Sophocles ' Oedipus The King

The use of hamartia is a key component to a tragedy in Greek times. In the festival of Dionysus, the use of hamartia played a key role in the production of tragic plays that enhances the audience experience in establishing morals and ideals in many different ways. Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a key example of this, a play about the unfortunate destiny bestowed upon Oedipus. During the play, Oedipus attempts to flee from his destiny that he will marry his mother and kill his father. The dramatic irony where Oedipus tries to doubt the gods is imprudent and foolish, and his hamartia further led him to his tragic downfall. Throughout this tragedy, the use of hamartia is used to justify the catastrophic events that happened to Oedipus and his

In Aristotle's work, the tragic hero can get caught up by hamartia which ends up leading him to his downfall. In Oedipus the King, which is a tragic play that is written by Sophocles it shows King Oedipus having many different flaws that are under the protection of hamartia that include madness, stubbornness, and pride that soon that end up leading to his final death. Oedipus shows an attitude of stubbornness during the progression of the play. Oedipus' stubbornness is uncovered early in the play when Tiresias who is a prophet of Apollo, mentions to Oedipus to terminate the investigation of Laius' killer. Oedipus quickly disagrees with him, he wants to find the man who murdered Lauis and brought the plague upon Thebes. Oedipus states, "By all the gods, do not deny us what you know. We ask you, all of us, on bended knees." Tiresias' persistence to withhold the truth is demolished by Oedipus' stubbornness and madness. Tiresias surrenders to Oedipus' stubbornness and states the truth which outrages Oedipus; "...The murder of the man whose murder you pursue is you." Oedipus stubbornness is so overpowering that he disregards Tiresias' bluntness without even a slight thought. Oedipus' statement, "To your heart's content. Mouth away!" which obviously shows his stubbornness when he disregards Tiresias' prophecy and regards it as gibberish. Oedipus' stubborn persistence will ultimately lead to his mother's death. At the end of the play Oedipus becomes aware that he was adopted and instantaneously investigates his origin. Jocasta, Oedipus' wife hesitantly encourages Oedipus to end his identity search, fearing that Oedipus would learn of his shameful sins of killing

Many people believe that fate has planned out their lives and despite efforts on their part what was meant to happen, will eventually happen. This belief has been handed down over the centuries from some of the first civilizations, such as the Greeks. However, not all Greek citizens wanted destiny to take control of their lives. Some decided to choose freewill over the will of the gods. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles writes a cautionary tale meant to warn the doubters in Greek society that regardless of their beliefs in gods and prophecies, it is necessary to heed their warnings. Oedipus, Jocasta, and Laius are Sophocles’ characters that prove that escaping one’s fate is not possible, as each of their predicted fates is realized despite extensive efforts to thwart them.

Throughout tragedies in Greek literature, the hero always has one tragic flaw. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus’ main flaw is his overactive hubris, which in turn clouds his overall judgment. This is evident in the Chorus’ first ode to the city of Thebes as they try to ask the Gods for the banishment of the plague. Their answer does not come from a deity, but from Oedipus himself as he enters the palace and says, “You have prayed; and you prayers shall be answered with help and release if you will obey me, and are willing to put in hand the remedy you distress requires” (Sophocles lines 213-16). By Oedipus saying this, he elevates himself to the importance of a God. The people of Thebes need to pray to him to free the plague that is ravaging the city. This is only a small taste of his arrogance early in the play. Later, the blind seer, Teiresias, comes into the palace to tell who murdered Laius. Oedipus endlessly questions him, which Teiresias only response that he does not want to utter the truth that he knows. Angered by Teiresias’ unwillingness to speak he begins to make ironic jabs at the seer’s blindness and at one point calling him outright saying that he is a “Shameless and brainless, sightless, senseless sot” (Sophocles line 374). Oedipus continues to say that because Teiresias is “Living in perpetual night you [Teiresias] cannot harm me, nor any man else that’s sees the light” (Sophocles lines 377-378). It is ironic because Teiresias knows the truth behind

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.

Tragedy deals with unexpected or unfortunate events that usually results in negative outcomes that affects the downfall of the main character in a play. Tragedy within Greek drama incorporates the time within the their lifestyle of religious and superstitions. Greek writers use tragedy as a theme in literature because it represents their civilization. Sophocles uses this theme in his dramatic plays because the audience is able to correspond to the story line. It allows the audience to relate and be able to feel vulnerable and let go of all the feelings such as sadness, anger, fear or pity. A Greek tragedy symbolizes the ability of a man or hero that has no control over the destiny God intended him to have. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, he illustrates Oedipus as a hero who encounters a tragic end. When Oedipus was born, the prophecy predicted that he would murder his father and marry his mother. His parents wanted to avoid his destiny by leaving him to die on a mountain. A shepherd found Oedipus who then gave him to the King and Queen of Corinth. They took him in and raised him as their own. Apollo told Oedipus what the out come of his destiny would be and did not want to face his fate so he left the city of Corinth, not knowing the king and queen of Corinth were his foster parents. He was seen as a hero because he saved the city of Thebes from the curse that was created by the Sphinx by solving its riddle. It was not until the city of Thebes broke out in a

Like all classical Greek tragedies, Sophocles’s Oedipus the King features a chorus that sings several odes over the course of the play. In Sophocles’s play, the chorus is composed of old Theban men and represents the population of Thebes as a whole. The chorus recites a parodos, four stasima, and a brief exodus. Through the choral odes, Sophocles reflects on the events and motifs of the play, including piety and faith in the Gods, the inevitability and the uncertainty of fate, and the dichotomy of right and wrong.

