Pride And Pride In Sophocles Oedipus The King

Pride is a quality that all people possess in one way or another. Some people take pride in their appearance, worldly possessions, or position in society. The story of Antigone written by Sophocles has two characters who have a tragic flaw of pride. I will show how Creon’s pride of power leads to his destruction, and how Antigone’s pride makes her an honorable character who should be treated as a hero.

The Greek drama “Oedipus The King” evidently leads to the unveiling of a tragedy. Oedipus, the protagonist of the play uncovers his tragic birth story and the curse he had been baring his whole life. Oedipus is notorious for his personal insight that helped him defeat Sphinx, which lead him to becoming the king of Thebes. He is admired by the people of Thebes and is considered to be a mature, inelegant and a rational leader. From his birth, his story began with a prophecy that Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Through out the play numerous people, who tell him of his unknown past, visit Oedipus. Blind to the truth he casts them away until a blind man named Therisis gives a sight of truth to Oedipus. As Oedipus learns the truth he realizes the great evil his life carries. After finding his wife and also mother hung in her bedroom, Oedipus blinds himself with the gold pins that held Jocasta’s robe. Oedipus blind to the truth is finally able to see when the old blind man visits him and tells him the truth about his life. Both metaphorically and physically sight plays a significant role in understanding the irony of a blind man seeing the truth while Oedipus who isn’t blind doesn’t seem to the truth that’s right in front of him.

People may be blinded to truth, and may not realize what truth is, even if truth is standing in front of them. They will never see truth becase they are blind to it. In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles it is easy to see how blindness affects the transition of the story. It is said that blind people see “in a different manner” because they sense the world in a totally diferent way, such as Teiresias in the play. Oedipus Rex is a tragedy due to the content the Sophocles, the playwright, decided to include, first, murdering his father, king Laius, then marrying his mother, Jocasta, and ending by blinding himself. Oedipus has been blinded to the truth all his life. Eventually, when he seeks the truth he intentionally loses his physical vision, and

Throughout the play Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, there are many themes portrayed, however hubris appears to be a prominent trait. Oedipus, the main character displays such pride that impacts his ability to perceive and understand the past as well as interact with others. When pronounced King of Thebes, he is filled with pride from such honor. The citizens of Thebes glorify him and come to him for help and comfort in their time of need. However, Oedipus doesn't treat them with the same respect, referring to the townspeople as his "poor children" (Sophocles 65) even though they are all adults. Oedipus also believes he is more valuable than everyone else for "his suffering is greater" (Sophocles 67) and he "suffers the most" (Sophocles

Sophocles, in Antigone says, if we cannot determine what is right or wrong, we should ignore pride and continue living by reasoning and follow God’s laws; however, if we don’t follow God’s law we will experience the wrath of God.

Oedipus intelligence could not see the truth, but the blind man, Teiresias, saw it plainly. Sophocles uses blindness as a theme in the play. Oedipus was uninformed and as a result blind to the truth about himself and his past. Yet, when Teiresias exposes the truth he is in denial. It is left to Oedipus to conquer his blindness, accept the truth, and realize fate. But instead Oedipus ridicules Terirsias blindness and accuses him of being on the side of Kreon and helping him become King. He accuses Teiresias for being paid to tell a fraudulent prophecy to him. Quickly Teiresias answers him back and tells him he is BLIND, and tells him about his past of who his actual mother and father was.

Like his other work Oedipus and the King,it was devisied to bring back belief to the traditional gods and the like.Similar to Oedious and the King, excessive pride is a major part in Antigone.In the plays pride [excessive pride] is abhorred.A person with hubris is severly punished by the gods.

