Oedipus Complex Essay

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 the King by Sophocles’ is intertwined with many powerful themes and messages, establishing what real vision and real sight are. Sophocles’ play also demonstrates that sometimes in life we have to experience great loss in order to rediscover our true selves. In Oedipus’s quest for truth, lack of self-control, ignorance and tragic self-discovery prevail. Physical vision does not necessarily guarantee insight, nor impart truth. Intertwined with dramatic and cosmic irony, all of these elements contribute to the major theme of blindness and sight, depicting wisdom

I agree with the fact that Sophocles’ Oedipus had suffered from the Oedipus complex because Oedipus has shown that he is part of the triangle of being the young child who is “in love with one parent and hating the other” (Freud 472). If a person is one to not get over this stage in his childhood, to detach from his mother and forgive his father, then the conflict of the triangle has not been resolved leading him to be psychoneurotic. In the next paragraphs, I’m going to discuss why I think the oracle is at fault for Oedipus turning out the way he did, the tragic relationship with his father, and also about the unknowing relationship with his mother.

“You came and by your coming saved our city, freed us from the tribute which we paid of old to the Sphinx, cruel singer”(39-41), This tells us Oedipus’ pasts and how his insight helped him become king of Thebes. “Not twice you shall say calumnies like this and stay unpunished”(417-418), Here Oedipus claims that Teiresias accusing him of the murder is wrong and impossible. Due to his ignorance, Oedipus believes that Creon and Teiresias are plotting to overthrow him from the throne. Even later in the play there is a point when he absentmindedly remarks, "Strange, hearing you just now . . . my mind wandered, my thoughts racing back and forth”(800-802), where he is maybe considering that he may actually be the murderer. Yet Oedipus does not blame himself for the plague of the city, instead he tries to place the burden onto others as he continues his investigation, blindly trusting his own superior ability while ignoring the obvious evidence that surrounds him. Continuing the metaphor of sight and blindness, Sophocles uses it to shows how Oedipus is unwilling to accept his true fate and is blinded, and ignorant to his past actions. This also brings about irony due to the fact that Oedipus was made famous in Thebes for his keen insight, by solving the riddle of the Sphinx, but is unable to clearly see his current

Aristotle’s tragic hero is one of the most recognizable types of heroes among literature. A tragic hero combines five major points all of which have to do with the hero’s stature in society, his faults, how these faults effect him, the punishment his faults gets him, and how he reacts to this punishment. Aristotle explained that the story of Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is a perfect example of a tragic hero. In the play, Oedipus is given a prophecy in which he is told that he will kill his father then marry his mother. As in many Greek plays, Oedipus tries to run from his prophecy and ends up fulfilling exactly what it is foretold. Through the play we see that Oedipus posses many of the characteristics

Because of his commitment to his people and their suffering, he sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to Delphi to see the gods to find out why his city is under such a great plague and what he can do to stop it. Creon returns and says, “… It was murder that brought the plague-wind on the city” and that it was King Laios that was murdered years ago (Prologue, 104-105). Vowing to bring the murderer to justice and being a just King, Oedipus decrees that if the murderer reveals himself he will not be killed, he will be exiled. This determination and tenaciousness was the beginning of the end of King Oedipus.

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.

Oedipus, could no longer stand himself and the grotesque acts that he has committed, which eventually led him to “tear the brooches from the robe of his dead wife and ground the pins into his eyes” ergo blinding himself (Bennett & Kerr 163). He then chooses to force himself into exile where he is “never able to forget his horrible sins” (Bennett & Kerr 163). Oedipus accepts the matter that he deserves to be punished, and carries out his own self-imposed sentence. In contrast Creon, though devastated by the loss of his wife and son when he says “Is there no sword for me, to end this misery?” decides that the punishment of death is too harsh and exiles himself as he tells his messenger to instead “Lead me away, away. I live no longer” (Sophocles 16). Creon seems superficially willing to take his own life as retribution for inadvertently killing Eurydice and Haemon, his only family. However, although he speaks through the conscience of his guilty mind, he cannot go through with this plan and chooses a life of exile. Here again, Creon’s hamartia of tenacity stands in the way of his emotions. The repent and misery that the two men feel about the loss for their loved ones lead them to their thanatos, but are never able to achieve it. It is clear, however that Oedipus feels more contrition than Creon, due to Oedipus’s need to punish and sentence himself to a life of agony whereas Creon,

