Was Oedipus Responsible For His Own Downfall

A person’s actions, feelings and behaviour towards others all largely impact their own future. Some citizens in society tend to make bad decisions in their lives and create trouble for themselves all because they did not take time to consider the influence they have upon themselves and those around them. Acting without thinking of the repercussions and behaving in difficult ways are just some examples of how people cause their own fate. One man that demonstrates these issues and causes major problems for himself is Oedipus. Oedipus’ pride, impetuous behaviour and lack of insight ultimately determine his inevitable fate.

First, Oedipus understands that injustice is put on his kingdom. innocent people who did not harm or have any part in the murder of the King are being punished. “For you, for loyal Thebans, and for all who find my actions right, I pray the favor of justice, and of all the immortal gods"(Sophocles 15). Oedipus knows that this curse is not fair and he is determined to find the murderer. “Apollo, when we sent to him, sent us back word

Sophocles wrote a tragic play, Oedipus the King, in which the protagonist, Oedipus, discovers his fate. Thebes, the area currently ruled by Oedipus, has fallen under a plague so Creon, Oedipus’ brother in law, is sent to ask Apollo, a messenger for the Gods, for advice on how to save Thebes. Oedipus discovers that to bring Thebes out of the plague he needs to find and persecute the murderer of Laius, the former king of Thebes. Oedipus searches high and low for anyone who might have information and finds a blind prophet, Tiresias, who claims Oedipus killed Laius. However, Oedipus believes this cannot be true because Jocasta, Laius’s former wife and now Oedipus’ wife, was prophesied to have a son who would kill Laius and have sex with Jocasta.

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,

At the beginning Oedipus is characterized as a great leader. For example, he solves the riddle of the Sphinx, which is the winged female monster that terrorized the city (Sophocles 487). Here we can see how Oedipus is clever and smart. In result the people of Thebes respect him for his cleverness and reward him as King. People even look at him as being almighty when it comes to handling problems such as, when there is a plague that is killing people, animals and made women give birth to nothing. They knew he would help as long as he was aware of the situation. “We’ve come because you are the best man at handling trouble or confronting the gods” (Sophocles 487). This statement shows how people depend on him and look at him as a great leader. It also shows how he is a man of action and looks after his people as a king should. With that being said, he is told to find the killer of Laios and either banish them or kill them to stop the plague. Likewise, he did what he is commanded to do, he obeys the god and search for the killer that killed the previous king. Furthermore, he follows instruction and is concerned for himself and the people of Thebes. “My heart grieves for you, for myself, and for our city” (Sophocles 487).

That is only the beginning of his downfall though as he earlier told the Chorus that anyone harboring the murderer would be cursed, even if it was himself, “…if by any chance/he proves to be an intimate of our house…may the curse I just called down strike me!” (284-287). This shows just how serious that Oedipus was about punishing this person and even though he doesn’t understand that it is himself, and takes awhile for him to realize, that he was responsible for what happened to him.

Oedipus was a man of rapid, impulsive actions and an unlimited awareness of the things going on around him. These qualities made him an excellent king who valued his subject’s needs. But, later on in the play I saw that his habit of acting quickly and irrationally had a hazardous side to it. He has shown that he behaves impulsively, for example when he had told the story of himself killing the band of travelers who had attempted to shove him off of the three way crossroads. Oedipus is overly confidant. This confidence comes from when he had saved Thebes from the curse of the Sphinx and had basically become the king overnight. Oedipus’s speediness and self-confidence weaves its way through to the very end of Oedipus the King, he is continuously in motion, trying and failing to keep up a pace with his fate, even if fate is well beyond his reach. He seems to have begun to accept this and appears to accept that his life is actually out of

Imagine you were told that you killed your own father, and married and had children with your mother; the thought of that is just sickening, but this catastrophe is exactly what happened to Oedipus in “Oedipus the King”. This Greek tragedy shows how unfavorable irony can be, and how it can lead to your own demise. Oedipus has one tragic flaw that leads to his ultimate downfall, and it is his reckless anger. His anger causes his downfall by leading him to kill his father, which leads to the other events that occur in the story. His anger also causes his downfall because it led to his prophecy to come true; the one that his parents wanted to avoid in the first place.