With his great knowledge and accomplishment establishing him as a man of insight and honor he is crowned King of Thebes. Oedipus, unwilling to hear or see truth, smites a blind man in the midst of his own ignorance and denial to reality. Teiresias, a blind prophet, is stood before Oedipus to reveal his visions about the identity of the murderer. “PAGE 11/40 TEIRESIAS thou hast not spared To twit me with my blindness--thou hast eyes, Yet see'st not in what misery thou art fallen, Nor where thou dwellest nor with whom for mate. Dost know thy lineage? Nay, thou know'st it not, And all unwitting art a double foe...” Teiresias reveals Oedipus' fate to him. He reveals that Oedipus doesn't know who his true parents are, and is living a doubly bad fate. Oedipus becomes engaged and accusatory of Teiresias at the thought of someone threatening his preconceived reality. “PAGE 10/40 OEDIPUS There is strength where there is truth, but not in you Oedipus. You don't possess this quality, for you are blind in your ears, mind, and eyes.” Oedipus even goes as far as to suggest that Teiresias murdered King Laius. “PAGE 10/40 OEDIPUS Thou methinks thou art he, I think that you are he who planned this crime, and he who even committed it too..” Oedipus, self righteous and pompous, believes that he can do no wrong. His ego is so big that he tears down and slanders

While this pride could be commendable at the beginning of the play, here it has become exaggerated to the extent that it becomes nearly absurd. His pride makes him choose to deny the truth which pushes him to presume and accuse Creon and Teiresias of treason. This demonstrates Oedipus’ blindness to the truth, the truth about the fact that Polybus and Merope are not his real parents, Jocasta is both his wife and mother as Teiresias says “ To her that gave [you] birth, [you shall be proved] a son and husband both” (Oedipus the king, Sophocles lines 536-537), he is “The land’s pollution” as Teiresias call him, referring to Oedipus as Laius’ murderer whom he is searching for and finally Oedipus is not aware that Laius is his father. During their meeting Teiresias tells Oedipus “You have your eyes but see not where you are in sin, nor whom you live with.” Here Sophocles uses the prophet’s words to emphasise Oedipus’ lack of foresight and through this metaphor of sight, he also reveals ironically that the blind prophet has a greater ability to see what is happening in Oedipus’ life unlike Oedipus who sees and understand none and has no idea of what is happening and will happen to him. Towards the end of their discussion, Teiresias prophesise using the metaphor of sight and blindness that “But soon he will be shown to be a citizen true native Theban, and he’ll have no joy of the discovery: blindness for sight and

“Oh my children, the new blood of ancient Thebes, why are you here?” said Oedipus when addressing his people during his first appearance (1-2). Flamboyant, yes, well in Oedipus the King, the main character Oedipus is a boastful and pompous character faced with troublesome pasts and future predicaments. In actuality, he is king of Thebes and the rightful ruler, but when a plague strikes he is quickly led into a misfortune of events that ultimately leads him to dig his eyes out in attempt to relieve him from the truth he discovers. It then becomes a revelation to distinguish the characteristic fault which leads Oedipus through such tragedy. Only to become apparent, Oedipus’s excessive pride is the main culprit behind his tragic ending. In

In the beginning, Oedipus is told by Teiresias that he lives in shame. Of course, Oedipus feels that Teiresias is blind of not only sight, but knowledge:

Oedipus the King is perhaps one of the most famous and influential of Sophocles' plays. It is a tragic play which focuses on the discovery by Oedipus that he has killed his father and married his mother. On the surface of this drama there is, without a doubt, a tone of disillusionment.

In a sense, pride is an excellent characteristic to have, as it gives the individual confidence; on the other hand, having too much pride can cause one to be blind to their surroundings, due to the entitlement that they have for their opinion. In the tragedy “Oedipus the King” (420 B.C.) by Sophocles, Oedipus, king of Thebes, suffers the consequences of his excessive pride and blindness to the truth. Long before the coronation of Oedipus, King Laius and Queen Jocasta – his biological parents – learn of a prophecy that he will kill his father and wed his mother; therefore, they puncture his ankles so he will not be able to crawl away. Despite that, Oedipus lives and learns of the oracle, so he leaves his adopted parents – King Polybus and Queen

John C. Maxwell, is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, coach, and author who has sold over 19 million books. He once said, “There are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. ' Good pride' represents our dignity and self-respect. ' Bad pride' is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance.” Oedipus Rex because Oedipus shows both good and bad pride in the play.

One of the many symbols Sophocles portrays throughout the play is sight and blindness. Sight represents how Oedipus had eyesight, but was still “blind” to the truth of himself throughout most of the play. He was both hesitant and unaware of the events that built up to