Oedipus the King is a poem that is very heartbreaking and cruel because of the many things that happened to Oedipus had nothing to do with him. He was not responsible for anything bad that happened to him in his life and I feel like his life was already planned out from before he was even born. His life was not fair because he did not even take any decisions for himself about how he wanted to live and was treated like a puppet. So many horrible stuff were happening around Oedipus and he had no idea about any of them. They are all very wicked and twisted stuff that no one would even dare to imagine them or think about them. Oedipus did not have a tragic flaw because everything was already predestined to happen and nothing would change even if he wanted to do something about it. That is what makes this poem even more tragic because he did not have any control about his own life or even about himself. This poem is about a king that falls in love and even marries his own mother without knowing that she is his mom and kills his dad without knowing he is his dad. That was all part of a curse that was told to his dad. The curse said that the child of Laius and Jocasta was destined to kill Laius and marry Jocasta. …show more content…
For example, when Oedipus found out that he married his mother and killed his father he took his own eyes out. This shows us Oedipus's rightfulness. This is a metaphor because even though Oedipus had eyes before he could not see what was happening around him, and when he took them out he saw things more clearly. In the article Oedipus Rex as the Ideal Tragic Hero of Aristotle, it says that “If we give ourselves up to a full sympathy with the hero, there is no question that the Oedipus Rex fulfils the function of a tragedy, and arouses fear and pity in the highest degree”(p. 2). This shows us how Oedipus is clearly not at fault of what happened to
The Greek drama “Oedipus The King” evidently leads to the unveiling of a tragedy. Oedipus, the protagonist of the play uncovers his tragic birth story and the curse he had been baring his whole life. Oedipus is notorious for his personal insight that helped him defeat Sphinx, which lead him to becoming the king of Thebes. He is admired by the people of Thebes and is considered to be a mature, inelegant and a rational leader. From his birth, his story began with a prophecy that Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Through out the play numerous people, who tell him of his unknown past, visit Oedipus. Blind to the truth he casts them away until a blind man named Therisis gives a sight of truth to Oedipus. As Oedipus learns the truth he realizes the great evil his life carries. After finding his wife and also mother hung in her bedroom, Oedipus blinds himself with the gold pins that held Jocasta’s robe. Oedipus blind to the truth is finally able to see when the old blind man visits him and tells him the truth about his life. Both metaphorically and physically sight plays a significant role in understanding the irony of a blind man seeing the truth while Oedipus who isn’t blind doesn’t seem to the truth that’s right in front of him.
In Sophocles play Oedipus the King, Sophocles depicts the horrible fate of Oedipus, a pompous, arrogant young ruler. The story begins in the Greek town of Thebes. A plague has descended upon the Thebians causing death and famine throughout the land. Oedipus, being the heroic king, takes full responsibility to find out the cause of their aliments. While working to discover the source of the plague, Oedipus stumbles upon the tragic truth of his heritage and the horrifying implications of his appointment to the throne. Unfortunately for Oedipus, everything ends in tragedy. With the suicide of his mother/wife and the self-inflicted blindness followed by exile from Thebes, Oedipus paved the path to his own
Oedipus, the main character of Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. A tragic flaw is defined as “an otherwise good trait that turns destructive when taken to an extreme” (Stary). In a tragedy one can see the suffering of the main character, which is evident in Oedipus’ case. Oedipus’ tragic flaw is his determination, when he intensely seeks to find Laios’ murderer, forces the unwilling blind prophet Teiresias to reveal the truth, and when he stopped at nothing to prevent the prophecy from becoming true.
The play Oedipus the Rex makes the reader think about Oedipus’ flaws. At the beginning of the play Oedipus is portrayed as a caring and mighty king of the city of Thebes. Sophocles wrote this at the beginning of the play for the reader to analyze what the flaw of the main character is as the story unfolds.
Oedipus' flaw would be that he was very prideful and arrogant and believed that he was the best ruler for Thebes even though he knew that he had killed a man long ago but when you first meet Oedipus you see a strong, determined man to help all the people of Thebes and rid them and the country from the plague. Oedipus was also very angry and spiteful person and revealed this flaw when he started to get down to the truth he become mean and angry calling Kreon, Teiresias and the Messangers "blind" and accusing them of personally killing Laios. Oedipus would not believe any of these people until they brought the Shepard that had given him to the Messenger as an infant. The more he disputed the claims that he was the murderer the more he demanded
Tragic and foreboding are some of the many tones that overlook “Oedipus the King”. Oedipus is a hero with mostly good intentions but because of his tragic flaw of ignorance ends himself in agony. The fact
The characteristic of the tragic flaw has not only lead to the hero's demise, nevertheless may also persuade the reader to sympathize with the character. Consequently, it follows that in Oedipus the King, a Greek tragedy, the tragic hero Oedipus should have some sort of flaw. So, the question is does Oedipus really have a tragic flaw? The answer is yes. The Oedipus tragic flaw is pride and rage which remain Oedipus from obtaining his true fatal fate. What caused the tragic flaw because, he could not accept the predictions about his life. Oedipus can’t admit that he killed the king, his own father, Laius. Oedipus does not get that the stranger, he once killed was his father, and that he married his own mother Jocasta. Also, Oedipus announces to the Theban people, that if any man confesses, he will be banished, however, he will be punished as
I think that Oedipus’ most tragic flaw is his impulsiveness when in times of anger. I attribute this mainly to both Oedipus’ quickness to anger and also his innate compulsively violent behavior. Separate neither of these are good traits to possess, however together they bring about an even worse flaw. A major plot point in the story is one that they touch on fully throughout; the death of Former King Laius. Oedipus, in a blind rage, not only fulfilled half of his prophecy, that he would “murder his father and marry his mother” (3), but also set up his own demise.