A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, is a man who is great but also terribly flawed, who experiences misfortunes while still remaining admirable to the audience at the end of the play. One of Aristotle’s favorite works, Oedipus the King, a play by Sophocles, is a play that above all others, defines the meaning of what a true tragic hero really is. In the play, Oedipus the King, the story unfolds after Oedipus unintentionally kills his own father and goes on to marry his mother. The events of the play are tragic, but it is the way that Oedipus handles the tragedies that make him a tragic hero.

Hans Rockwell 8/26/17 Question 1 Question 1.) One of the responses people usually have about Oedipus is if he really deserved the fate that he ended up with. It’s not his fault that Jocasta and Laius tried to outsmart fate and dispose of him.

After reading the play Oedipus the King, I had various expectations related to how the movie should be performed. The stage presentation of the story fulfilled some of my expectations but failed to satisfy others. Most importantly, the performance was an accurate rendering of the play. The characters in the movie were developed effectively and were portrayed precisely as I had perceived them. I thought that the movie lacked qualities including stage design, clothing, and background music. However, these facets of the performance are insignificant because the story is so powerful that it does not need attractive costumes or ostentatious props to support it.

The tale of Oedipus and his prophecy has intrigued not only the citizens of Greece in the ancient times, but also people all over the world for several generations. Most notable about the play was its peculiar structure, causing the audience to think analytically about the outcomes of Oedipus’ actions and how it compares with Aristotle’s beliefs. Another way that the people have examined the drama is by looking at the paradoxes (such as the confrontation of Tiresias and Oedipus), symbols (such as the Sphinx), and morals that has affected their perceptions by the end of the play. Nonetheless, the most important aspect is how relevant the story is and how it has influenced modern ideas like that of Freud and other people of today.

Oedipus Rex, is a Sophocles play, that according to Freud exemplifies a formative stage in a individuals psychosexual development. The psychosexual stages are the age related developmental periods in which sexual impulses are exerted through different bodily zones and then activities are associated with those areas in the bodily zones. These is when a young child will transfer his love object from the breast to the mother. When the child gives up the breast and moves to the mother it is known as the oral phase. The child then has the sexual desire for the opposite sex parent and will usually have hostility towards the same sex parent.

Hamlet is the typical kind of son almost every father and mother would want: intelligent, loving, caring, strong and loyal. Yet, some scholars believe that he is just another emotional character, defying our eyes to think that his acts are innocent, when his real purpose is to take his mother for himself. This gives scholars, like Ernest Jones, the impression that Hamlet’s actions were encouraged by an Oedipus complex, characterized by feelings of intense rivalry with a father figure in regards to a mother’s spousal affection. Even though there are lines that can be interpreted to show that Hamlet may have had such a desire for his mother, when these lines are examined in the full context of the

Thebans sought Oedipus, their King, to find the cause of the plague and to resolve it. It is revealed to Creon by an oracle at Delphi that the plague was due to the unpunished murder of King Laius. Creon, Oedipus?s brother-in-law, relayed this information. Oedipus, being the dutiful king that he was, sought the prophet Teiresias on the premise that the prophet could explain the cause of the plague. Sadly, Oedipus did not realize that by calling for this prophet would, in turn, reveal a dark secret that would eventually lead to the ruin of Oedipus. Teirsias proclaims,? I say you are the murderer of the king whose murderer you seek.? (1009). The proclamation, along with a suggestion of incest on Oedipus?s part, Oedipus failed to understand. This was the prophets attempt to explain to Oedipus that he, Oedipus, had killed King Laius. Oedipus still does not realize that the man and servants he encountered that day at the crossroads was King Laius. This set of events is another example of how a decision made by Oedipus contributed to his downfall.