How Is Oedipus A Tragic Hero

Aristotle deems that a tragic hero is usually a man of noble birth in a position of authority who has great promise, ability, and integrity of character. Oedipus satisfies this characteristic by making a grand first impression as a wise and powerful leader when he solves the Riddle of the Sphinx. Oedipus gains so much respect from the people that they pray to him as if he were a god, “You are not one of the immortal gods, we know; Yet we have come to you to make our prayer” (1308, l. 35-36). The people of Thebes blindly took Oedipus in as their King; they were blinded by relief and high hopes that his wisdom could cure their cursed land. Aristotle further asserts that a tragic hero should also believe in his own freedom to make choices when faced with dilemmas. That being said, the cause for which the hero fights must be a noble one. Oedipus sets out to save Thebes from the plagued rust that brings famine, hunger, stillborns, death, etc. which acts as Oedipus’s noble cause. However, the reader

Creon also demonstrates loyalty as one of his defining characteristics; however, contrary to Beowulf, Creon's loyalty is not seen as virtuous. Rather, his staunchness is seen as extreme and harsh. His loyalty to himself and his own opinions on matters sets up quite a predicament with Antigone, who feels that his actions are a result of selfish loyalty, and therefore sinful (p228). The extreme measures that Creon takes to keep anyone from honoring the body of Polyneices shows that he feels the brother dishonored Creon's country. In Creon's eyes, this sin is

Captivating heroes like Batman and Robin have become inspirational figures of modern day society that people love, but do they really dive into how tragic their lives really are? What happened to the truly emotional stories of tragedy rather than 15 minutes of non-important backstory? These heroes had done great things in their life, but fell gracefully from power due to selfish inhibitions and get remembered for how their mess up affected everyone else in the vicinity. Why can’t stories be as tragic as Sophocles’ Oedipus the King? He was a true tragic hero that saved his city and fell due to several flawed character traits. His drop from power came about because of his sense of hubris and ignorance to the presence of facts around him. People’s lives in the media should invoke more tragedy and suffering, making the character more relatable due to his flaws. While this doesn’t happen often, there are a few characters, like Duncan Dewey, that possess traits that make them tragic heroes.

King Creon’s tragic flaw is hubris. He does not listen to advice given to him by the blind prophet Teiresias. When Teiresias tells Creon, “Give in to the dead man, then: do not fight with a corpse- what glory is it to kill a man who is dead? Think, I beg you: It is for your own good that I speak as I do. You should be able to yield for your own good” (Antigone 36-40). King Creon does not like the fact that the prophet believes he is wrong and should do what everyone else has so far advised him to do. He accuses Teiresias as giving him such a prophecy because of bribery from others and a hunger for gold. Hubris is also revealed from King Creon in Scene III. Creon’s son, Haemon, tells Creon that the people of Thebes believe they have never seen a girl die such a shameful death and that the people live in fear of Creon. Haemon tells Creon he also believes Antigone should have been allowed to bury Polyneices and should be set free. King Creon responds with, “You consider it right for a man of my years and experience to go to school to a boy?” (Antigone 95-96). This shows that Creon does not believe a man of such age, “wisdom”, and “experience” should listen to anyone or change because of anyone else’s

Oedipus is described as a hero with god-like qualities. They worship him. The people of Thebes for instance believe that Oedipus ascended to the throne through God’s guidance. Sophocles play Oedipus definitely exemplifies Aristotle definition of a tragic hero.  Oedipus is not only a king but a person born a noble. Oedipus takes his fate into his own hands and takes his decisions head on. He is his own cause of the things happening around him, to him and in his life. Sadly, his life falls apart, but by his own doing. He has to suffer the consequences of his actions in many ways. First, he forces Teiresias to reveal his destiny as well as his father’s name. Teiresias tries to avoid all these questions but in the end he has to head warning to Oedipus against forcing him to reveal those details. Oedipus is relentless and is determined to find the truth. He continues questioning Teiresias further. Teiresias finally

“Then why delay? There’s nothing in your words that I enjoy—may that always be the case! And what I say displeases you as much. But where could I gain greater glory than setting my own brother in his grave? All those here would confirm this pleases them if their lips weren’t sealed by fear—being king, which offers all sorts of various benefits, means you can talk and act just as you wish.” (567-575) The way Antigone acts, what she says and what she thinks contrasts with Creon to the point where they had a major conflict. These conflicting motivations cause Creon to show a different side of himself, the new characteristics that were highlighted in Creon were anger, violence, and self-importance.

Does Creon’s pride overlook Antigone’s wants? Antigone is the sister of her two brothers Eteocles, and Polyneices, but Creon only gives one of them there proper burial. Antigone does not like the decree of the king, Creon and rebels towards him and others, from Polyneices not getting a proper burial. Antigone does not listen to anyone and buries him herself and Antigone gets punished from not listening, but Antigone does not care because both of her brothers should have had the proper burial in their honor. Antigone has not listened Ismene her sisters’ advice, rebels against Creon, after it all she kills herself and causes many death from her outcome.

