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. According to Collins English dictionary, Leadership is the art of leading others to deliberately create a result that wouldn’t have happen otherwise. A leader helps himself and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where one need to go to achieve a goal as a team or an organization and it is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring for those who participate in this journey. Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to guide their people to the right destination, in a smooth and efficient way. Following this further, there are many traits that defines a leader. Firstly, great leaders must posses self awareness. These leaders are to have intimate knowledge of their
In Oedipus the King, the protagonist, Oedipus, played a major role in the plot of this play. Both his stubbornness and his swift responses are strong qualities that he possesses, and they will prove to be both an asset to him, and a liability that will eventually lead to his demise. Before being crowned as king of Thebes, Oedipus was hailed as savior of the city after he single handedly solved the riddle of the Sphinx, and freed the city from the plague. He would be called upon once again to save the city from the plague that had been placed upon them by Sphinx, but this time serving as king. Acting swiftly and proactively, Oedipus send his brother in-law, Creon, to the oracle in Delphi in the hopes of gaining some advice on how to get rid of the plague before the citizens of Thebes become overly worried. In this situation, his swiftness proved to be an asset to him. As the play continues, and the situation changes, his stubbornness and swiftness will become a major liability to him. After receiving news from Creon that the only way to rid the city of the plague was to expel the murderer of Laius (former King of Thebes), Oedipus vows to find the murderer and begins the process of questioning those around him. The first person he questions is Tiresias (the blind prophet), who after threatening him, tells Oedipus that he in fact is the murderer of Laius. Oedipus’s stubbornness gets the better of him and he refuses to believe what Tiresias has told him. He then accuses both
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.
Sophocles was well-known as a master of tragedy. Sophocles was born at Colonus, not far from Athens. Sophocles wrote over 100 different dramatic stories. “Oedipus the King” is one of his great stories that has a mix of heroics to it and yet, we feel sorry for Oedipus and his fate. We ask ourselves after reading “Oedipus the King” who was this man and why did he think he could run from his destiny of fate? Was Oedipus responsible for his final fate and could he have changed his fate? We are going to talk about Oedipus and how his life unfolds from his birth. Then you, the reader will decide if you feel empathy for Oedipus if this story was about a tragic hero.
Leadership is about being proactive and having the initiative to implement strategies, being able to manage change, building relationships with employees and being able to influence employees in a way that meets the organization’s needs (Clawson, 2012). Leadership is about being able to persuade employees to acclimate to the company’s vision by motivating them and encouraging them to embrace change when needed. It is about building relationships and bonds with employees while guiding them so that they are able to meet their potential. It is about making them feel responsible so that they feel like they are important members of the team. Leadership is about leading people it is not about dictating orders and responsibilities to others. It is about installing a sense of importance
People can be blinded by the truth. In the play, Oedipus the King, there are many references to blindness and sight throughout. Certain characters have physically limited blindness such as the prophet Teiresias, but have the ability to “see” the truth. While other characters such as Oedipus, have perfect vision, but they’re “blind” to the truth. In the play, sight is used to represent knowledge. An example would be how prophets or seers, can “see” the truth behind what is really going on. Throughout the play, Oedipus is “blind” to everything that alludes to his downfall despite being pretty obvious. The underlying question in the play is if one can alter his fate. Sophocles uses sight and blindness to answer this question by showing that being blind or having sight can alter one’s fate.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, leadership is the power or ability to lead other people, the act or instance of leading. I believe that Leadership is an art, the art to get others to follow and accomplish a common goal or task in a harmonic manner. A leader can be shown in all kinds of shapes and forms. To be a great leader many people believe it consists of modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart. Over the course of me learning how to become a better leader and being in leadership roles, I’ve learned that all these are very necessary to be a great leader.
In Sophocles ' Oedipus the King, the topics of fate and free will are exceptionally solid all through the play and. Both focuses could be contended to extraordinary impact. In old Greece, fate was thought to be a simple piece of everyday life. Each part of life depended and was based upon fate. It is nature conviction to accept that humankind does in reality have Free will and every individual can choose the result of his or her life. All Oedipus actions are given to him by God So, fate and free will control his downfall.
