Comparing Things Fall Apart And Oedipus The King By Sophocles

Pride makes both men think that they are indestructible thus initiating their downfall. Oedipus’ pride stems from his ability to “snuff [Sphinx] out by human wit”(Sophocles 23) as for him “her riddle called for insight trained [and] no traveler’s guess”(Sophocles 23).His this accomplishment makes him so self absorbed and conceited that he begins addressing himself as “Oedipus the Great”(Sophocles 5). The pleasure of victory drowns him into the assumption that nothing in this world can destroy him and that he has the capability to win any battle possible. And so when the plague hits Thebes he takes that disaster as another challenge to prove the world that he is incompetent as he addresses to the people of Thebes that, “What you pray for you can have - remission of those miseries and help if you’ll hear my plan” (Sophocles 14). Thus bringing the focus to his strengths that even this deadly plague cannot defeat him.Okonkwo reflects the similar trait in Things Fall Apart.Blinded by the achievement of “throwing Amalinze the Cat”(Achebe 3) in a wrestling game Okonkwo considers himself as the most bravest person on earth. And to maintain his rank and ego he does every cruel act possible to show the people that there is no power or no weakness that can take over him. After assassinating his foster child Ikemefuna when the conscience of Okonkwo is constantly pricking him with a needle, he instead of admitting his sin lets his pride overpower him. And

Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, follows the tragic story of a king named Oedipus who goes from an all-powerful ruler to a hopeless blind peasant. Oedipus the King was written as a play and performed in front of an audience. Sophocles shows in Oedipus the King that one cannot escape the fate of the gods. Throughout the play Oedipus struggles to find a solution and change all the troubles in his life. The play observes the story of Oedipus who defies the gods and through the journey experiences hardships in tragic flaw, tragic fall and tragic realization.

In the popular Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, the plot shows how a single bad trait can lead to the fall of a once great man. The author Sophocles portrays the story of the titular where a hero rises to fame after solving the city of Thebes’ great riddle. The solution to the riddle frees Thebes of its curse from the Sphinx and relieves the city’s misery. Although Oedipus is praised and crowned king for freeing the city, he is not entirely a good man. Oedipus is very arrogant, which causes him to make several bad decisions. Through the story of Oedipus the King, Sophocles warns readers not to let arrogance blind them from reality, for it will eventually result in tremendous suffering.

The similarities between Okonkwo and Oedipus, of Things Fall Apart and of Oedipus the King are displayed on numerous occasions and are easy to recognize. Both men possess an egotistic nature and have an overwhelming sense of pride of their accomplishments, their successes of rising to power are short lived as they will lose along with their legacy as respected men, and Okonkwo and Oedipus were short tempered and were angered easily. The latter would contribute greatly to their downfalls. The tragedies of both Things Fall Apart and Oedipus the King link the protagonists regardless of the thousand year gap.

Oedipus the King was written by Sophocles and was is titled Oedipus Rex in Latin. It is one of the most well-known Greek tragedies. As is the case with Greek tragedies—or roughly most tragedies that make their way to stage—fate plays a key role in the events in Oedipus Rex. Oedipus discovers there is a plague on his city. The only way to lift the plague is by slaying the former king’s killer. As the play’s acts unfold one discovers about the prophecy concerning Oedipus. The prophecy states that Oedipus is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. But was this just by chance or his predetermined fate.

In Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, the origin of Oedipus is the result of his tragic flaw. Oedipus’s pride is an essential part throughout the play and also plays a prominent role in his downfall. We learn that Oedipus let his excessive pride and ego dictate his actions and decisions when he tries to avoid the prophecy that was given to him by the oracles. Without knowing he accidentally fulfils this prophecy. Also Oedipus’s wife shows hubris and contributes to her husband’s downfall when she also tries to avoid the same prophecy.

In the plays Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and Othello the Moor by Shakespeare, both of the main characters in both stories eventually succumb to there flaws which leads to there demise. Both Sophocles and Shakespeare both address the major flaw in many people, hubris, which is excessive pride. Both of the characters in these stories suffer from this flaw and it ultimately leads to the downfall of them. Both Othello and Oedipus very much full of pride before their downfalls and were both men with many accomplishments. In both plays Sophocles and Shakespeare, discuss what they believe makes a good ruler and what doesn’t.

