Oedipus The King

Throughout the play we find that Oedipus, the protagonist of this Greek tragedy, is tested by life in a number of ways. To those in Athens who watched the performance of Oedipus the King, Oedipus appeared to be the embodiment of a perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong-willed. Ironically, these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. He is portrayed as a character of

World War One was an unforgettable era. The war stole millions of lives from both sides who fought. It rattled citizen’s faith in their country. People lost brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers. It was an era that is buried in people’s minds and they may never forget it.

Oedipus displays flaws like hubris and até throughout the play an example being when he was quarrelling with Teiresias and yelled at him as abovementioned. Oedipus also made a bad decision of killing the man that got in his way, and anagnorisis occurs to him where he realizes his fate came true and killed his father. This caused Oedipus to be responsible for his fate because he was the one with the prophecy, and according to Teiresias is, “the man you’ve searched for all along… for the murder of King Laius” (Sophocles 27). These traits all meet the traits for Oedipus to be considered a tragic hero in Oedipus the King by

Oedipus from the drama, “Oedipus the King” and Hamlet from, “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” are two characters that are different, yet they both share the same title of being a tragic hero. Oedipus and Hamlet have many characteristics of a tragic hero that separates them in varieties. However, some of those characteristics show that both characters have and use similar thought processes and methods, which classify them as tragic heroes of their dramas. The five characteristics of a tragic hero are: nobility, tragic flaw, peripeteia, anagnorisis, and lastly irony. Both Oedipus and Hamlet hold or have a nobility position in their drama’s plot. Oedipus is the son of the king, and fate has foretold that he will kill his father and take over the

Throughout the play, one can grab that Oedipus is prideful, stubborn, heroic, and fair. King Oedipus is very prideful in the play because when he is told that he is really adopted, he visits the oracle of Apollo to really find out. This proves that Oedipus is prideful because he saw himself as a prince and as a man with power who came from Merope and Polybus. He refused to believe the old man that gave him this information and so he set out to prove him wrong. Second, Oedipus is stubborn. One can see this within line 376 of the play. In this moment, Oedipus immediately claims that someone told Tiresias to call Oedipus the killer. This proves that Oedipus is stubborn because he abruptly refused to believe himself as the killer and then accused Tiresias of saying that because someone else told him to. Third, he is heroic and fair. Oedipus’s heroism is what freed the city of Thebes from the sphinx’s control, but this just added to Oedipus’s fate. This also allowed him to become king of Thebes, thus marrying the queen, his mother. Lastly, his fairness contributed to his own suffering. After realizing the truth of what he had done, Oedipus blinded himself because exile was not

Aristotle also outlined the characteristics of a good tragic hero. He must be "better than we are," a man who is superior to the average man in some way. In Oedipus 's case, he is superior not only because of social standing, but also because he is smart ¬ he is the only person who could solve the Sphinx 's riddle. At the same time, a tragic hero must evoke both pity and fear, and Aristotle claims that the best way to do this is if he is imperfect. A character with a mixture of good and evil is more compelling that a character who is merely good. And Oedipus is definitely not perfect; although a clever man, he is blind to the truth and refuses to believe Teiresias 's warnings. Although he is a good father, he unwittingly fathered children

Oedipus was a man of rapid, impulsive actions and an unlimited awareness of the things going on around him. These qualities made him an excellent king who valued his subject’s needs. But, later on in the play I saw that his habit of acting quickly and irrationally had a hazardous side to it. He has shown that he behaves impulsively, for example when he had told the story of himself killing the band of travelers who had attempted to shove him off of the three way crossroads. Oedipus is overly confidant. This confidence comes from when he had saved Thebes from the curse of the Sphinx and had basically become the king overnight. Oedipus’s speediness and self-confidence weaves its way through to the very end of Oedipus the King, he is continuously in motion, trying and failing to keep up a pace with his fate, even if fate is well beyond his reach. He seems to have begun to accept this and appears to accept that his life is actually out of

The Greek drama Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is regarded as one of the most perfect tragedies ever written. The tragedy Oedipus the King is highly esteemed partly due to its use of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony means that facts or events, which are not known to the characters on stage or in a fictional work, are known to the audience or reader. Sophocles uses dramatic irony to demonstrate how little the protagonist really knows. The main dramatic irony in Oedipus the King contrasts Oedipus’s limited knowledge of his unfolding situation and how the audience is fully aware of it. Oedipus’s lack of knowledge and resulting quest to seek the truth reveals many flaws within his character. The use of dramatic irony reveals the

