Downfall Of Oedipus The King

Reality hits at the most unexpected time and quickly change one’s life. In the play, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus has solved the Sphinx’s riddle and become the new King of Thebes. Thebe’s former King, Laius, is killed and his killer never has been searched for creating a plague over the city. Oedipus is now in charge of finding the killer of Laius and releasing the city of their plague. He is very confident in his abilities and believes he can solve the mystery just as he solved the Sphinx’s riddle. Oedipus although, shows that overconfidence can often lead to one’s downfall. During his run as king, Oedipus experiences the great polarities of fame and shame.

In the play Oedipus the King, Oedipus struggles to accept the truth and lets his temper over power him. He can be displayed as a tragic hero. His refusal to accept the truth led to Oedipus’ down fall. A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, “is a literary character who

The Greek drama “Oedipus The King” evidently leads to the unveiling of a tragedy. Oedipus, the protagonist of the play uncovers his tragic birth story and the curse he had been baring his whole life. Oedipus is notorious for his personal insight that helped him defeat Sphinx, which lead him to becoming the king of Thebes. He is admired by the people of Thebes and is considered to be a mature, inelegant and a rational leader. From his birth, his story began with a prophecy that Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Through out the play numerous people, who tell him of his unknown past, visit Oedipus. Blind to the truth he casts them away until a blind man named Therisis gives a sight of truth to Oedipus. As Oedipus learns the truth he realizes the great evil his life carries. After finding his wife and also mother hung in her bedroom, Oedipus blinds himself with the gold pins that held Jocasta’s robe. Oedipus blind to the truth is finally able to see when the old blind man visits him and tells him the truth about his life. Both metaphorically and physically sight plays a significant role in understanding the irony of a blind man seeing the truth while Oedipus who isn’t blind doesn’t seem to the truth that’s right in front of him.

Introduction I. Tragic Hero A. Definition of a tragic hero B. Oedipus’ Character II. Tragedy A. Language of Tragedy B. Tragedy and its affects on audience III. Plot A. Aristotle’s idea of a tragic plot B. Meaning of plot IV. Virtue and Morality A. Identifying with Oedipus’ character B. Oedipus gains virtue and wisdom through bad judgment. Conclusion Tragic Hero Oedipus is one of the most famous tragic heroes in drama history. His bizarre fate leads him to a tragic defeat that leaves the audience and reader feeling emotionally overwhelmed. According to Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus’ story makes him as a tragic hero. Oedipus is the personification of Aristotle’s characterization of a tragic hero through his ability to maintain and keep his virtue and wisdom, despite his shortcomings and situation in life. Aristotle’s observation of a tragic hero does not reveal the lack of morality or the evil of the character, based on an error in judgment. The tragedy and drama fit the Aristotelian characteristics of Oedipus.

Imagine you were told that you killed your own father, and married and had children with your mother; the thought of that is just sickening, but this catastrophe is exactly what happened to Oedipus in “Oedipus the King”. This Greek tragedy shows how unfavorable irony can be, and how it can lead to your own demise. Oedipus has one tragic flaw that leads to his ultimate downfall, and it is his reckless anger. His anger causes his downfall by leading him to kill his father, which leads to the other events that occur in the story. His anger also causes his downfall because it led to his prophecy to come true; the one that his parents wanted to avoid in the first place.

Oedipus’s bad temper lead to his downfall. He killed the King of Thebes who happened to be his father. Once he killed his father he went into Thebes and helped the people who lived there. He was determined to rid the plague that hindered those of Thebes. Oedipus promised to find the killer of the king and the killer would be exiled or killed.

