Oedipus: A Tragic Hero
During the evolution of humans, in every culture certain people are cursed from birth. In ancient Greece, these people were known as tragic heroes. The stories of these tragic heroes are known as tragedies, some of the earliest known tragedies are Medea and Oedipus the King. As stated in The Vocabulary of Ancient Greek Tragedy in Modern English by Francis Blessington the Greeks believed, “a hero must explicitly accept his fate. But in Greek tragedy, the hero or heroine or the play itself questions fate” (Blessington). The greatest example of this is Oedipus The King by Sophocles. Oedipus is considered to be the greatest tragic hero, because he has a great sense of hubris and he makes errors in judgement, which leads him to realize the sins
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He first learns about the atrocities he committed after he speaks with Tiresias. Oedipus is not satisfied with the answers Tiresias gave him, so to answer them he goes to his wife, Jocasta. After each question Oedipus remembers more and more, and eventually he realizes what he has done, this is shown when he says, “I think I’ve just called down a dreadful curse upon myself” (820-821). This statement is Oedipus’ start to realizing when he cursed the murderer of Laius he really cursed himself, because he killed Laius. However Oedipus is still not confident that he has done what he believes he has done, so to confirm this he asks his wife one last question. After she answers his question everything hits him, and he yells, “Ai- now I can see it all, clear as day” (830). Oedipus’ recognition shows in this statement, because he sees that he is the one who killed his father. ADD CONCLUSION.
The last of the three reasons that makes Oedipus a tragic hero is his immense suffering for no apparent reason. After Oedipus knows that he is the one who killed his father, he can conclude that the part of the prophecy stating “you will kill your father, the one who gave you life” came true. Oedipus suffers greatly, because he knows he is the one who killed his father, and will have to live with that the rest of his
He first learns about the atrocities he committed after he speaks with Tiresias. Oedipus is not satisfied with the answers Tiresias gave him, so to answer them he goes to his wife, Jocasta. After each question Oedipus remembers more and more, and eventually he realizes what he has done, this is shown when he says, “I think I’ve just called down a dreadful curse upon myself” (820-821). This statement is Oedipus’ start to realizing when he cursed the murderer of Laius he really cursed himself, because he killed Laius. However Oedipus is still not confident that he has done what he believes he has done, so to confirm this he asks his wife one last question. After she answers his question everything hits him, and he yells, “Ai- now I can see it all, clear as day” (830). Oedipus’ recognition shows in this statement, because he sees that he is the one who killed his father. ADD CONCLUSION.
The last of the three reasons that makes Oedipus a tragic hero is his immense suffering for no apparent reason. After Oedipus knows that he is the one who killed his father, he can conclude that the part of the prophecy stating “you will kill your father, the one who gave you life” came true. Oedipus suffers greatly, because he knows he is the one who killed his father, and will have to live with that the rest of his