King of Thebes, owner of a family tree that identically resembles Medusa on a bad hair day, and the inspiration for a psychologically-riveting complex, Oedipus, tragic hero of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, exposes troubling truths about the human condition and, acting as an exemplary precaution for the entirety of humanity, demonstrates how a self-destructive struggle between love, anger, and fate, conveyed through an unorthodox love affair between mother and son (Who gets custody in a divorce?), an inhuman fight where son slays father and an uncomfortably persistent aphorism that fate trumps all relates to not only the prehistoric Athenians who saw the play live but to the modern man, some two-and-a-half-thousand years later. As the climax gets closer, the plot falling together, twisting around, characters tragically dying left and right, Sophocles stops dramatically veiling his message and unfurls his honesty about the inescapable destiny of humanity. The crowds pile out, reflecting on what Oedipus’ cataclysmic undoing means to their life. Still trembling from the recent emotionally-impactful katharsis, the Athenians realize that Oedipus’ multitudinous achievements account to nothing once met with inexorable human stupidity and transpose this dilemma to their own relative prosperity and the plague-ridden Athens, now sure of their looming doom, restlessly awaiting the apocalyptic fate that conquered Oedipus.
As I stated in a previous essay, Oedipus The King is a play by Sophocles which belongs to the genre of tragedy and focuses on a man named Oedipus, king of a place called Thebes, and his efforts to put an end to a plague that has devastated the city. He believes that in order to put an end to the plague, he must find the man that murdered the previous king of Thebes; a man by the name of Laius (Sophocles pg.8-10). Prophecy plays an important role in this play and as Oedipus’ investigation progresses, he ends up finding out a lot of things about himself and his origins resulting in conflict between the characters and Oedipus himself.
John Maxwell once said: “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” This quote explains that anyone can be a leader with or without having a highly position, as long as he or she does it with devotion. According to Amy Rees Anderson from Forbes, a true leader knows who they are and what they stand for. They know their values and the rules they will abide by, regardless of the circumstances they face. Oedipus, the protagonist of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, is clearly a good leader.
A good leader is defined as a person who is good with others and sees clearly. A true leader must have empathy, decisiveness, clarity, and honesty. In Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, is a story about a man who was sent away by his king because a prophecy foretold he would kill his father. Oedipus ends up killing his father and marries his mother and has kids. Oedipus then learns the truth of his life, which he then stabs his eyes out. A man who acts like that would be a debatable leader
During the story of Oedipus the King, readers discover that one of Oedipus’s flaws is his temper. Just as the story begins to turn around, a prophet tells Oedipus that King Laius’s killer brought on the plague. However, when Oedipus questions the prophet, Tiresias, he is denied an answer. He grows mad, calling Tiresias “scum of the earth” (Episode I. 381). Oedipus then goes on criticizing the blind prophet about the arrival of the Sphinx saying, “it cried out for a prophet. Where were you?” (Episode I. 448), justifying that he is smarter and stronger than the prophet is. Furthermore, readers can observed the effects of Oedipus’s anger. His anger leads him to name-calling and disrespect towards Tiresias. Tiresias is only trying to save Oedipus
Erik yanked the ancient silk curtains violently across the unswept windowsill. His shadow glanced across the dimly lit surface and disappeared nearly as quickly as it had come. One painfully thin hand clutched at his collar and he cursed himself for allowing that sliver of stage light to catch his figure. With his back pressed against the venerable wood, and his heart still pounding wildly against his gaunt frame, Erik shuddered out a labored sigh.
Leadership has been around for many years yet, still unable to contain it in a particular definition everyone agree on. There are numerous effective leadership styles used in the organization to achieve their goals. “Leadership is becoming increasingly recognized as a crucial issue for organizations facing change in a complex and volatile environment.”(Higgs 2009, p. 165) The leader is the person who can guide and inspire others to do things according to their needs with the success of the group as a goal. “Leadership may be considered as the process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement.” (Stogdill 1950, p. 3) If the team led by powerful leader, it is most likely that the team will be able to meet the goals as well as their purpose and success.
Leadership is ability to influence others to perform tasks (Benowitz, A.E. 2001). It is the function or activity that an individual performs. This definition implies that leadership is an influential process. In other words leadership is the notion that leaders are individuals who facilitate the movement of a group of people toward a common or shared goal. Therefore, leadership is an important part of management and it produces change in the operation of an organisation.