Preview

Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
610 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King
Someone can go from having everything to nothing, in a blink of an eye. Having everything that was needed and desired to having nothing can really change the way people act and function. In this world there are two types of people, people that have to work for their necessities and people that just get handed what they want. But what happens when it all gets taken away from one mistake? A tragic hero is a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy that is destined for downfall. In the play Oedipus the King, written by Sophacles, the main character is a tragic hero by displaying error in judgement, excessive pride, and reversal of fortune.
Oedipus Rex displays an error in judgement by escaping the Corinth prophecy, believing that Teiresias is lying about the prophecy, and also believing that Creon is only there to doom him. By escaping the Corinth prophecy Oedipus still kills his father, Polybus, by being alive. The Prophecy was true. That’s why Oedipus was sent away at only two days old to be left alone on top of a mountain so he could die and Polybus remain king. Teirsias comes to Oedipus and tries to explain that the prophecy is still true and tries to get it out of him, that he is his father’s murderer. Oedipus states “Old man, I did not wish to kill my father” kind of realizng …show more content…
Oedipus shows excessive pride by having strong judgement that he is not the “murderer’, doesn’t trust in an old wise prophet, Teiresisas, and is free because he escaped death by being banished. Oedipus always pointed fingers by saying burglars killed his father. He never came out and truthfully said that he killed his father it always had to be someone else, not him. Teiresisas always knew the truth and wouldn’t stop trying to get it out of Oedipus. Thinking that he was free from the Corinth prophecy due to banishment, Oedipus had no worries. Being banished from the village was not a bad thing to Oedipus
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Comparing Hamlet And Oedipus The King
    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page

    Comparing Hamlet And Oedipus The King

    Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a man of noble and high status, whose admirable qualities and basic goodness are undermined by a fatal flaw, which ultimately leads to their own downfall. Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King both show an excellent example of tragic heroes as both protagonists experience a downfall from a high status due to their fatal flaws. In Hamlet this flaw can be seen in Hamlet as he becomes determined to find his father’s killer. He becomes oblivious to what is going on around him. Oedipus is so determined to find out the truth of who the murderer of the previous king is, such that he is blinded to the truth of what he has done. As seen in their mental stability, their treatment of women and their reversal…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Oedipus Statesmanship Quotes
    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Oedipus Statesmanship Quotes

    In the play Oedipus by Sophocles, King Oedipus is nothing but a self diluted ruler who thinks too highly of himself. He calls the most respected and revered prophet in the land a liar and scam artist to his face "Say what you will. Whatever you say is worthless… Wealth, power, craft of statesmanship! Kingly position, everywhere admired!" just because Oedipus does not like what he has told him. The fact that he can not, and will not believe that he might have killed his father is strange, taking into fact what has happened in Oedipus's life. Having killed a known wealthy man and his servants during the same time as the former king of Thebes was killed and simply just ignores it seems very stubborn and ignorant. Also the fact the Oedipus…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King And A Doll's House
    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King And A Doll's House

    Throughout history many authors and their works of literature have been studied and pondered upon in order to fully understand them. Amongst these works of literature are two great pieces, Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, and A Doll’s House, by Henrik Johan Ibsen. Both authors tell empowering stories about unveiling the truth and empowerment in marriage yet the way Sophocles and Ibsen go about telling these stories is very different. A tragic hero is one that has many characteristics and through both of these plays readers gain insight on how these characters are true tragic heroes by them displaying a scene of suffering, a tragic flaw, and a tragic dilemma.…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King
    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King

    The tragic hero in the story "Oedipus the King" is Oedipus himself, and every tragic hero must have a tragic flaw; the tragic flaw for Oedipus was becoming the King when he married his mother. "Wealth, power, [and] craft of statesmanship! Kingly position everywhere admired, " stated by Oedipus, where he is in the high position of the play. Going on with the play, Oedipus discovers that his "parents" (King Polybus and Queen Merope) were not actually his real parents, making him question the King and Queen, who denies everything; Oedipus, of course, does not stop there. The reversal takes place when he hears his destiny by the oracle, leaving him to make the decision to go "to a land where [Oedipus] should never see the evil sung by the oracle,"…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Journal Questions
    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Oedipus Journal Questions

    When Oedipus is told by the the blind prophet Teiresias that he was the man who would kill his own father and marry his mother, he denies this and tries to avoid this fate, "I have kept clear of Corinth, and no harm has come-" to which his messenger replies. "And is this the fear that drove you out of Corinth?" Of course Oedipus denies this fate. Who would want to be accused of such appalling acts? Oedipus is simply trying to do what he thinks is right in order to avoid this fate. One could say that Oedipus is ignorant of the fact that one could not just avoid his fate, others might argue that it was his pride that led him to believe that he was above the power of gods. Yet again, Oedipus is unaware of his parentage, he moves out of his hometown where he thought his parents resided in, and marries the Queen of Thebes. Surely this woman would not be someone who Oedipus would think to be his own mother. This fact alone shows that it is not Oedipus ' hubris that leads to his tragic fall, but him being uninformed. Oedipus was always trying to do the right thing, he searches for the…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus The King: A Tragic Analysis
    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Oedipus The King: A Tragic Analysis