Throughout the vast history of literature, various concepts have come and gone. The idea of fate or fatalism has been a concept that has survived the test of time. Numerous characters have succumbed to the power of fate and the character of Oedipus from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a prime example of the vast power of fate within literature. Sophocles effectively depicts the wrath of fate as he portrays how Oedipus fell victim to fate and his efforts to disregard fate were futile. Once again fate manages to triumph and displays no character whether king or slave can avoid its gaze.

murder. He tells Creon "you will find me a firm ally, and together we shall exact vengeance for our land and for the god?And with the help of God, we shall find success ? or ruin" (5) He knew what his duty was and that was what he wanted to follow. He needed to save thousands of people and Oedipus would go to any means to save them. This is an innocent person and a trustworthy King. "My words are uttered as a stranger to the act, a stranger to its tale"(7). He tells us that he cannot solve the "riddle the very skill that proved him great" (11). He cannot do it alone. Why is this? If he is so guilty of this crime and he is the "murderer that he seeks" then why does he go on with the search? (10). The reason is that he does not know that he has caused the grief for his people. He does not know that he is the murderer. "Ask what you wish. I am not the murderer.", is what he uttered to Creon because he believed that he was not the murderer (14). The fault behind Oedipus? fate lies partly on Apollo and on the prophecy that he was told. Had he been blind to that prophecy he would have remained in Corinth and ruled as a true ruler. He would not have wed his mother nor murdered his father. But why do these things happen to Oedipus? Why when he tries to be the best does he get the worst? His fate led him there. He was doomed to follow the prophecy at

Oedipus the King was very hubris, and he was very arrogant. He only cared about himself, he thought that he was better than everybody and that he was on a God level. He married and slept with his mother, then had kids with her. He did not know that it was his mother at the time. But after he did realize it was, he knew that his family was cursed. Oedipus stabbed out his eyes hoping he would never have to see their faces again because he knew that it was wrong. But that didn't stop anything, the gods didn't stop there. Years later, and after Oedipus moved away from Thebes, both of his sons died in war and Antigone hung herself. His life had become worse than it already was, and nobody thought that it could. Oedipus and his selfish ways led

A possible reason for his ignorance, and a fascinating twist, could be that Oedipus had originally believed that he was the murderer of Laius, and knew at the time of the story, that he had married his own mother (Daniels and Scully, 26). All the public cursing, the whole "Now my curse on the murderer" (Sophocles, 172) was really a spectacle to throw the suspicion off himself (Daniels and Scully, 26). However, most literary scholars don't believe this, as Oedipus does seem to display a great deal of remorse when he realizes that the prophecies about him are true. If it is all a setup by Oedipus, then he is both extraordinarily intelligent and stupid, by hiding the truth for so long and being self destructive at the same time (Daniels and Scully, 26). Most believe that "Oedipus has simply chosen to ignore a real possibility" (Daniels and Scully, 21). Howard Clarke said that "[Oedipus] reaches a point where he is, literally, the captive of what he is searching for." (Clarke, 593). He reached a "point in his search where he is carried along on the tide of his of his own discoveries" (Clarke, 593). A part from these interesting interpretations, Oedipus Rex can be read from cover to cover as a normal detective story with all the basic elements; suspects, crime, clues and an investigator. The whole plot rotates around one significant event, which was the killing of Laius. So now we have the crime stated, we

He is too proud to consider the words of the prophet Tiresias, choosing instead to rely on his own sleuthing powers. Tiresias warns him not to pry into these matters; "Just send me home. You bear your burdens, I'll bear mine. It's better that way, please believe me" (364-366). However, pride in his own intelligence leads Oedipus to continue his search. "For the love of god, don't turn away, not if you know something" (371-372). Oedipus values truth attained through scientific inquiry over words and warnings from the gods, as this is a result of his pompous pride.

Oedipus has many flaws and in the end it becomes a tragic flaw. He fails to realize his connections to Jocasta and Laius, but recognition of the truth brought him to his downfall. He lets the true take over him and it takes him to his downfall. He has an excessive about of pride and determination he uses this to avoid his fate. Thought this drama he is blinded, and at one point he actually makes fun of Tiresias for being blind. "If you could see, I should have said the deed was yours alone. We can see this when he is talking to Creon, asking him to take him into exile” (lines 1525-1533). This shows how his how many flaws he really has.

Oedipus Rex is, at its very core, a story about a young man’s vain attempts to change his fate. Orphaned at a young age because of a prophecy, Oedipus finds himself in a neighbouring kingdom, Corinth, in Greece. In the play, Oedipus learns of the prophecy that says he will kill his father and marry his mother. Upon hearing this, he leaves his foster parents Polybos and Merope, whom he believes are his real parents, in order to defy this fate.