The Downfall Of Oedipus Rex

In the beginning of the story, Oedipus is very taken back by the situation. He will not accept the truth of his fate and accuses Tiresias of lying to him so Oedipus’s bother- in- law, Creon, could take the throne. Oedipus is extremely dumbfounded by this news because he had no knowledge of killing his father or marrying his mother, but what he learns later is that who he thought were his parents were not his real parents. When he finally realizes that he did in fact marry his own mother and kill his father, he accepts it and punishes himself in order to uphold his promise to his people. By this point there is no way Oedipus can escape his fate. Tiresias says to Oedipus, “No man in the world can make the gods do more than the gods will” (811). Since he did kill his father, the previous king, Oedipus has to be shunned by all of Thebes. Because there is no way of changing his fate, he accepts his responsibilities by giving himself the punishment he assigned to the murderer of Laius.

Oedipus Rex was not the abominable person that some people make him out to be. What happened to him was by the virtue of the gods of Ancient Greece, and he had no authority over his own life. The true antagonists in this play are the gods, tricking Oedipus into thinking he actually has control of his life, but really allowing Oedipus to spiral into a pit of depression and dolefulness because of his mild actions. Even at the start of the play,

Oedipus was a powerful man that had his life ruined by his excessive pride and selfishness. The same qualities that helped him to rise and become the king of Thebes also caused him to feel a lot of pain. He lost everything that he had gained in a short period of time. Oedipus learned that having power was not all that he thought it was. His life had been a lie and he actually didn’t know anything about the place he was born until he was instructed to save it. Oedipus himself caused his downfall with his selfishness and pride.

As the play continues, we start to see a shift in Oedipus’s personality. This was due to the conclusion he makes based on the conversation him and the prophet Tiresias has. It mentions how Kreon, Oedipus brother-in-law, is plotting against him. “So? You come here? You have the nerve to face me in my own house? When you’re exposed as its master’s murderer? Caught trying to steal my kinship?” (Sophocles 500). Now, Oedipus is arrogant, he blames Kreon based off of the conclusion he jumps too. He gets discouraged from his role as a leader, he is irrational, angry and hot tempered, whereas, in the beginning,

Oedipus-Rex was filled with many impulsive, difficult decisions; much like when Jocasta and her husband at the time decided to attempt to murder their son, Oedipus. The prophet, Tiresias, came to Jocasta and Laius and warned them of Laius’ fate. Tiresias told Laius, former King of Thebes, that his son would ultimately be the death of him and his power. He and his wife, Jocasta, devised a sinister plan to “eliminate” the chance of this prophecy coming true. Shackling the newborn’s ankles together and leaving him to die on top of a mountain called Cithaeron. But as everyone in Thebes believes “fate works in magical ways”. Oedipus, the newborn at the time, was led by something mysterious back to Thebes to solve a riddle, kill his father and become the new king by marrying Jocasta and solving the Sphinx’s riddle. This put Oedipus exactly where fate wanted him. Later causing him to dig deeper into his past when things just don’t seem to add up. “Parents? Wait! Who was I born from after all?” Oedipus asked of Tiresias which started everything. After catching wind of this new investigation into Oedipus’ past and the acquiring of all these new details Jocasta finally connected the dots. Oedipus was the son she thought

Oedipus is a man of unflagging determination and perseverance, but one who must learn through the working out of a terrible prophecy that there are forces beyond any man’s conceptualization or control. Oedipus’ actions were determined before his birth, yet Oedipus’ actions are entirely determined by the Gods who control him completely. In the beginning of this tragedy, Oedipus took many actions leading to his own downfall. He tried to escape Corinth when he learned of the prophecies that were supposed to take place in his life. Instead, he

Early on in the story, Oedipus is the proud and confident king of Thebes; he is a man that is not to be underestimated or degraded. This once undisputed fact becomes more debatable the longer the play continues, however. The conflict begins with Oedipus attempting to lift a curse that has been unleashed on the kingdom of Thebes. This curse was caused by the murder of the previous king, Laius, and the only way for it to be lifted is for the murderer to be exiled from Thebes. Oedipus works fervently to unravel the mystery behind who Laius’ killer was. However, each new discovery ends up incriminating Oedipus as the killer instead. Along the way Oedipus discovers that his supposed parents, the king and queen of Corinth, are not his true parents. This revelation pushes him to begin a new search for his biological parents, a search that eventually leads him to one of Lainus’ shepherds. It is this shepherd that reveals to King Oedipus that his mother is Jocasta, his current wife. Consequently, Oedipus falls into a fit of despair in which he stabs his own eyes out and confronts the consequences of his shameful existence. By the end of the play, Oedipus has not only lost his status as the king of Thebes, but has also been exiled from the kingdom and has become an outcast for all of society to hate. The transition Oedipus undergoes

