The Tragedy Of Sophocles ' Oedipus

Considered one of the greatest dramas of all time, Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King follows the tragic life of Oedipus, king of Thebes. Considered a Satyr play, the Oedipus trilogy is perhaps the most famous of Sophocles’ plays. Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy that was first performed somewhere around 429 BC in Athens, Greece. Originally, the Greeks referred to the play as simply “Oedipus,” as that was what Aristotle referred to it as in the Poetics. Perhaps what makes this play so memorable, is Sophocles’ uses of the tragic hero as the main theme. Sophocles uses characterization and conflict to portray Oedipus as an Aristotelian tragic hero.

The authors of “Hamlet” and “Oedipus the King”, both use elements of tragedy in their work. The tragic tale of a hero Hamlet who finds himself  with the task of avenging his father's death who was killed by his brother, who then marries Hamlet’s mother. While in  Oedipus he himself is the person responsible for all his misfortune, which he discovers along the way through investigation and acceptance.

    The Greek tragedy Oedipus at Colonus was written by the renowned Greek playwright Sophocles at around 404 B.C.. In the play, considered to be one of the best Greek dramas ever written, Sophocles uses the now broken down and old Oedipus as a statement of hope for man. As Oedipus was royalty and honor before his exile from his kingdom of Thebes he is brought down to a poor, blind old man who wonders, “Who will receive the wandering Oedipus today?” (Sophocles 283) most of the time of his life that is now as low as a peasant’s. Although former ruler of Thebes has been blinded and desecrated to the point where he is a beggar, he will not give up on his life and on the life of his two daughters Antigone and

The play, Oedipus the King by Sophocles presents a grim hamartia caused from a terrible deed of long ago. Oedipus the protagonist is the powerful King of Thebes and held of high estate by the people of Thebes. As the terrible deed of Oedipus’s becomes apparent to both Oedipus and the City of Thebes his tragic flaw is slowly realized. The play will show “tragic power resides in human failing, hamartia, constantly underpinning any sense of the inevitable” (Walton). The play will show the author’s view of a tragic hero as seen in the play Oedipus the King does exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero.

"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud" were the inspirational words spoke by the great Greek playwright Sophocles. This inspiring quote sets the controversial atmosphere of Sophocles ' women in the Greek tragedy "Oedipus The King". However to fully understand this controversy, you must first look at how compassion and selfishness flooded the lives of Sophocles ' women.

    The first two plays of the Oedipus trilogy, Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus, were written by Sophocles around 430 BC. The first story is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes and the prophecy that leads to his downfall. The second is about the events leading up to Oedipus’s death. Oedipus’s brother-in-law, Creon is a major supporting character in these retelling of the Oedipus legend. In these plays, Creon undergoes a transformation from a loyal, diplomatic, and logical patron of Oedipus to a manipulative, aggressive, and ambitious antagonist.

Sophocles gives the readers many different views of the play Oedipus the King in which we can take and analysis accordingly to things we are most interested in. Throughout the play Oedipus personally changes. He starts off as a being a smart leader, calm, and determined, but at the end of the play it reveals how he is angry, irrational and is blind to certain aspects, which becomes his downfall.

I find that there is an equal amount of similarities and differences within the text of the play. Starting with Oedipus, we see that he is a very sympathetic leader who always wants to provide a personal connection with that of his community. He is fighting so hard to remove the plague that is stricken over his city of Thebes. This specifically tells us about what type of character Oedipus is as a person and not only that but we see him portrayed as a victim of fate throughout the entire play.