Creon has different customs and believes in the gods than Antigone. Creon feels that the gods aren’t powerful since he is king, which shows creon and Antigone have different beliefs in the gods. Creon believes that money is the most powerful thing in the world, but soon he realizes he had been wrong. Creon believed that the god would not take care of polyneices corpse because he felt that polyneices is a enemy. Creon had sentence Antigone to death because he didn’t want to accept that he was wrong for all he had been doing and what she told him was

In Antigone, Sophocles characterizes Creon as a prideful and stubborn individual, who strives to gain power over others, especially the gods. Despite his own son threatening to commit suicide, Creon does not recognize his hubris as his fatal flaw until the very end. One significant power struggle in the play Antigone, is the conflict between Creon and his son, Haimon, who is engaged to Antigone. Creon uses his permanent place as ruler, to decide that Polyneices should not be properly buried, because he is a traitor to their kingdom. Not only is he gravely wrong, he is not swayed by anyone’s opinion, even his own son’s.

Antigone was very stubborn in her idea, and in many cases, flaunted that idea to show that she knew she was right and not Creon. Due to this, Antigone maintains a stalwart position against a power she knows she won’t come out in a better way. This can be proven when the author of the same article mentions “She makes no attempt to conciliate Creon…a most defiant attitude, glorying alike in her deed and in its penalty” (The Ethics of Antigone). Antigone refused to step down and go with what Creon says and this is her main reason of downfall. The quote even mentions that her attitude in glorifying her actions not only made her stupid in the eyes of many, but was also the reason for her death. Creon, on other hand, doesn’t realize that his idea will not be good for the future either. Haimon proves this because he tells Creon, “It is no City if it takes orders from one voice” (Antigone, 772 line 106). Haimon doesn’t agree with Antigone, but does not mean that Creon is wrong either. Haimon is trying to tell Creon that if he doesn’t try to become open minded and look at the bigger picture, then people will begin to think he isn’t a good king. If he allows one woman to step all over him and get away with it, then people won’t take him seriously enough

In the drama play Antigone by Sophocles Antigone unlike Creon respects the people who surrounds her and tries doing the right thing in making sure they are safe. Creon in his own way is doing the right thing however nobody agrees with him. Antigone is not afraid of Creon she wants to do the right thing by fixing his mistakes and doing the right thing.

After she is caught burying her brother, Antigone makes no attempt to explain her actions, only replying to Creon's accusations with: "I did it. I do not deny a thing" (492). Because she does not make an effort to justify her work, or convince Creon that it was to appease the gods, Antigone seems to be a rash, impetuous woman with a death wish. Perhaps the just and correct thing to do was to bury her brother, but Antigone's pride and the disrespect she showed may have displeased the gods more than if she had stayed silent. As stated by the leader of the chorus, "Such loyalty is a holy thing/ Yet none that holds authority/ Can brook disobedience. O my child,/ Your self-willed pride has been your ruin” (872-875). This insinuates that her loyalty to the gods is admirable, however, she is still seen as discourteous by the Creon for blatantly ignoring his instructions. Antigone's belief that her judgement is better than Creon's is a display of hubris, however justified her actions may have been in the

Odysseus warrior of the Gods King of Ithaca. Yet, boastful, cocky, and self-conscious. Do these sound like characteristics for a hero? As a tragic hero, Odysseus contains tragic flaws, which include cockiness, pride, and self-consciousness. These flaws negatively impact the story by Odysseus putting his crew in danger while exhibiting these three flaws.

Antigone has a possible flaw in that she is too stubborn and persistent to obey Creon’s order; “I know my duty, where true duty lies” (Antigone, 128). Her punishment then encourages feelings of pity from the audience because her deed was honorable and respectful towards her brother Polynices. The chorus supports this view by bidding her a respectful farewell when she is taken away, “But glory and praise go with you lady” (Antigone, 148). Antigone is also very proud, and this may have contributed to her death. Even when she is caught she remains strong and defends herself by claiming that the chorus thinks that her act was honorable, “All these would say that what I did was honorable” (Antigone, 139). This causes Creon to remain angry with Antigone, “you are wrong, none of my subjects think as you do” (Antigone, 140). If she had been more patient and less defensive, Creon may not have been as harsh in the punishment he set for her.

Aristotle, Ancient Greek philosopher whom did a lot of philosophizing, he believed in a logical reality. Aristotle’s objective was to come up with a universal process of reasoning that would allow man to learn every imaginable thing about reality. The initial process involved describing objects based on their characteristics, states of being and actions. Aristotle once said "A man doesn 't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall”. Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. Oedipus is in fact a tragic hero. Aristotle uses six different points to define a tragic hero. (1)The tragic hero must be of noble stature and have greatness. (2)Though the tragic hero pre-eminently great, he or she is not perfect. (3)The hero 's downfall is their own fault. (4) The hero’s misfortune is not fully deserved and the punishment exceeds the crime. (5)The fall is not a pure loss. (6) And though it arouses solemn emotion tragedy does not leave the audience in a state of depression. Using Aristotle definition of a tragic hero, I will show that in Oedipus in “Oedipus the King” is in fact a tragic hero; hence, how his decisions led to his downfall. Oedipus is a man of high standing (king of Thebes) intellectually (he 's a great solver of riddles) and morally he is determined to find the murderer and to end the plague of his people). His quest to find the murderer described by