The famous author, John C. Maxwell states that "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way". From ancient times, leadership has played a vital role in the development of many countries. These leaders bring their people together to strive for a common goal. In the mythical story Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, there are many queries about the status of Oedipus being a good leader. But personally, Oedipus displayed true leadership and therefore was an outstanding and great leader. However, to effectively comprehend how great of a leader Oedipus was, one must first understand what is leadership, characteristics of a leader and the effectiveness of Oedipus ' reign.

A reader uses a biographical perspective to understand why the author wrote their story. “A knowledge of an author’s life can help readers understand his or her work more fully” (Meyer 1361). The author may have incorporated a situation that happened in their personal life within one of their written stories. This helps the reader to get a deeper perspective of what is happening throughout the story.

Sophocles ' play “Oedipus Tyrannus” is an enigma. His play includes incest, murder and self-enlightenment all leading into the main theme of fate. Athenians believed that fate is not left up to man, but that is provided solely on the whims of the gods. Because of his dramatic approach to his plays Sophocles was considered one of the most brilliant and creative writers of his time.

As the reader goes on to read the story by Sophocles they come to see why Aristotle considers this story to be a tragic. For the story of Oedipus the King is a true tragic from the very beginning. We come to see the hero who by the public is raised up since he or she appears on the outside to be a person of virtue. So much virtue in fact it is believed that they have no faults and are a perfect human being. However, this “hero” goes on and fails in some way. In turn he fall from their high position and fall in the lowest regards possible. This in turns causes that person to be shown pity.

Greek tragedy is drama in which a tragic hero suffers a grave misfortune which is not accidental, but is meaningful in that it is connected reasonably with the hero's actions. One may live his whole life not knowing the truth about his reality, which is how Oedipus lived in the play, Oedipus the King, by Sophocles. He did not know who his true parents were or any of the damage he caused to his country, and once the illusion of his life was destroyed, the truth was revealed. Through the illusion that was Oedipus’ life and the use of irony, Sophocles demonstrated that ignorance is bliss and revealed that the journey of fate is beyond anyone’s control.

Sophocles’ use of irony is amongst the greatest of all time, as demonstrated masterfully in Oedipus the King. He displays both ambition and understated humour by using irony in diverse ways, both cosmic and dramatic, as well as verbal irony to add a greater level of wit. Every word spoken holds great symbolic weight and those words contribute to a narrative that reflects the gods plans. Adversely the work of Johnathan Swift takes the form of a social satire, combining economic arguments with a sociopolitical commentary to reflect the tragedy of the people. The use of irony in A Modest Proposal is not a structural technique; it is instead the style of the essay and it is written to reflect the crude nature of humanity. Irony develops from

Tragic hero could be said to be someone that has had a tragic flaw that leads to the hero's death and also helps the reader to sympathize with the character. Oedipus is a classic example of a tragic hero who had many flaws on the surface, such as the lack of self-knowledge, curiosity and pride, and the wisdom gained at the end.

Sophocles Oedipus the King, is a play written by Sophocles. It is one of seven plays to survive through the time. The story takes place in Thebes. Oedipus who is the king of Thebes is faced with a challenge when a plague threatens to kill and destroy Thebes. Oedipus being the king is determined to find the answer and calls upon the oracles for help. The oracles claim that they must find the man who murdered Laius, who was one the king of Thebes. Once they find and murder this man, the plague will be taken away and everyone will be okay. Oedipus sets out to solve this problem like he did when he saved Thebes from the sphinx with a riddle. Oedipus soon is accused by a Tiresias for being the murder and reason for the plague, but Oedipus doesn’t believe this for one bit and tells him to get out. As Tiresias leaves, he hints to Oedipus fate later in the story. Oedipus then calls upon his wife Jocasta for advice, and she says to ignore what they are saying. She even says that her baby with Laius was supposed to grow up and kill Laius. But they killed the baby so it wouldn’t come true. Also, Laius was killed by a band of robbers at the crossroads. Oedipus doesn’t like this because he killed a man at the crossroads that reminded him of Laius. Oedipus is so determined to find the truth that he calls for the Herdsman that witnessed Laius death at the crossroads. Oedipus father, the king of Corinth died of old age, which makes Oedipus happy because he was supposedly prophesied to