Through the use of motifs, characterization, and irony, Sophocles shows how Oedipus’ pride is what ultimately leads him to his downfall. Oedipus is determined to find the answer to his question and yet refuses to believe what Tiresias tells him. Tiresias warns Oedipus that what he knows will not help Oedipus when he says

Classic works of art are the ones read and analyzed by different scholars in academic discussion since they have always inspired the modern writers to produce their masterpieces. The story of King Oedipus is one of those stories which has been used, whether directly or indirectly, by famous writers to deepen the meanings of their writings. Though he is a failed man at the end, Oedipus can be considered a hero archetypically. By applying an archetypal analysis of the play King Oedipus, written by Sophocles, the present study tends to illustrate how, in spite of all those failures, he can be a hero. Keyword: Sophocles, King Oedipus, Archetypal Hero, Archetypal Criticism King Oedipus: An Archetypal Hero Sophocles(496 B.C.-406 B.C.) was one of the best Athenian playwrights who wrote quite a hundred or more plays, seven of which have survived completely ‘.

This following quote by Aristotle explains how he viewed a tragedy: “Tragedy is an imitation of an action of high importance, complete and of some amplitude; in a language enhanced by distinct and varying beauties; acted no narrated; by means of pity and fear effecting its purgation of these emotions” (Aristotle, 1819, p. VI), (Kennedy & Gioia, 2013, p. 945). “From the thirteenth chapter of the Poetics we learn that the best sort of tragic hero is a man highly esteemed and prosperous who falls into misfortune because of a tragic flaw in the morality of the character: examples, Oedipus and Thyestes (Dodds, 1966, p. 38).” Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero has lasted the strains of time, because during Aristotle time he was rarely questioned on his teachings or practices. The play Oedipus the King by Sophocles changed the way tragic plays where viewed in early Greek times, this allows readers to identify with Oedipus’s moral flaw which creates how children feel about their parents.

In Sophocles play, Oedipus’ excessive pride and unwillingness to listen to the prophecy is his fatal flaw. When he had heard from a townsman that he was adopted he went to a prophet to confirm this news, the prophet instead told him that he would one day kill his father. Upon hearing that, he fled to Thebes, and on his journey there he killed a man at a crossroads who would come to be known as his father. All the while he had a chance to try and avoid the prophecy but he chose to ignore the knowledge that was given to him. For so long Oedipus believed he was this noble man, and in many cases he was, who never sinned and kept his word. In the end the excessive pride he had for himself about being a leader was a big part to his downfall. After finding out he had sinned by killing his father, marrying and having children with his mother, Oedipus was so ashamed of himself that he clawed his eyes out and demanded to be exiled from Thebes. In that way he seeked redemption, he had stayed true to his promise and that showed nobility.

Oedipus The King by Sophocles is a horrible tragedy. The way the characters act and how the plot was set up created a perfect story. Aristotle’s Poetics describes how Oedipus The King becomes a tragedy by using a technique called reversal and recognition. Reversal is a very famous strategy in writing tragedies and is key in this story. It is stated as, “a change from one state of affairs to its exact opposite” (pg.523) After the reversal takes place, it’s followed by recognition. Recognition is stated as, “a change from ignorance to knowledge” (pg.523). Reversal and recognition is what makes Oedipus The King such an amazing tragedy.

They are both arrogant and refuse to be told they are wrong about anything. This being said these characters are both admirable at first. However by the end they are outcasts. When we are first introduced to Okonkwo in the very beginning of the book, we are told, “fame is rested on solid person achievements”. Oedipus also was notable throughout his land because of his victory in unlocking the riddle of the Sphinx, thus saving the city. Although both tragic heroes cannot be compared to one another in every way they both had two things in common; honorability and heroism. Okonkwo spent more time trying to prove he is nothing like his father and trying to run as faraway from it, when really every step he took to get father away he became closer and closer until he ran straight into

“These are the sorrows which have burst out and overwhelmed them both, man and wife alike. The wealth and happiness they once had was real while it lasted, but now--weeping, destruction, death, shame--name any shape of evil you will, they have it all” (Sophocles 73 ). Oedipus was once a King, having both power and responsibility. By the end of the story Oedipus’ actions in Oedipus The King by Sophocles affect not only his life but others around him as well. Oedipus matches Aristotle's meaning of a tragic character by becoming someone the audience can pity, because of his downfall in society and naive decisions that led him to the ultimate destruction of his former life, position of respect, and the admiration he once held from his people

Tragedy has always been considered the highest form of literature; Oedipus the King is written by Sophocles who is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians, it fully represents the enduring charm of the ancient Greek tragedy, leaving the reader endless thinking. Through Oedipus’ misfortune, Sophocles tries to reveal the cause of their tragedy is ubiquitous and ever-present fate, rather than people themselves, dominates that people’s destiny. This essay aims to analyze the characteristics and the root causes of Oedipus’s misery to discover the fatalism the playwright want to state. To investigate the characteristics and the root causes of the tragedy Oedipus is beneficial for us to have more in-depth, objective insight to ancient Greek culture and understand the essence of tragedy correctly, leads us to think of the ultimate fate of life. In the face of powerful forces of fate, humans are too weak. In spite of this, human never stop struggling with limited strength, challenging fate in their ways.