Who Was Responsible For Oedipus's Downfall

that happen in the stories. This holds true in the Greek epic by Homer, The Odyssey. The epic hero of the story, Odysseus, is a very arrogant and strong leader that hails from the island of Ithaca. Odysseus is lost at sea after becoming victorious in the Trojan War, and ends up on many different islands. But on the island of the Cyclops is where the real trouble starts, and the trouble is created by Odysseus. Odysseus is responsible for the deaths of his men because of his excessive arrogance which angers the gods, his neglect for his crew, and expecting his crew to blindly trust Odysseus.

Oedipus tells Creon that he is a traitor, because he thinks Creon told him to send the prophet, Tiresias, to find out who killed King Laius. Oedipus thinks that both Creon and Tiresias were plotting against him, by saying Oedipus was the person that killed the late king. Oedipus’s pride takes over and blames Creon for doing this in order to become the next king. Also Oedipus demonstrated his power by attacking Teiresias, “Monster! thy silence would incense a flint. Will nothing loose thy tongue? Can nothing melt thee, Or shake thy dogged taciturnity?”(Oedipus Lines 339-341). He refuses to listen to his advice and warnings due to him being blinded by excessive power and

With a prophecy hanging over Oedipus’ head, his fate was already in place. Portrayed as a good person, Oedipus had no control over what he would do in his life, but he tried to overcome the prophecy, he defended himself, as anyone would, and he blinded and exiled himself for the people of Thebes.

I do not believe that the gods are to blame for Oedipus’s tragic downfall, unlike Azeh Check. . Oedipus and his biological parents did attempted to avoid the prophecy from the gods but in the end it was Jocasta and Laius’s efforts that lead to the actual fulfilling of the prophecy and downfall of Oedipus. Oedipus is just a victim of unfortunate circumstances. Initially when he was given his prophecy I feel that his parent did not have to act on the prophecy, instead they could have just cherish their child putting the life of their baby before theirs and raised their son. They were extremely scared and felt it was the right thing to do but their decision shows they might have been acting selfishly. Jocasta should have known that she would never

Does the blinding truth pride hides, makes pride itself dangerous? In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus - once the proud king of Thebes - life changes through figuring out that he is the murder of the former king, and married Jocasta, his own mother. The tragedy of Oedipus is entirely the result of pride through his people, being ignorant, and losing pride. Oedipus's past accomplishments give a sense of pride. It is said that Oedipus got rid of the Sphinx on his journey to Thebes, and from this the people praised him as king (2-3).

Oedipus the king was a great king that lived to have thought he could conquer anything that stood against him but one day ran into a huge problem. Somehow some way someone had caused a plague amongst the people in Oedipus’s kingdom. He sought to find the answer to abolish the reason for the plague by any means possible. Shortly after his quest of discovery he found out that he

Oedipus’s bad temper caused him to kill multiple men on the way to Thebes, which ultimately ended in him killing his own father. Oedipus had very many flaws which each led him to his downfall and termination. He was a very prideful man who thought that he was always right and thought that no one else’s opinion but his mattered. All of this pride blinded him from seeing who he really truly was. He eventually let it get so bad that he ended doing some awful things.

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.

Sophocles’ Oedipus the King classifies as an unmistakable tragedy. Featuring several deaths, banishment, and eye-gorging, very little of the play offers any cheerful juxtaposition. Upon completion of the play, the question that first comes to mind is where to place the blame for the tragic outcome. While arguments could be made for Oedipus, Laius, or even the entity fate, the blame truly lies with the first oracle who revealed the prophecy of Oedipus’ future to Laius and Jocasta. The prophet’s disclosing of the divination directly caused Laius to enact understandable preventative measures in effort to prevent such a terrible event from coming to pass, which, unfortunately, actually ensured its happening. Had the oracle been forced to divulge

Oedipus causes his own downfall through his arrogance. He thinks that Teiresias is falsely accusing him of murdering Laius when Teiresias says, “…you are the murderer whom you seek” (Sophocles 1264). Teiresias then tells Oedipus that the man who he seeks will be brother and father to his children and husband and son to his wife. Oedipus’s hubris is also a major cause of his downfall. Because he tries to escape what fate has in store for him, he ends up falling right into what was planned

In Oedipus The King by Sophocles, Oedipus, the great king of Thebes, suffers a reversal of fortune when he attempts to change his fate. Oedipus is prophesied to kill his father and to marry his mother so he leaves Corinth to come to Thebes so this prophecy does not come true. As Thebes is being countered by a plague, Oedipus is trying everything he can to help the citizens. Throughout the play, Oedipus seeks knowledge about the plague later leading to his downfall. Oedipus is seen as a hero to his city due to his contributions, but he soon has a tragic ending when he seeks for knowledge.

Following the victories of the Greeks invading the Persians at Marathon in 490 B.C. and Salamis in 480 B.C., Athens experienced a period of social optimism and period expansion during the first half of the fifth century B.C. The second half of the fifth century B.C. was also very successful in that Athenians tremendously developed culturally and intellectually. This was the era of Sophocles and a period where everything and anything seemed possible through man effort and reason. Sophocles wrote a trilogy of tragedies, which contained of 3 Theban plays. Oedipus Rex, the first play in the trilogy, was written during a period of political instability and plague. In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, many themes such as the quest for identity, the nature of innocence and guilt, and the abuse of power are portrayed and are pivotal for the play to build up to the tragic ending.

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.

Could Oedipus be a victim of fate or is he responsible for his own tragedy? In the play "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles, the author displays the Greek's belief of fate controlling a man’s life despite of a man’s free will. Man was free to choose and was extremely held responsible for their own actions. Throughout Oedipus the King, the idea of fate and free will plays an important role in Oedipus' downfall. Although Oedipus was a victim of fate, he was not guided by it at all. When Oedipus was born, he was intended to marry his mother and to murder his father in the future as a prophecy warned by the oracle of Apollo.

Oedipus did not have a fair start in life. His father, Laius, heard prophecy that Oedipus would one day kill his father and sleep with his mother. In order to prevent this, Laius gave Oedipus to a shepherd to be killed. Fortunately, through a string of events, Oedipus's life was saved, and he even went on to become the honored king of Thebes. Despite this feat, Oedipus still managed to make several decisions that ultimately fulfilled the original prophecy told to Laius, and inevitably sealed Oedipus?s fate.