Pride In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'

He and his family all remained happy in their ignorance of the truth until the plague struck Thebes. The people infer that the God Apollo is punishing the people for not finding the murderer of Laius. Oedipus, as the great ruler he may be, promises to discover the killer and dispel the plague. People try to tell him that it would be better if the past was left alone. But the king was not reluctant and continued.

Oedipus thought he had certainty about his family and family history, but his certainty led him to the truth in which he could not bear with. There is a plague occurring in Thebes where people are dying and they find out that Laius, the king of Thebes, has died. Oedipus soon takes over and tells Teiresias that he will avenge Laius’ killer or put them in exile. Teiresias responds with, “Alas how dreadful to have wisdom where it profits not the wise” (Sophocles 120). Teiresias is a blind seer hinting to Oedipus and the audience, telling Oedipus that he does not need to find the killer because he

Oedipus and His Pride Pride, one of the seven deadly sins, is all forms of media. In literature, one of the best example of pride is in the story Oedipus the King. Oedipus is the cursed King of Thebes who was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, but his pride made him believe that he was going to be fine when he left his adoptive mother and father in Corinth. Eventually, as it always does, pride caught up to him.

In Greek myths kings play a big role in their kingdom and they have a moral responsibility to do what is ethically right for their people. In the story of Oedipus, the king, by Sophocles, Oedipus the ruler of Thebes must deal with the repercussions of a plague that is infiltrating his city and the consequences of committing a heinous crime. Oedipus has a moral responsibility to leave Thebes because he is the reason as to why the plague was brought upon the city and he deserves to get punished for committing the horrific crime of murder. Oedipus was once known as the wisest person for saving the people of Thebes from the torment of the sphinx, but he is also the reason as to why the people are in such agony because of the plague. In line 93 it says, “A murder blew the deadly plague breath on our city.”

Saying “You are the killer. You bring the pollution upon Thebes.” as well as foreshadows what Oedipus would eventually do at the conclusion of the play by saying “Those eyes that now see clear day will be covered with darkest”. This is a prelude to the fact Oedipus will eventually blind himself. This is yet another example of how fate always had a firm grip on Oedipus.

What is more powerful, pride or stubbornness? In Sophocles’ tragic play, Antigone, Antigone is fighting against Creon because of the edict to not bury Polyneices. Antigone is headstrong and stubborn, while Creon is prideful and unreasonable. Sophocles uses these character flaws to show the people that excessive pride and stubbornness will lead to their downfall. Antigone feels love for her brother and is passionate and stubborn about burying him.

Pride is the feeling of high satisfaction in one’s self. This emotion can be the result of high self-esteem in personal achievements. Confidence can often be confused with pride when one becomes too self-obsessed. When too prideful, judgement may be affected. The mind changes from selfless to selfish in an instant when one’s actions are based on stubbornness.

Teiresias offers a harsh critique of how Oedipus behaves when he entered Thebes, seeing him as cocky and ignorant when the king refuses to accept Teiresias's prophecy. Teiresias emphasizes the ability of free will by encouraging Oedipus’s decision to let him go. Teiresias is an obstacle at the beginning of the play as he tests the idea of free will by being the personified representation of fate since he is a prophet. The argument between Oedpius and Teirsias also represents the conflict between fate vs free will. Oedipus is a representation of free will and the consequences of making bad decisions, bad decisions that were led by his sour judgment.

Famous Greek philosopher, Aristotle once stated that the golden mean is “the best means of living is with the moderation of all things” (The Golden Mean). Sophcoles’ Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex portrays the golden mean using Oedipus’ otherworldly hubris. Oedipus’ hubris from evading fate causes him to run off course away from the golden mean, making him the one cursed and shamed. Oedipus’ extraordinary hubris from doing numerous heroic acts and from “escaping” his fate as predicted by the oracle of Delphi deviates him from the golden mean and shines him in the spotlight of shame.

Oedipus is human, regardless of his pride, his intelligence, or his stubbornness and we can recognize this in his reaction to his wrongdoings. With this, the audience is affected to feel both pity and fear. There is pity for this broken man and fear that his tragedy could be our own, as well.

When the great king of Thebes was revealed the dreadful truth he cries out, “O God! It has all come true. Light, let this be the last time I see you. I stand revealed - born in shame, married in shame, an unnatural murderer” (89). During that time, Jocasta commits suicide.

Oedipus Rex essay Final draft Oedipus certainly deserved his fate. Oedipus and his actions are clearly disrespect to the gods , he faces the fate he deserves. He was doing things that would eventually lead up to the unfortunate event of his death , he was even warned by the great and wise Teiresias , but he being himself was to stubborn and did not listen. All the things Teiresias said would happen became the truth. He killed his father, married his mother, yet he tempted his fate , he deserved everything that came his way .

Because Teiresias didn’t satisfy his curiousity, Oedipus kept seeking the murderer and neglected several hints that he is the person that he himself tried to punish, although he also scared that Teireias’ prophecy on him was right therefore Indirectly, Teiresias intended to let Oedipus to seek the truth on his won rather than to harm Oedipus pride as a king by gave him the truth at that time. Once again Teiresias gave Oedipus his prevision [page 57, right column, line 37] and to be later proven to be true [page 67, right column, line 55] as a hint that no body can escape from his own

Oedipus the King is a tragedy that was written by Sophocles that emphasizes the irony of an irony of a man who was determined to trace down, expose and punish an assassin who in turn became him. Oedipus the King is also known as Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus. The art is an Athenian play that was performed in ages approximated to be 429 BC. Oedipus the King would later in the play fulfill the prophecy that he would kill his father and later on marry his mother. There is a twist of an event in the play where Oedipus is looking for the murderer of his father to bring to a halt the series of plagues that are befalling Thebes but only to find he is in search of himself (Rado, 1956).

Two people in a similar situation are likely to react differently based on their experience, morality and personality. How they carry themselves in this situation tells so much about their character. One’s actions will expose his nature, whether he is a good person with a good intention or not, something that words alone cannot prove. This essay will compare two different characters, Oedipus and Cinyras, in a similar situation. Oedipus is the titular character in Oedipus the King by Sophocles, a tragedy about a man who unintentionally kills his dad and marries his mom, just as his fate dictates.