Greek theater encompassed many aspects that reflected the moral values and ideals of society. Their customs were tightly woven into the scripts of plays. Antigone and Oedipus the King, two renowned works of the Greek playwright Sophocles, explore these values through a plot thick with corruption, virtue, and determination. These plays reveal the burdens two Theban kings, Oedipus and Creon, as their lies and poor judgment corrode the integrity of their city, their families and themselves. Possessing a strong faith in their respective gods, the characters of these Greek plays are often led astray as they try to escape the twisted hand of fate, further warping their perception of reality. As their vain

The Greeks considered tragedy the greatest form for literature.  However, the tragic ends for the characters were not ordained or set by fate, but rather caused by certain characteristics belonging to that person.  Such is the case with the characters of Sophocles' plays Oedipus the King and Antigone.  Oedipus from King Oedipus, and Antigone and Creon from Antigone posses characteristics, especially pride, that caused their tragic ends.  As the play progress, other characteristics appear and further add to the problem to such a point that it is inevitable that it will end in tragedy.  Therefore the tragedies were not a result of a plot by the fates, but rather a result of the

Oedipus the King contains many different characters. The main character and protagonist is Oedipus who is also the king of Thebes. Oedipus has a wife, Jocasta, who is also his mother and Creon’s sister whom is Oedipus’s brother-in-law. Antigone and Ismene are Oedipus’s and Jocasta’s daughters which also means they are Oedipus’s sister. There is also Tiresias who is the blind soothsayer of Thebes. Oddly, the antagonist is not a person, it is actually Oedipus’ own fate. Oedipus struggles with his fate throughout the play in many ways. For example, when he is told that he is going to kill his father and sleep with his mother, Oedipus moves away to avoid

Not all have survived throughout time, as there are only seven complete plays of his that are still in existence. These plays are: “Ajax”, “Antigone”, “The Trachinae”, “Oedipus the King”, “Electra”, “Philoctetes”, and “Oedipus at Colonus.” Of these seven plays, three are referred to as the Theban plays, as they take place in Thebes, these three being “Oedipus the King”, “Oedipus at Colonus”, and “Antigone” (Ancient Greece - Sophocles”). These plays followed the great King Oedipus, who was a famous hero from Sophocles’ hometown (Buller). “Oedipus the King,” also sometimes referred to as “Oedipus Rex” or “Oedipus Tyrannos” was considered to be Sophocles’ masterpiece. “Oedipus at Colonus” was the last play Sophocles ever wrote before he died (Downey). In all, over 1000 fragments of his many plays have survived, including many pieces of “Ichneutae” (“Sophocles”; “Ancient Greece -

Sophocles Influenced then and influencing as well as today. Many great classics and tragedies in literature are associated to ancient Greek philosophers, Sophocles. Not only did he provided the world with endless intriguing ideas, he also was the mastermind behind everlasting tragedies such as Oedipus the King. His ideology, artistry, and perception have served to impact genius minds of the past and both future playwrights. The writing of the play Oedipus the King, the action, the plot, the atmosphere, the characters everything get along so well with the whole play. In Aristoteles “Guide to Playwriting” book he mentioned “Oedipus the King” as a classic tragedy, and pointed out so many things for the young playwrights to follow. Although written

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is more than just a basic tragedy. It contains a complete combination of all the features of a tragedy. I find Sophocles' King Oedipus interesting. Not because of the whole incest thing, the killing of the father, and the sleeping with the mother. I am still too naive to appreciate the significance of that. I find Sophocles' King Oedipus fascinating because as I read it with attention, I realized how amazingly hard it was to write. Even though it’s a Greek tragedy and the reading is a little hard to understand. But, once someone gets inside the story line, its captivates one’s attention. I admit I enjoy less the content of the play than Sophocles' writing skill. When to retell a well-known story, one has to make the story enough convincing without relying on the end of the story. one must dislocate the point of the story from its end to rest. By doing that the story will not lose its appeal. One has to be a creator. So, you have to twist the whole story in such an irresistible way that it is compelling despite the fact that the outcome of the story is known. How do Sophocles solve this problem? By making King Oedipus the central character and unintentionally the architect of his own downfall. The strengths that once lead him to solve the riddle later served as his own destruction. To make a story more appropriate to the stage, which is dealing with flashbacks, forward-moving energy of the story must accommodate with the backward references that

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