Oedipus The King Character Analysis

In his essay, “Introduction to Oedipus the King”, Bernard Knox supports free will by stating that Oedipus’ downfall was not caused by fate. According to Knox there is not a doubt that, “Oedipus is the free agent who, by his own self-willed action, discovers that his own predicted destiny has already been fulfilled” (86). He clearly states that Oedipus is responsible for his free actions during the play. He insists that Oedipus’s made the decisions to discover the truth about himself.

The Greek play, Oedipus the King, shows how easy it is for a man to fall apart, while trying to make things right. Sophocles’ tragedy tells the story of Oedipus, a regular man turned king of Thebes. Throughout the tragedy, Oedipus searches for the cause of the chaos and havoc encompassing his land; however, he discovers that he is the one responsible for the hardships plaguing Thebes. As the tragedy continues, Sophocles’ exposes a dark side to power, fame, and ambition. Further, Sophocles’ exposes the fear that many have of the truth, and exposes the grave danger in hiding from it.

The theme of sight and blindness is undoubtedly important to notice while reading Oedipus the King. The number of times the words “see” or “blind” are in the play make it make it undeniably obvious that they are significant. The theme is developed throughout the dialogue, through characters such as Tiresias and Oedipus, and also directly in the irony of the play. It is important in a play about the truth because almost every character was “blind” to the truth. All of the characters, except one, can physically see, but mentally cannot see the truth.

While Oedipus makes these claims, Creon says, “Listen, if you think stubbornness deprived of intelligence is a worth-while possession, you are out of your mind.” This is an important quote throughout the two’s whole conversation as it shows that Oedipus isn’t always willing to comprehend the facts, before judging if something/someone is right or not. Hubris can be seen through this quote, since Oedipus refuses to believe something if it’s held against him. Denying that he ever killed Laius, when he learned that he fulfilled the prophecy, Oedipus had no choice but to accept this fact. Oedipus could not consent with that he murdered his father as well as married his

Oedipus steps out of the royal palace of Thebes and is greeted by a procession of priests, who are in turn surrounded by the impoverished and sorrowful citizens of Thebes. The citizens carry branches wrapped in wool, which they offer to the gods as gifts. Thebes has been struck by a plague, the citizens are dying, and no one knows how to put an end to it. Oedipus asks a priest why the citizens have gathered around the palace. The priest responds that the city is dying and asks the king to save Thebes. Oedipus replies that he sees and understands the terrible fate of Thebes, and that no one is more sorrowful than he. He has sent Creon, his brother-in-law and fellow ruler, to the Delphic oracle to find out how to stop the plague. Just then, Creon

Through history, everyone is trying to rise to the top. However, the ones at the top are not always the most suitable. This becomes evident in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, where Oedipus becomes the ruler of Thebes after defeating the Sphinx. Throughout the story, Oedipus fails to meet the characteristics of a good leader, including: humbleness, selflessness and patience.

Every good leader must listen to the people around them. In the play, Oedipus listens to his people when they tell him to back off of Creon when they are disputing. Oedipus strongly believed that Creon was coming for his throne. The people of Thebes tell Oedipus to back down because Creon has a good reputation. This action was impressive because he could have disregarded the people's suggestions and kept fighting with Creon, but he let it go. On the other hand, Oedipus had some times where he didn’t listen and it reflected on his ability to lead. Oedipus didn’t want to believe Teiresias when he told him he was the murderer of Laius. If he had listened to him, he would have gotten the truth before everything went downhill.

Oedipus displayed his faulty character throughout the play by showing how he is filled with ill-temper and pride, especially during his confrontation with Apollo’s blind prophet, Tiresias. He allowed his own hubris to take over him, eventually leading to his disaster at the end of the story. Now, some critics may argue that Oedipus did not actually go through a downfall in the play, but when looking back at the definition of a tragic hero, it can be seen that there are evidence to prove that Oedipus is a tragic hero.