From the very beginning, what makes Oedipus ' actions in his quarrel with Teiresias and also throughout the play so dramatically compelling, is the fact that the audience knows the outcome of the story. We know Oedipus ' fate even before he does, and there is no suspense about the outcome itself, instead, the audience anxiously awaits Oedipus to reveal his fate unto himself in his desperate quest to rid his city of the terrible plague, or maybe even more so, to simply discover his own unfortunate tale. Oedipus is relentless in his pursuit of the truth, and his determination is commendable. There is nothing that compels him to act in this way, instead he freely chooses, with much zeal, to initiate the chain of events that will ultimately lead to his downfall. It is this interplay between Oedipus’ own free will and his fated eventuality that is the crux of the play, and constitutes the main dramatic power.

In Sophocles play, Oedipus’ excessive pride and unwillingness to listen to the prophecy is his fatal flaw. When he had heard from a townsman that he was adopted he went to a prophet to confirm this news, the prophet instead told him that he would one day kill his father. Upon hearing that, he fled to Thebes, and on his journey there he killed a man at a crossroads who would come to be known as his father. All the while he had a chance to try and avoid the prophecy but he chose to ignore the knowledge that was given to him. For so long Oedipus believed he was this noble man, and in many cases he was, who never sinned and kept his word. In the end the excessive pride he had for himself about being a leader was a big part to his downfall. After finding out he had sinned by killing his father, marrying and having children with his mother, Oedipus was so ashamed of himself that he clawed his eyes out and demanded to be exiled from Thebes. In that way he seeked redemption, he had stayed true to his promise and that showed nobility.

Oedipus king of the dying city of Thebes had a prosperous life. Fulfilling king duties and taking care of the people around him. Oedipus life wasn't all that bad until he went on a search for the killer of the last king Laius, Not knowing his fate awaited him by doing so, earlier Oedipus announced that their would be a reward for whoever revealed the killer, and the killer will be banned from the land. Oedipus continually searched for answers, even when people tried to steer him away, he still wanted answers. What is done in the dark will come to light. After many days of research one of the servants finally confesses that Oedipus is indeed the killer of the last king Laius. The fact that many people told Oedipus not to pursue the situation

A Greek tragic hero is a character who is destined for downfall or destruction. In King Oedipus, Oedipus is a Greek tragic hero. Three of the characteristics that he fits into are being a middling character, having a moment of recognition, and having a reversal of fortune. These characteristics prove that Oedipus is a Greek tragic hero.

Oedipus is one of the most famous tragic heroes in drama history. His bizarre fate leads him to a tragic defeat that leaves the audience and reader feeling emotionally overwhelmed. According to Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus’ story makes him as a tragic hero. 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. Aristotle’s observation of a tragic hero does not reveal the lack of morality or the evil of the character, based on an error in judgment. The tragedy and drama fit the Aristotelian characteristics of Oedipus.

There are two traits that I believe are responsible for Oedipus’ tragedy. First, I believe his pride is one of the reasons for his fall. He is a man who has great powers, but believes that he is better than the God’s. Oedipus solves a mystery to become the king and marries the queen Jocasta. Although some things are better off left unsaid, Oedipus doesn’t believe that. He is always letting his pride get the best of him. For example, Oedipus ordered the messenger to tell him who his real parents were after figuring out that Polybus and Merope weren’t his real parents. “Your ankles… they tell the story. Look at them” (Fagles 220). There was a reason that nobody wanted him to know. I also believe that his temper was a trait that contributed to his fall. When the blind man comes to talk with Oedipus he can’t handle the truth and gets very angry. Everyone believes that he is a great king, but the blind man knows about the murder he committed. When Oedipus finally realizes that he let his pride and temper get the best of him, it is already too late. He registers the importance of life after he is already blind.

In the story Oedipus The King by Sophocles, the main character, Oedipus, had many flaws that lead him to a tragic and hard hitting downfall. A tragic hero always has a hubris that takes him down in the end, but Oedipus had more than just one. Out of his many flaws, a few of them stuck out more than others. His problems made him push himself to the end of his reputation as a hero. Oedipus was Impatient, would not take advice, and made very quick decisions.