Determination In Oedipus Rex

Oedipus’ pride and a heightened sense of confidence is very conspicuous throughout the play Oedipus Rex. From the beginning of the play, Oedipus accepts the idea that he can avoid the prophecy given to him by the gods. Oedipus is also seen interrogating Creon and attempting to banish him with Tiresias towards the end of the play because they are saying facts corresponding to the prophecy. He tries to become like a god himself by thinking he could control his own fate. Although Oedipus’ pride can be justified by his accomplishments of being king; the tragedy of Oedipus is the pure result of his overwhelming pride because he killed his father, mocked Tiresias, and blinded himself.

The pursuit of justice is an endeavor that many find to be challenging and a quest itself, as one will come across various trials and complications that may stop them in their pursuit or may mislead them. As humans, we find moral correctness and righteousness a very appealing state to be in, as justice will act as a platform to satisfy the desire for this correctness. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, we meet our miserable anti-hero, Oedipus, in his pursuit for truth and righting the wrong of the plague that is affecting his people of Thebes. As he makes efforts to solve this problem, he comes to find out that he is the source of the issue, thus exposing the tragic flaw of Oedipus and effectively making this play a very effective Greek tragedy. This pursuit of righteousness ends up being the downfall of Oedipus. In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, Oedipus pursues justice through his realization of his past, his interactions with various characters in the play, and comes to understand more of justice in his situation through his reactions to adversity in this play, in order to portray a questionably successful pursuit of justice.

Furthermore, he then try to exaggerate his victory over the sphinx for no purpose other than self satisfaction and raising himself above Tiresias. Similarly, he accused Tiresias of conspiring with Creon in order to take his throne. Essentially, Oedipus’ reaction was fueled through his narcissistic and haughty personality.

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,

In Oedipus the King, one of Sophocles’ most popular plays, Sophocles clearly depicts the Greek’s popular belief that fate will control a man’s life despite of man’s free will. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Throughout Oedipus the King, the concept of fate and free will plays an integral part in Oedipus' destruction.

4. What attitude toward the gods does Oedipus exhibit after learning of Polybos' death? Again in light of ode 2, what is foreshadowed by Oedipus' statement? What effect upon the audience might the similarity of reactions of Oedipus and Jocasta have?

Character development tackles the many different unfolding attitudes and opinions toward certain subjects during the play. For example, Tiresias states, “Wisdom is a dreadful thing that brings no profit to the possessor,” (Sophocles 19). Tiresias’s vexing message alludes to the fact that he can see the truth, but the truth may not be favorable for Oedipus. This excerpt from the chat between Oedipus and Tiresias fortifies the overarching theme subject of sight. Additionally, Oedipus states, “Say what you like. It will all be meaningless,” (Sophocles 22) in response to Creon’s accusation of Oedipus being the murderer of Laius. This conveys Oedipus’s blindness towards the real truth of the situation, with his pride clouding the possibility that it could be him. This doubt caused Oedipus to eventually accuse Tiresias of being the real murderer, with no evidence to make his claim on. This existed as Oedipus’s inferring that Tiresias attempted to defile Oedipus’s position of king, an act of folly on Oedipus’s part.

Sophocles illustrates Oedipus with an overwhelming amount of hubris, which creates unwanted barriers for this character. After Teiresias tells Oedipus the truth pertaining to who killed Laius, Oedipus argues that he is not a suspect. This argument results in Teiresias quarreling with Oedipus about how he is the “cursed polluter of [the] land”, even though Oedipus’ hubris becomes an obstacle when believing Teiresias (KO 35). In this instance, Oedipus is already being blinded by his hubris and refuses to believe a prophet, who is sent by the gods. He is so used to believing his version of the truth that he is so close-minded when it comes to the actuality of the situation. Additionally, he holds himself on such a high pedestal that he cannot even fathom the thought of killing the previous king. Oedipus creates a barrier for himself when letting his hubris entangle him into the notion that he is correct and the god sent prophet is wrong. Another instance of his hamartia is when Oedipus cannot wrap his head around killing King Laius so instead, he calls Creon and Teiresias traitors. Following this argument amongst Teiresias and Oedipus, Oedipus makes a wild claim about how Creon desires the throne and Teiresias is helping him by getting Creon to “stalk [him] by stealth” and “[dispose] of him” (KO 36). Oedipus is so hell-bent on the notion that he could not have killed Laius, so he makes up a spontaneous assumption about how Creon wants his throne. His hubris causes him to create false situations and attack an ally that could assist him. Sophocles communicates these actions to the audience to help them feel the falsehood of the situation and help proclaim who is in the right.

