Significance of the Women in Oedipus Rex Essay

In addition, during this period female babies were much more likely to be abandoned at birth. Contrary to this, Oedipus was abandoned as an infant by Jocasta. In addition to the love that Oedipus has for the women in his life, in a monumental scene at the end of the play Oedipus cries out to his daughters and blindly embraces them. In this scene, Oedipus helplessly wails about the hardships that his daughters will soon face without once mentioning the fate of his two sons. Moreover, during this time men were known for having extramarital affairs by fulfilling their sexual desires while women were expected to remain faithful. In the play, there are no mentions of another lover of Oedipus. Additionally, it was not normal for men to socialize with their wives. Despite this being the norm, Oedipus finds comfort in talking to Jocasta. Oedipus confides in Jocasta, showing vulnerability towards a woman. Pietro Pucci states in his book Oedipus and the Fabrication of the Father, “Oedipus tells Jocasta how he was shaken by the rumor that he was illegitimate and how he secretly ran to Delphi to seek Apollo’s reassurance that he was the legitimate child of his parents, Polybus and Merope” (16). Scenes from the play reaffirm that Oedipus is humbled by the presence of Jocasta. Oedipus state, “I’ll tell you everything I fear. No one has more right than you do, to know the risks to which I’m now exposed” (Sophocles 898-890). Even after Oedipus finds Jocasta

More importantly, Oedipus realized that it was his pride that lead him to kill King Laius. Moreover, another example of Oedipus’ hubris is when he accuses Creon of plotting to overthrow him. “Creon, the soul of trust, my loyal friend from the start steals against me...so hungry to overthrow me he sets his wizard on me, this scheming quack, this fortune-teller peddling lies, eyes peeled for his own profit-seer blind in his craft!” (279). To put it differently, Oedipus is saying that Creon wants to steal the throne and he will go as far to consult an oracle to come and deceive Oedipus. This example is of great importance because it is Oedipus’ pride that causes him to accuses Creon of trying to steal his throne.

Due to his arrogance and narcissism, Oedipus fails to take heed of Tiresias warning of whom Creon sent him and decided that the accusations that were being made against him are attempts to steal his throne. Likewise, Oedipus tells Tiresias when he was reluctant to tell Oedipus is Laius’ killer, “What then, thou knowest, and yet willst not speak!/Wouldst thou betray us and destroy the

Oedipus tells Creon that he is a traitor, because he thinks Creon told him to send the prophet, Tiresias, to find out who killed King Laius. Oedipus thinks that both Creon and Tiresias were plotting against him, by saying Oedipus was the person that killed the late king. Oedipus’s pride takes over and blames Creon for doing this in order to become the next king. Also Oedipus demonstrated his power by attacking Teiresias, “Monster! thy silence would incense a flint. Will nothing loose thy tongue? Can nothing melt thee, Or shake thy dogged taciturnity?”(Oedipus Lines 339-341). He refuses to listen to his advice and warnings due to him being blinded by excessive power and

“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

"When you say Man," said Oedipus, "you include women too. Everyone knows that." She said, "That's what you think." These lines, from the ending of Muriel Rukheyser's poem "On Oedipus the King, Myth," comment on the significance of women both in the play and in society. Though the character of Oedipus suggests that women are equal, the issue of the true role of women is brought up in the poem, and is raised in Sophocles' play.

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

Throughout Sophocles’ Antigone and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar the use of women within the tragedies displays and enforces the omniscient patriarchal society characterized in the plays. In Antigone the main character is a headstrong and courageous teenager who is always at the forefront of the conflict, whereas In Julius Caesar, women play no significant role throughout the tragedy, though ultimately all women in both works are subjected to and ignored by the more “dominant” sex.

Sophocles’ Oedipus is one of the most well-known tragic heroes in the history of drama. His strange

"Overview: Oedipus Rex." Drama for Students. Ed. David M. Galens and Lynn M. Spampinato. Vol. 1.

When Oedipus hears that he is the killer, his pride is wounded for he cannot accept the truth. His judgment is so blurred that he also begins to view Creon as a traitor for using Tiresias. Creon’s words sum up Oedipus’s rage when he said, “Oedipus, your husband, he’s bent on a choice of punishments for me, banishment from the fatherland or death” (715-717). Jocasta is even surprised with Oedipus’s unusual character, as she said, “For the love of God, Oedipus, tell me too, what is it? Why this rage? You’re so unbending” (767-769). The reason why Oedipus pride is so wounded can be because his negative experiences with the Gods. As a baby, he was condemned to death, yet he survived and learned the horrible truth of his prophecy. In attempt to escape that life, he lost belief in the word of the gods because he refused that the prophecies should come true. This struggle between God and Oedipus only tears his moral beliefs as he has to be stone cold to survive his tribulations. This meant giving no consideration against people who presently posed a great threat to him.

Readers of the three Greek plays, Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Medea, can easily gather an abundance of information about the different cultural details within the Greek society at that time. One of the major cultural values that can be picked up from these three plays, is the roles of women in this society. The roles of women can be observed through a comparison between them and their male counterparts.

The feminist approach is based on finding and exposing negative attitudes toward women in literature. Feminists are interested in exposing the undervaluing of women in literature that has long been accepted as the norm by both men and women. Women characters in both Metamorphosis and Oedipus the King have different and similar characteristics based on the general norms so that they can be exposed by the feminist approach. In Metamorphosis and Oedipus the King, feminist approach is through the description of women about the traditional gender values of women, women’s inequality of power and importance, and women’s effect to the whole society.

After a long established rule as king, a plague afflicted the land. Over the years, Oedipus had “delegated much of his authority, in complete reliance on his efficiency and dependa-bility” (Peterkin 265) to Creon. In trying to relieve his subjects suffering, Oedipus sends his valued right hand man, Creon, to consult the oracle. Oedipus was hoping to receive some revelation as to why his kingdom was suffering so. Upon his return, Creon prudently wanted to speak privately with Oedipus. During this exchange, Creon is presented as a cautious, yet matter-of-fact kind of person. The King would not hear of a private conversation as he wanted everything to be in the public’s eye, so as not to hide the truth. Creon reveals, as tactfully as possible, that the Gods were angry that King Laios murder went unpunished. This is what was causing the plague to besiege

However, pride is not the only characteristic, which contributes to their tragic end.  For Oedipus, there exists his temper, his unrelenting pursuit of the truth and his suspicion.  His temper is exhibited in the argument between Teiresias and himself, where Teiresias states the truth and Oedipus replies, "Do you think you can say such things with impunity?"(p.36) and later calls Teiresias a, "Shameless and brainless, sightless, senseless sot!"(p.36).  His suspicion was also shown in this exchange where he says, "Creon! Was this trick his, then, if not yours?"(p.36).  Lastly his unrelenting pursuit of the truth is demonstrated when he believes he is the murderer and that Polybus was not his