Oedipus the king’s main conflict is based around Greek mythology in that from the time Oedipus is born it is prophesied by the Gods that he is going to kill his father and marry his mother. Sophocles uses a lot of dramatic irony in order to develop the conflict for the spectators, such as when Oedipus says to Tiresias “You’ve lost your power, stone-blind,stone-deaf-senses,eyes blind as stone”(Sophocles 423-424). Oedipus says this because he refuses to believe that the prophecy that Tiresias is telling is true meanwhile the audience is already aware that Tiresias is telling the truth. The main conflict and theme of this story is between Oedipus and himself because he cannot trust anyone except for himself and in the end, it leads to his own demise. Oedipus can be seen as a dynamic character because at the beginning he is very prideful and at the end, he can be considered fearful of what fate has brought to him.

     The heart of the story unravels when Oedipus apparently begins to suffer a reversal of fortunes. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus is referred to by the priest as the “king of the land, [the city of Thebes’] greatest power” (16). Through all of Thebes he is thought of as a hero, a man who saved the city from the Sphinx and in his bravery has promised to find the killer of King Laius in order to save the city from doom and death. However, at the climax of the story Oedipus learns that he has been “cursed in [his] birth, cursed in marriage / and cursed in

Have you ever evaluated a character more than a movie, play, or story etc.? Well, if you have read about Oedipus then there should be a reason of knowing and analyzing a character such as Oedipus himself. He is one of the most amazing dramatic hero’s you will ever read about with the fact that even the play itself is very interesting. There is drama, tragedy, and action which causes the audience to feel the intense in knowing what’s going to happen next and that is what one wants when you watch a drama. Oedipus as a character is a man of action and great insight, he is an excellent ruler and his qualities make him anticipate his needs. He is a man who is hugely confident and his confidence continues to the very end. But there is some tragedy which causes a weakness in him as a character.

In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus Rex successfully serves himself justice by bulging his eyes out and banishing himself from the city of Thebes after he unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother. When Oedipus was born in Thebes, he was somehow shipped to Corinth by two shepherds because they heard one day he would be killing his father. Oedipus grew up thinking that his two foster parents were his real parents. After a while, he decided to go to an oracle where they told him that he would be killing his dad and marrying his mom. Once he found out his fate, he immediately fled because he believed he was searching for justice and he feared this scenario. On his way over there, Lauis, the king of Thebes, almost ran over Oedipus. Oedipus angrily killed Lauis and his helpers. Once Oedipus arrived to Thebes, he encountered a Sphinx.

Throughout the play, Oedipus showcases his undeniable ability to grow enraged, frustrated and in various cases very close minded; this self-coping mechanism however is not part of a hamartia he may have endured that lead to his demise. His ultimate outcome actually was anything but his own doing for his destiny was predetermined by powers inexplicably greater than his existence.

Aristotle argues that in a tragedy a hero must possess a tragic flaw that leads to his or her ruin. An example that backs up this argument is Sophocles’s tragedian play, Oedipus Rex, in which its protagonist was a victim of such fatal flaws that caused ruination in his life. In this case, Oedipus tragic flaws were both his anger and his pride. Furthermore, the fate that Oedipus suffered because of such flaws not only caused his downfall, but also the death of those he cherished. The tragic flaws that Oedipus possessed made fate and free will be more conspicuous throughout the play; additionally, it showed how valuable these things are when making decisions.

Originating from the philosopher, Aristotle, the characterization of “pity and fear” developed into an idea present in classic Greek tragedies (Oedipus Packet). As the outcome of these emotions, the audience experiences catharsis in response to the inevitable downfall of the protagonist. It was not uncommon to see playwrights stray away from this classical approach in tragic literature as writing conventions became less restricted over time. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex (430 B.C.) and Jean Cocteau’s The Infernal Machine (1934) highlight the conceptual differences of heroism, destiny, and a man’s consciousness to the influence of the period it was written in. Handling the same myth, Cocteau conveys how a legend’s adaptability is present thousands of years later and he questions the illusory heroic qualities of Oedipus in Sophocles’ original play. Whereas both authors argue that Oedipus was blinded by his own arrogance, in the original Oedipus Rex, Sophocles depicts Oedipus as a noble tragic hero who owns up to his sins while in The Infernal Machine, Cocteau mocks the concept of the tragic hero, depicting Oedipus as ignoble with a helpless demise.

Oedipus is victim from his own innocence because of his mistake about leaving his adoptive family, thinking he can no longer make the prophecy come true, he think he can do what he want to do like marrying and ruling a kingdom. He don’t realize what he did.