Throughout the years since the play “Oedipus the King” was written, many people have reviewed it in many distinct ways. There are many reviews of this literary work that suggest that the character Oedipus had a tragic flaw; however, many others suggest that he actually lacked one. In the literary work “Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: Oedipus Rex” it is written that “whether there is a tragic flaw in King Oedipus is uncertain” (Bloom 10). This does not provide an precise visualisation of what Oedipus’ tragic flaw might be; however, Oedipus does indeed have a tragic flaw. Although it can only be speculated what Oedipus’ tragic flaw might actually be, what seems most likely to be his tragic flaw, would be his fear of the fate that has

In "Oedipus Rex", Sophocles portraits one of the most intriguing and fascinating traits of the human nature: the search for truth regarding who we are and the realization of the paths reserved by our future fate.

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.

The most famous scene in Sophocles’, Oedipus Rex, is when Oedipus gouges out his eyes. But, that’s not the only example of sight and blindness in this play. In Sophocles ' plays there was always extensive content where he paid considerable attention to the element of “spectacle” in his plays. When observing the theme of vision, it invites the audience to look at the action with a double perspective, through their own eyes and through the eyes of those on stage. Within this play, sight and blindness are the underlying themes. Sight is commonly associated with light or positive overtones, and blindness is attached to darkness or negative undertones. The approach to describing blindness deals with not only physical blindness but also metaphorical blindness. Oedipus ' blindness changes from bad to worse at different scenes of the play. Although the word "blindness" seems quite simple, it can be very debatable. Blindness or the inability to “see” consist of two elements; Oedipus 's ability to see vs his desire to see. Throughout many scenes, the two elements are used in pattern form. Some scholars mention the two aspects of the play in addition to discussing the theme of knowledge. Lazlo Versenyi, Thomas Hoey, Marjorie Champlain, analyze the play from different perspectives. Versenyi says the play was “a tragedy of self- knowledge”, with the use of terms

Originally, Oedipus is blinded to the truth because of his selfishness and ignorance in order to preserve his throne as king. As a matter of fact, Oedipus thought Creon was plotting against his him, he states

In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus unknowingly murders his father and marries his mother. When Oedipus discovers this he is disgusted with himself and decides to go into exile. The Misanthrope is a play about the self-exile of the main character Alceste. Challenged in court, he refuses to take back the criticism of a sonnet written by a powerful nobleman. Alceste and Oedipus are both convicted by their knowledge of the truth. Although, the United States grants asylum to more refuges than any other country, there is one man who has decided to self-exile.

Sophocles Oedipus the King is a tragic play which discusses the tragic discovery of Oedipus that he has killed his father and married his mother. The story of Oedipus was well-known to the Athenian's. Oedipus is the embodiment of the perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Oedipus gained the rule of Thebes by answering the riddle of Sphinx. Sophocles used the riddle of the sphinx as a metaphor for the 3 phases of Oedipus' life and to further characterized him as a tragic man. The Sphinx posed the following riddle to all who came to obtain the rule of Thebes: “What is it that walks on 4 feet and 2 feet and 3 feet and has only one voice, when it walks on most feet it is the weakest?” Oedipus correctly answered “Man” and became the king of Thebes. This riddle is a metaphor for the life of Oedipus. As a child man crawls on his hands and knees this is the four feet to which the Sphinx refers. Also, man is at his weakest as a small child. He depends solely on others for his nourishment and well-being. Oedipus was the child of Jocasta and King Laius who was taken to the mountain by a Shepard to be killed so the omen of the god Apollo that Laius' son would kill him and lay with Jocasta would not come true. Oedipus was the weakest of his life at this point.