A “Tragic Hero” as defined by Aristotle, is a literary character who makes a judgmental error that in the end leads to their own destruction. The character endures immense amounts of hardships, and obstacles; is destined to fail, has basic human flaws, has judgment issues, thrives to do the right thing, but forces their own demise, and in the end, shall die honorably. Throughout the tragedy of Oedipus, composed by Sophocles, the author manipulates Oedipus to correlate with Aristotle’s definition by using a person who thrives to do the right thing, but an uneventful fate befalls them. Oedipus is a tragic hero, a character who is neither bad nor good who is always supported despite his flaws until the end of his journey, which is typically a welcomed death.

Oedipus: A Tragic Hero Oedipus Rex, or Oedipus the King is Sophocles’s first play of “The Theban Cycle.” It tells the story of a king that tries to escape his fate, but by doing so he only brings about his downfall. Oedipus is a classic example of the Aristotelian definition of a tragic hero. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a basically good and noble person who causes his own downfall due to a flaw in his character.

“...You can pretend that bad things will never happen. But life's a lot easier if you realize and admit that sometimes they do” (Lois Lowry). Oedipus, the main character in the play Oedipus Rex, written by Sophacles, represents a great example of what happens if you don’t realize and

Oedipus Rex is a definite tragic hero, but has something epic to do with him. The reason of this epicness depends on who you are, and how forgiving you are to his case. For most people Oedipus is just a spoiled, raging prince who killed his own father out of ignorance. Although, for the special some he brought the town solace when he defeated the Sphinx. While doing this, Oedipus also tried to help cure this outrageous plague which in fact made him realize he was indeed a tragic hero.

The Greek drama Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is a play about the king of Thebes who eventually falls from his pedestal after unconsciously destroying his own reputation. Oedipus was a powerful man who was envied by many people. However, they did not know of his personal situations and problems yet

Oedipus Rex would be considered a tragic hero because he possesses hubris and hamartia which is shown throughout the story. Oedipus’s downfall was caused by several things acting upon him like hamartia and his sins. Hamartia is the major flaw in a character that causes their downfall which for Oedipus was his pride. Hubris is the flaw of excessive pride which Oedipus shows tremendously in the story. The definition of a tragic hero is “an extraordinary man brought down by some tragic fall or weakness, and his downfall, in turn, weakens the fabric of his society” (“A Flawed Presidency”).

Oedipus is a king and there has been a curse put on thebes. Oedipus sends his brother-in-law Creon to find Apollo and figure out how to stop this curse ("Oedipus The King Summary"). He said that if the former king's killer was found then the curse would be lifter. The former king was killer a few years ago. Oedipus looks for clues and founds out that he killed him. His wife told him not to believe them but he does believe them. He remembers killing a man at the crossroads (Grade Saver). He continues to and finds people that tell him the story about how he was abandoned as an infant. He finds out that he married his mom and had a child with her. The mother also killed herself after she finds out and Oedipus is exiled from Thebes ("Oedipus The

Oedipus Rex was a strong soul who became the king of Thebes thanks to his intelligence. Once the Sphinx's riddle was solved she destroyed herself and Oedipus became king. Plague had taken over Thebes when he became king and was said to be a curse. Oedipus new task was to find the murder of Laius, the old king, and punish him so the curse could be lifted from Thebes. While trying to find the murder he starts learning new things about himself which aren’t very pleasing. He soon finds out that was sinful in his birth, he’s married to his mother, and killed his own father. To me his downfall was caused by fate and was bound to happen no matter what.

Trevor Coffy Mrs Potenzini Oedipus Essay Test 05 May 2016 Tragic Hero In the greek drama, Oedipus the king by Sophocles, King Oedipus shows all the characteristics of a tragic hero. By definition A tragic hero is, “A privileged, exalted character of high repute, who by virtue of a tragic flaw and fate suffers a fall from glory into suffering”. That definition perfectly describes Oedipus and his life. Throughout this whole story we see the real Oedipus emerge. Oedipus starts out in the beginning by being the best king around but by the end of the story we see the ups and downs of his life and how it changed forever. In the story we here Oedipus say these words, “ah! My poor children, known, ah known too well, the quest that brings