Tragic Flaws In Oedipus The King

It is often said that pride comes before a down fall, but pride must first trip over the truth The downfall of Oedipus is due to flaws in his character. Throughout the play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, Oedipus’s character has led him to make judgements that were not in his best interest. These flaws are pride, leading to overconfidence and having poor judgement. Oedipus character also show determination which throughout the play also became a flaw as well. The character of Oedipus is ruled by fate. The tragic hero is unable to escape his fate that was spoken over his life to happen. Even though Oedipus has chosen his own actions, the consequences he is sure to face have become undeniable and cannot be changed. Due to the flaws in his character, the king will fall from the good graces of those who once believed in him.

Any true human has a side of ignorant pride. In the mysterious play, Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus goes on an investigation. Oedipus sends a prophet and a trustworthy man to seek the Gods and figure out why there is pollution in the land. Oedipus’ pride creates his downfall which is proven in his investigation.

In response, Creon makes an alleged statement of how Oedipus understands nothing. Oedipus’s lack of vision explains his foolishness in thinking that he is in power, and that he has or is in control of anything and everything. He fastens himself onto the value of hope in exonerating himself. In other words he yearns for the feel of being free from such a shameful intimate prophesy. As the story goes on, it continues to emphasize the aura of desperation that is within Oedipus. Considering the circumstances and analyzing the evidence that will lead to the obvious truth; it is certain that Oedipus will do everything in his power to make change his

Ignorance is bliss. However, in Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, Oedipus is a complex character that seeks the truth but not the truth about himself. Throughout the story, his character’s behavior brings many conflicts and struggles between the characters. Each time the King is confronted by a challenge, his choice in behavior causes him more problems than it resolves. Instead of stepping back and evaluating the situation and getting all the facts, Oedipus jumps to wild conclusions and unjustly accuses others of conspiring against him. While all along deep inside of him he has a feeling in his gut that there is some truth to what he is being told. He is very arrogant, quick to anger and ready to blame others before

A) Dramatic irony, something that gives play that sense of je ne sais quoi; to have the audience have and edge of knowledge that the cast/character doesn’t. In Oedipus, Oedipus is a child of Jocasta and Laius. Prophesied to murder his father, to lay with with mother and bare children. As the play entails Jocasta and Laius decide to take heed to the oracle 's prophecy and kill their newborn in fear of what was yet to come. King Laius was to have his babies ankles pinned and put on a cliffside left to die. Oedipus was taken into another kingdom adopted by the king and queen not knowing they were his real parents. He soon finds out his fate to murder his father and lay with his mother; thinking he is larger than life flees to escape his destiny not knowing he was adopted. He then meets a man escorted by men who force him to move aside. In anger he kills them not realizing that one of the men was his father, the king. As he travels to the kingdom and gains entry misfortune strikes the kingdome. Oedipus being the heroic type goes to the queen, his mother, and states, “I will bring this light again. King Phoebus/ fittingly took care about the dead,/ and you too fittingly./ And justly you will see min me and ally,/ a champion of my country and the God./ For when I drive pollution from the land/ I will not serve a distant friends advantage,/ but act as in my own interest. Whoever/ he was killed the king may readily/ wish to dispatch me with his murderous hand;/ so helping the dead

In Oedipus The King, by Sophocles, Oedipus is given a prophecy from Apollo that he must slay his father and marry his mother. Frighten by this he decides to run away hoping that the prophecy doesn’t follow him. During his journey, he runs into a man and ends up killing him and also defeats the sphinx, making him the new king of Thebes. Shortly after being the king, it has come to his attention that the former king of Thebes has been murdered. He quickly demands to know who the killer is. When nobody comes fourth with the truth he then curses whoever the murderer is, vanquishing them from the kingdom. “For the worst penalty that shall befall him is banishment--unscathed he shall depart” (Sophocles 6). He calls in Teiresias, a blind follow that can see into the future, longing for an answer to this madness. He hints around saying that Oedipus is the killer. Oedipus stands up for himself and blames Teiresias for being jealous of Oedipus because he is the new king and all he wants is to steal the throne away from Oedipus with this outrageous alimony. During this part of the story, Oedipus shows many qualities of a leader.

Oedipus was not perfect, but had numerous tragic flaws. He made an error of judgement, combined with fate then brought on a tragedy . Oedipus tragic flaw was tragedy that was destined for downfall. A tragic hero must be an important or influential man who commits a fault, and who must then accept the consequences of his actions. Oedipus learns a lesson from his temper, his tragic flaw, and became an example to the audience of what happens when great men fall from their high social position.

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero stands as impeded by a distinguishable characteristic or character trait, which leads to his/her ultimate demise. The “flaw” in a hero’s personality has the driving force behind their demise. This characteristic is said to not only lead to the hero's demise ,but may also enable the reader to sympathize with the character. It follows that in Oedipus the King, a Greek tragedy, the tragic hero Oedipus should have some sort of flaw. Further in the text, it slowly becomes more clear that oedipus’s flaw is his own pride.

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). After thing coming to light, Oedipus feel horrified about the

Oedipus, the King of Thebes, is dealing with an epidemic sweeping his land. Uncertain of what to do, he sends his wife’s brother, Creon, to seek the advice of Apollo. When Creon returns, he tell Oedipus of the curse and that it will only be lifted if the murderer of

Sophocles’ Oedipus the King was written around 430 B.C. and earned the Greek tragedian a win in the annual festival to the god Dionysus. Clearly, a murder mystery is guaranteed to draw a reader’s attention or in this case an audience for Oedipus the King. David Guterson’s nearly identical retelling

Greek theatre was formed back in 500 BC by the Greek civilisation that used performing, miming and dancing as ways and means to tell stories, imitate others and for their rituals. They were two forms of plays that were showcased in the City of Dionysia; tragedy and satyr. The City of Dionysia was the festival celebrating the God Dionysus. Throughout this essay I will be describing the characteristics of Greek tragedy while using Sophocles’ ‘Oedipus the King’ as a reference.

Oedipus’s selfishness and temper eventually lead to his downfall. Oedipus selfishness made everyone else mad at him for him not believing them. He kept digging and digging himself into a deeper hole. This eventually made his punishment at the end worse for him. He also could not handle the truth so this made him disrespect the gods. He told Tiresias that he was lying and was just trying to help Ceron become ruler. Oedipus also had too much pride this also contributed to his downfall. He was telling the people that they would find the murderer and have him exiled. He was too blind to see that he killed the king.

Oedipus the King is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who kills his father and marries his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would murder him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, had a son, he exposed the baby by first pinning his ankles together. The infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife was then brought up as their very own. In the earlier years Oedipus visits Delphi and learns that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother. He then planned to never return to Corinth.

Brilliantly conceived and written, Oedipus Rex is a drama of self-discovery. Achieved by amazing compression and force by limiting the dramatic action to the day on which Oedipus learns the truth of his birth and his destiny is quite the thriller. The fact that the audience knows the dark secret that Oedipus unwittingly slew his true father and married his mother does nothing to destroy the suspense. Oedipus’s search for the truth has all the tautness of a detective tale, and yet because audiences already know the truth they are aware of all the ironies in which Oedipus is enmeshed. That knowledge enables them to fear the final revelation at the same time that they pity the man whose past is gradually and relentlessly uncovered to him.