Oedipus’ biggest flaw is that he is does not fully know the truth which holds him back from understanding his past and accepting himself. In scene two, He learns more about the murder and realizes that he is the one guilty of killing King Laios’. Oedipus says, “Swinging my club in this right hand I knocked him out of his car, and he rolled on the ground. I killed him”(43). Oedipus does know part of the truth: that he killed the King, but still is unaware that King Laios is his real father. Oedipus says, “Polybos of Corinth is my father. My mother is a Dorian: Merope”(42). Not knowing the truth about his parents disables Oedipus’ ability to understand his past and his identity. It will certainly be difficult for him to find out the ugly truth
Fate chose him to kill his dad, marry his mom, and discover it all in Oedipus Rex, Sophocles’ tragedy. Oedipus was so determined to save Thebes from the plague bestowed on them by Apollo. But little did he know that he was the source of it all. His constant reversal of fortune, neutrality, and suffering make him the perfect example of a classic Greek tragic hero.
In the story of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus has flaw of knowing his limits and actions. The current ruler of the land, King Laius, was murdered. A rumor says that he was killed by three robbers. Oedipus puts the task on himself to investigate and conclude on the three criminals. He needs help in his search so he is sent to the Oracle of Delphi. Over the entrance or the inscribed words: “Know thyself”. Oedipus, having a hamartia, ignores the warning sent by the gods. He eventually realizes that it was him who killed his father and that he married his mother who bore him four children. This surprised him because of the rumor that was told about three murderers and because he did not know
The tragic flaw of a human being is usually checked with the method he or she reacts with to the circumstances that life throws upon him or her. Contemporary society appears to be fixated on giving gatherings of people cases of such individuals who, in spite of the affliction of their lives, that still transcend. In fact, maybe nobody is more fit for indicating triumph over struggles than Sophocles and William Shakespeare. In both Oedipus and Hamlet, for example, the primary characters struggle with many obstacles and consequences and find themselves with unimaginable problems furthermore and are compelling to choose what the correct decision will be. This develops to Oedipus and Hamlet becoming motivated, courageous people and also becoming dishonest to themselves throughout the two books. Shakespeare and Sophocles’ plays show that sometimes when dealing with consequences and the obstacles there are different ways to react instead of leading to a tragedy. Oedipus and Hamlet’s motivation in dealing with problems is evident when the two primary characters want to find out the murderers of their father’s. Their courageous actions develop them towards having one goal, which was to kill the former King, and show courageous traits towards other people. They become dishonest to their themselves and is showed throughout the two books, which then causes misfortune for both of them in the end. Despite the resemblances of the two, Hamlet is in control of his activities, and he very
Although he is clever man, he is blind to the truth. Even though he did not know that Laius and Jocasta are his parents, He still kills a man old enough to be his father and marry a woman old enough to be his mother. One would think that a man with a disturbing prophesy over his head as Oedipus should be very careful about whom he marries or kills. The fact that a tragic hero is not perfect evokes both pity and fear. Oedipus although being a good father, husband, and son, he unwillingly destroys his parents, wife and children. Oedipus is human, regardless of his pride, his intelligence or his stubbornness and the audience recognize his humanity in his agonizing reaction to his sin. Watching this, the audience certainly moved to both pity and fear, pity for this broken man and fear that his tragedy can be their own.
is a trait viewed as being favorable to a character at first, but it leads to their later downfall. It was often used in ancient Greek tragedies to show that mankind was susceptible to flaw. This was present in Sophocles 's tragedy, Oedipus the King. The protagonist of the tragedy,Oedipus, was not exempt from his own flaws. Oedipus’s traits of excessive pride and desire for knowing the truth were advantageous to him in the beginning, yet were the very things that contributed to his tragic downfall.
In the greek drama, Oedipus the king by Sophocles, King Oedipus shows all the characteristics of a tragic hero. By definition A tragic hero is, “A privileged, exalted character of high repute, who by virtue of a tragic flaw and fate suffers a fall from glory into suffering”. That definition perfectly describes Oedipus and his life. Throughout this whole story we see the real Oedipus emerge. Oedipus starts out in the beginning by being the best king around but by the end of the story we see the ups and downs of his life and how it changed forever. In the story we here Oedipus say these words, “ah! My poor children, known, ah known too well, the quest that brings