Glory In Oedipus At Colonus

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.

Oedipus’ life is like a bad fortune cookie. He is short of luck and is destined to a bad future. Throughout his misfortune he still exemplifies a few of Aristotle’s “The High-Minded Man” qualities. Aristotle wrote of qualities that only a man of greatness and happiness would acquire. The essay, “The High-Minded Man” by Aristotle reflects characteristics of Oedipus In Oedipus Rex, he displays the high-minded qualities of truth and honor, but lacks in the gift of fortune.

Oedipus’ pride, drawn from his own heroic qualities, is one factor of his ruining. A hero characteristically prizes above all else his honor and the excellence of his life. When his honor

Throughout the story Oedipus feeds his ego with either power or pride. In the opening passage Oedipus addresses the people of Thebes with these words. “I thought it wrong, my children, to hear the truth from others, messengers. Here I am myself—you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus” (Oedipus Lines 6-9). In the opening passage his referring to his fame and power. This continues to be a problem throughout the story and inevitably be his down fall. In Oedipus, Sophocles shows you that having too much power and pride can cause your down fall.

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,

A careful examination of Oedipus and how he meets and surpasses the limits of the tragic hero shows that he rightfully earns this

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 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 importance and development of pride within Oedipus in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King causes Oedipus to reveal his true identity and learn a lesson of the unchangeable power of destiny. In the beginning of Oedipus’ journey, Oedipus decides to run away from home to escape his destiny in which he will marry his mother and kill his father. From this simple decision to run away from his fate, pride is introduced within Oedipus and it creates a mindset that he is far more superior than the gods as well as having the ability to choose his own path different from the gods’ will. Oedipus’s view of being set apart from the gods and his ambition to overcome his destiny sparks a desire for control, gradually instigating a self-centered attitude. As Oedipus impulse for control increases, it ignites a series of destruction and

Tragic and foreboding are some of the many tones that overlook “Oedipus the King”. Oedipus is a hero with mostly good intentions but because of his tragic flaw of ignorance ends himself in agony. The fact

Throughout the vast history of literature, various concepts have come and gone. The idea of fate or fatalism has been a concept that has survived the test of time. Numerous characters have succumbed to the power of fate and the character of Oedipus from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a prime example of the vast power of fate within literature. Sophocles effectively depicts the wrath of fate as he portrays how Oedipus fell victim to fate and his efforts to disregard fate were futile. Once again fate manages to triumph and displays no character whether king or slave can avoid its gaze.

The role of hubris, a theme commonly present throughout the works of Sophocles and particularly evident in Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus, not only exalts the Greek nationalism present at the date of composition but dictates the course of the story, evolving as its tragic hero works through his fated anguish. Hubris, defined as exaggerated pride or self-confidence, is the earmark character trait of Oedipus and perhaps Creon. However, it is the abandonment of his sanctimonious nature that distinguishes Oedipus as a true hero. The theme of the evolution and role in the downfall of men by this overly zealous pride may be traced throughout Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus, as it is only by his radical reversal of mind-set that one may deem Oedipus a hero.

Reading through three related stories, we discover different motifs denoting author’s thought in different time.Without any doubt, the tragic essence goes through the Three Theban Plays. As Sophocles meditates the philosophy of the tragedy all along his life, the tragic essence expands from individuals in a society. The conflict in each play becomes increasingly complicated. In Antigone, we can clearly distinguish the conflict between Antigone and Creon, family and politics. However, in Oedipus at Colonus, the play merges all the conflicts happened to former plays and enhances the theme of the story. The later part of this trilogy, especially the ending of Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus, reveals a darker and deeper phenomenon of Thebes and projects it to Oedipus. The prophet plays important role of forming the story line and tragic image of Oedipus, but the root causing the series of tragedy of the characters is not gods’ command. It is degeneration of people, which is pathetic to humanity. Finally, after suffering from family complex and exile, Oedipus is not only a victim of the society, but also the reflection of the twisted humanity of Thebes.

Beginning with the character of Oedipus, while the physical journey lasts the course of a day, his mental journey originates at his own birth, where his own internal passage spans all the way back to his origin. The conflict that arises from the circumstances surrounding this lead into the encompassing self-tribulation that will be the theme of his journey, with his inner shifting subconsciousness affecting the outer events of his journey. The journey’s catalyst was his decision to seek the murderer of the prior king, leading into his confrontation with the elderly seer and planting the first seeds of doubt. Going from his assuredness in addressing the people prior, we now have insight to the depths of his pride at even the slightest hint that all is not well with his identity, progressing him in having to turn his search inwardly and preparing

Thesis: In Sophocles’ “Oedipus”, Oedipus is exemplified as a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition because his story appeals to the reader’s humanity in the way he maintains his strengths after inadvertently causing his own downfall.