Oedipus Essay Outline

A man can only justify his actions if he regards his demeanor with deductive thinking. This man was not Oedipus mainly because he was a fu**ing douchebag. One must know who Oedipus was to understand the period in which it was written. This is my thesis statement. The Greeks contributed many things to our culture, such as olives, gyros, Lenny Kravitz, anal sex, and Oedipus. Oedipus will be remembered though out time because he suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, and that's why he couldn't play base ball in the first Olympic games. He will always be remembered for his journeys and his love for the New York Yankees.

Sophocles' Oedipus is a standout amongst the most surely understood grievous legends ever. His bizarre destiny drives him to terrible destruction that leaves both the peruser and the gathering of people feeling candidly influenced. As indicated by the meaning of the Greek thinker, Aristotle, Oedipus' troublesome story qualifies him as a sad legend. Oedipus is the epitome of Aristotle's portrayal of a shocking saint through his capacity to safeguard his excellence and intelligence, in spite of his defects and scrape. The Aristotelian perspective of an unfortunate saint does not uncover the absence of ethical quality or even the fiendishness of the hero, in view of a blunder of judgment. The disaster and show so consummately fit the Aristotelian attributes of Oedipus. Thinking about Aristotle's meaning of a terrible legend, it can be discovered that Oedipus fits the character depiction flawlessly through different qualities that he shows and the starting point of his appalling fall: There stays then the man who involves the mean amongst piety and debasement. He isn't additional customary in uprightness and nobility but then does not fall into terrible fortune as a result of insidiousness and fiendishness but since of some hamartia of a kind found in men of high notoriety and favorable luck, for example, Oedipus and Thyestes and acclaimed men of Aristotle's meaning of a disastrous legend completely fits the character of Oedipus on account of the different attributes he shows

Born into a royal family, Oedipus was one of the bearers of a disastrous generational curse. He had no idea what he was born into, or what he would become. Poor Oedipus was put into to the world to serve as an example from the gods. Although Oedipus was said to be a victim of fate, he contributed to his own fate more than the gods. He was placed into the world to with a prophecy that he will kill his father and married his mother and conceive children with her, but that was just a prophecy not his destiny. Oedipus could have determined a new destiny for himself, but instead he did more things to make the prophecy true rather than false. The life of Oedipus was a great tragedy, not only for him but for his entire family. Although the gods

“Crossroads, and hidden glade, oak and the narrow way at the crossroads, that drank my father’s blood offered you by my hands, do you remember still what I did as you looked on, and what I did when I came here?” (Oedipus Rex, 1575-1580). Precisely placed at the crossroads of fate and autonomy, Oedipus struggles to define what, exactly, is fate and what, exactly, is left to his own discretion; Oedipus Rex challenges the common thought of Greek Society. Transcending more than one thousand years, questions often posed within the context of this play come to light in high school classrooms across America. What is seemingly an ineffective, antiquated piece of literature from Ancient Greece, actually should serve as a piece of required reading

Thesis Statement: 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.

Sophocles’ Oedipus the King encompasses the ideas of fate and fortune into the tragic story of the ignorant Oedipus. Scholar Bernard Knox says that Oedipus’ fall was caused by “attributes of divinity- knowledge, certainty, and justice.” Oedipus’ fall was caused by the absence of knowledge, uncertainty, and anger, which led him to show injustice. He had absence of knowledge because he did not know the truth, he had uncertainty because he acted without certainty, and he showed anger when Teiresias would not tell him the truth, which led him to display injustice to Creon.

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.

Though some of his actions today’s audience might find hard to stomach down.. In the beginning of the play, when the people of Thebes are suffering, Oedipus makes it clear that the pain felt by his people is also felt by himself, and that he will do anything to make them happy again.. Oedipus was willing to help his people, rather than turn his back to them. It bothers him to know that Laius’ murderer hasn’t been caught all these years; indeed, it is the fact that justice has not been served in this matter which springs him into action. A strong commitment to justice reflects a belief in the moral structure of right and wrong. Oedipus could be considered a tragedy because he has hubris that is his pride makes him blind to the truth. He refuses to listen to Tiresias, who says that Oedipus was the one who killed his father, Laius. He is tragic because he struggles against the forces of his fate and pity of the prophecy due to his weakness, which puts fear in the audience. Thus, he is an perfect example of a tragic hero for causing his own downfall, falling from his own grounds and facing undeserved

IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY: During the Trojan war, Achilles was one of the main heros. His mother wanted to make him immortal so she dipped him the river Styx (a river in the underworld) but held him by the heel. Because of that, his whole body except for his heel was submerged in the water thus making his weak spot his heel.

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.

As the play proceeds, Oedipus goes from being a well respected and prosperous king to finding himself in a tragic situation which according to Aristotle is the circumstance which brings the hero’s tragic flaw into play. The audience feels pity for this character because he has been blind to what was in front of him. Although Teiresais told him “But

In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles explores the conflict between a man’s intellectual reasoning and the universe beyond his grasp. This may seem like a generalization, but the play’s minor conflicts are arguably derivatives of the main struggle. As we would see, the fate or destiny that opposes Oedipus does not act directly on him, but creates a domino effect that through other conflicts drive him to face his destiny by unearthing his true identity. Similar to the Sphinx’s riddle that gave power to Oedipus, he must travel the different stages of life in order to “know thy-self” (Rudnytsky 264).

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.

First, by blinding himself, as opposed to committing suicide, Oedipus achieves a kind of surrogate death that intensifies his suffering. He comments on the darkness - not just the literal inability to see, but also religious and intellectual darkness - that he faces after becoming blind. In effect, Oedipus is dead, for he receives none of the benefits of the living; at the same time, he is not dead by definition, and so his suffering cannot end. Oedipus receives the worst of both worlds between life and death, and he elicits greater pity from the audience. Second, Oedipus himself and the Chorus both note that Oedipus will continue after the tragedy's conclusion. Unlike, for example Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Orestes (the heroes in the Orestia trilogy), Oedipus' suffering does not end with the play; even so, the conclusion also presents a sense of closure to the play. This odd amalgam of continued suffering and closure make the audience feel as if Oedipus' suffering is his proper and natural state. Clearly, Oedipus' unique downfall demands greater pity from the audience.

Ancient Greek Literature encompasses an assortment of poetry and drama to include the great masterpieces of tragedy. In Classic Literature, tragedies were commonly known for their elaboration of a protagonist fitting the classification of a tragic hero. This type of a tragic hero often collectively described as a character of noble birth, facing an adversity of some nature and a fate of great suffering. The characteristics of what encompassed a tragic hero are most prominently recognized from the viewpoint of the extraordinary Greek philosopher, Aristotle, in his work Poetics. Aristotle defined this type of character, the tragic hero, as having several basic characteristics, to include: hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, anagnorisis, nemesis, and catharsis. These characteristic elements of tragedy were commonly manifest in numerous works throughout the classical Greek literature. One of the finest and most renowned classics portraying the classification of tragic hero is the popular Greek Tragedy written by Sophocles, Oedipus the King. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles portrays the tragic hero by way of the main character Oedipus, the king of Thebes. For this research paper, the focus is on the character analysis of Oedipus ascertained as a tragic hero. Oedipus is the embodiment of a tragic hero as he epitomizes the elements of Aristotle’s classic definition through this character’s tragic flaw in judgement (hamartia), excessive pride