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Archetypes In Oedipus Rex

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Authors use several types of techniques to try to show the audience that what the author says is the truth or more commonly known as the theme. The theme uses persuasive techniques, poetics, archetypes, and irony paradox to prove the author's point. A great example of the theme is used in Oedipus Rex when Sophocles argues that arrogance hides the truth. This theme is proven through the examples of hamartia, ethos, and archetype to prove Sophocles's opinions.
Hamartia is used to argue Sophocles’s point of arrogance in hiding the truth. An example of this is in the plot when Oedipus claims that others are against him because their truths are against his own opinion in the end (18-27). This proves Sophocles's point by showing even though Oedipus had saved the city of Thebes the way …show more content…

Tiresias is an archetype of a blind seer, this is a character that is humble in their truth and isn’t arrogant in their actions. In the play, Tiresias speaks the truth of what Oedipus had done, but he stays true to his archetype, and he doesn’t fight with Oedipus when Oedipus says that he doesn’t speak the “truth”(23). This use of the archetype proves Sophocles's point by using the contradiction of the two character of humble and arrogant, showing that the blind seer’s character traits go against the character traits of Oedipus’s. Only proving that arrogance will hide the truth.
All of these persuasive techniques support the ideas of Sophocles, arguing that arrogance hides the truth in Oedipus Rex. In Oedipus Rex Sophocles uses hamartia, ethos, and archetypes to prove his point by using persuasion techniques himself. Sophocles uses these techniques to lead the audience to believe in his opinion. Arrogance is still a flaw that characters and people alike have, it only leads to people being unable to uncover the truth. So don’t be fooled by arrogance and always search for the

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