throughout the distinguished city of Thebes in hopes to lead it back to its once former glory. This shows his ignorance in view of the fact that he is the one who killed the former King Laius, which means Oedipus cursed himself. His ego of trying to be the savior once again put Oedipus in a terrible position for the continuation of his life. Furthermore, Oedipus sent for a prophet to help discover who the mysterious

During his flight, he Oedipus kills a caravan of presumed low-class travelers. Oedipus comes into Thebes a stranger and hero who solved the riddle of the sphinx. Believing that he is blessed with great luck, Oedipus marries the recently widowed Iokaste and becomes King of Thebes. After many years, a plague vexes the city and Kreon, brother of Iokaste, comes to Oedipus with news from the oracle. He states that the plague will be lifted when the murder of Laios is avenged. Oedipus claims that he sees and understands the terrible fate of Thebes and vows to find the murderer. Since the criminal is said to still be in Thebes, Oedipus believes that a man of his intelligence should have no difficulty in finding the perpetrator. When Oedipus is confronted by Teiresias with truth, perhaps it is Oedipus’ own hubris, which blinds him to the unthinkable truth.

The famed tragedian Sophocles is known for his unique ideas and intellect. Sophocles carefully utilizes of all of his intelligence and creative ability in order to make use of illuminating moments throughout the play which allow his audience to draw conclusions about free will, fate, knowledge, and power throughout perhaps his most iconic play, Oedipus Rex. the main character Oedipus experiences an illuminating moment when he gouges his eyes out at the discovery of the truth about his actions. This illumination is expressed in order to express Sophocles’ idea that fate overpowers free will.

Throughout the play Oedipus is driven by many factors to find the killer of King Laius, and while on that mission, he inquires much about his past and himself. One of his main strives is to find out his true identity. The city of Thebes is struck by a plague due to the death of King Laius. The Oracle of Delphi states that in order to rid of the plague, Oedipus has to commit himself to finding the murderer of the dead King Laius. Oedipus shows allegiance by going on a

In the play, Oedipus unknowingly has cursed the entire town of Thebes. He was cursed to kill his father and marry his mother but never knew who his true parents were. In result of him escaping from the town he was sent off to, he did exactly that without knowing who his parents were. This cursed the city because the killer of the