Oedipus does not want to put any effort into studying the truth because his domination is his top priority and he wants his people to see him as a savior. Moreover, when Tiresias reveals that Oedipus is Laius’ killer, Oedipus fumes in anger and states “Blind,/ lost in the night, endless night that nursed you!/You can’t hurt me or anyone else who sees the light-/you can never touch me” (425-428). Oedipus does not think about what Tiresias is saying, as soon he hears his name being misused he became enraged. Oedipus does not think about his involvement in the whole incident, instead his ignorance leads him to think Creon and Tiresias are plotting against him. Oedipus is the king and he thinks he is the most powerful man ever. He thinks Tiresias cannot hurt him because he is blind. The combination of Oedipus’ ego and selfishness steers him to become completely blinded to the truth and does not want to even think about taking responsibility. Oedipus’ main motivation for ignoring Tiresias’ prophecy is the authority he has over the citizens. Consequently, Oedipus refuses to see the truth when it’s right in front of him. His selfishness and ignorance propels him to be close minded rather than being open to multiple possibilities.

There are many facets of personality of a minor character that authors may utilize to supply contrast to the main character of their work. Some of these contrasts are extremely noticeable and some are not. One such facet is with the use of a neutral character; to not only showcase the main character’s flaws, but so not to detract from the moral of the story. Creon, from the play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles is used for both of these reasons. Sophocles wished to show that one cannot escape fate, yet did not want to cloud this issue with a possible coupe against his main character Oedipus. He also showed how, at times one character can act completely irrational, while one remains calm in the face of serious accusations.

In Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King, Oedipus, the main character, goes through many struggles that lead to his downfall as a leader and character. In the beginning of the play, the Plague of Athens strikes, and many people are dying rapidly. Oedipus, being the king of Thebes, is placed in charge of solving the problem. He relies on an the seer Tiresias to help him, and the seer tells him that the plague will be stopped when the murderer of Laius is found and expelled. Oedipus also finds out that when he was born, the oracle told his parents that he was going to kill his father and have an affair with his mother. In order to prevent this from happening, his parents sent him off to Thebes where he was raised by a royal family. After inquiring for more information, it becomes clear that Oedipus’ real mother is Jocasta, who he married without knowledge that she was his mother, and his real father is Laius, who he killed on a crossroad years ago. Throughout these occurrences, Sophocles alludes to major events and customs within Athens, and his writing follows many common themes in Greek Mythology.

Oedipus started off as king of Thebes after saving the city from the famine/plague by

In Sophocles’ famous Greek tragedy; “Oedipus The King” the character Oedipus was subject to many harsh and cruel occurrences throughout the play. As outsiders to the situation, the reader often had the chance to know things that the characters did not, and this allowed for a more tragic element to be placed on the story, as the reader is aware, but the character has no idea and therefore this allowed for a more sympathetic view of the ongoings of the play. Oedipus specifically is a victim of his own fate, set by the gods, and the audience was aware of this fact, but he was not. The fact that Oedipus was simply human, who faced an awful lot of trauma in his lifetime is enough to validate one’s sympathy towards him.

Sophocles wrote and produced Oedipus the King at the Festival Dionysia as Athens experienced decline. Recounting Oedipus’s self-destructive search for the truth, a truth that leads him to discover his heinous crimes done in simple ignorance, Sophocles demonstrates the coldness of fate, the distance of the gods, and the reality of changing luck. This indifferent fate, that maintains the order of the world even it is beyond human understanding, told in this story could serve the audience over 400 years after its first production, and on the other side of the planet: the kingdom of Baekje in the Korean peninsula, established 18 BCE, ending 660 CE. The pillar of culture in its time, Baekje’s last king, Uija, lost everything merely for factors beyond his control, and the people, during the kingdom’s decline and after its fall, would need a means to understand the harsh universe, the devastating events around them, and determine what hope they can have.

Oedipus the King is a Greek tragedy play written by Sophocles, and it made its first debut