    A tragic hero is defined as “a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake” (“Aristotle”, n.d.). Therefore, a tragic hero has some sort of tragedy that surrounds their life. A tragic hero also makes dramas more interesting and makes readers think. Dramas sometimes either exemplify or refute Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. Oedipus by Sophocles exemplifies Aristotle’s definition in four different aspects. The first aspect involves both Oedipus’ ignorance and knowledge of his life situations, the second involves his hamartia, the third involves the actual plot itself, and the fourth involves the characterization of…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Tragic Hero Essay
    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Oedipus Tragic Hero Essay

    In the play Oedipus the King, Oedipus is the main character and tragic hero. He is a royal king who came to Thebes to save it from the plague. Oedipus runs into some other character conflicts in the play with a prophet named Tiresias and his brother in-law Creon. In the play Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman stands out as the main character and has the tragic downfall. Willy’s mental disease causes trouble for him throughout the play with his family and friends. After examining the tragedies of Oedipus the King and Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman stands out as more of a tragic figure because the average person can relate to his everyday life.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Tragic Downfall Of Oedipus The King
    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Tragic Downfall Of Oedipus The King

    His anger would always overwhelm his intelligence and reason, and that’s what got him into problems through that play. For an illustration of this flaw; he yelled at the Blind prophet, Teiresias, and afterwards accused the murder on him out of fury about the fact that he would not talk to him about the situation, “ Rage? Why not! And I’ll tell you with I think: You planned it, you had it done, you all but killed him with your own hands: if you had eyes, I’d say the crime was yours, and yours alone.” (Sophocles, 215). The Hubris that Oedipus had been the main reason he never listened to the people that were trying to help him or let them help when it was most necessary. This hubris caused him to become egotistic during the story “I, Oedipus who bear the famous name…” (Sophocles,…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Character Development in the Oedipus Cycle
    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Character Development in the Oedipus Cycle

    In Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus seems partially recovered from the events of Oedipus Rex as he becomes much wiser to the workings of fate and the gods. He realizes that everyone has their place in the fabric of destiny and that it was not entirely his fault for committing acts of incest and murder. He is indignant in this and in reply to the chorus ' repugnance he says, "I suffered those deeds more than I acted them…Think: their eyes [gods] are fixed upon the just, fixed on the unjust, too; no impious man can twist away from them forever." This wisdom gives him more confidence than ever before and through his divine vision he finds peace and honor in death.…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Oedipus Tragic Hero
    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Oedipus Tragic Hero

    Oedipus is very much an angry person. Oedipus, at first, is kind to the prophet Tiresias. When Tiresias does not immediately fulfill Oedipus' desire for knowledge regarding the death and killer of Laisu, however, Oedipus quickly changes. He says to Tiresias, "What, nothing? You miserable old man! You'd drive a stone to fury. Do you still refuse? Your flinty heart set in hopeless stubbornness" (19)? This is the beginning of Oedipus' expression of anger. When he wants something, he wants it immediately and without flaw, else he is quickly infuriated. It is ironic, then, that his disapproval of flaw in one's actions is his own tragic flaw. Later, Oedipus accuses Creon of murdering Laius. Creon says that Oedipus is not thinking clearly; and he inquires as to why Oedipus thinks he is not thinking clearly enough. To which Oedipus says, "What! For a treason-monger" (35)? This shows that Oedipus' anger and frustration with Creon makes him unable to see things justly. To Oedipus, since he said that Creon killed Laius, it must be so. The greatest display of Oedipus' hamartia comes in his recollection of the day he killed Laius. He says, "The leading groom - the old man urging him - tried to force me off the road. The groom jostled me and I in fury landed him a blow. [...] He more than paid for it. For in a trice this hand of mine had felled him with a stick and rolled him from…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus The King
    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Oedipus The King

    In every bad situation with Oedipus, which happens to be quite frequent, he always assumes something before a conclusion ever occurs. He never just waits to see what someone has to say or to see what happens, it's like he always controls the ending of every situation and he likes it until everything goes wrong. In the book Oedipus jumps to the conclusion that Tiresias is conspiring with Creon to keep the secret that they had killed King Laius. He does not consider the fact that they are looking out for him so that he wont expose himself. But Tiresias finally gets tired of the things that Oedipus is saying and he says, “ I am going. But first I will say what I came here to say...The man you are trying to find, with your threatening proclamations, the murderer of Laius that man is here in Thebes...He will be revealed as brother and father of his children with whom he now lives, the son and husband of the woman who gave him birth, the murderer and marriage partner of his father. Go think this out. And if you find that I am wrong, then say I have no skill in prophecy”, Tiresias then leaves Oedipus standing there stunned(Oedipus the King pg.40). After that Oedipus gets so upset and starts to yell and starts to tell the people of Thebes that Tiresias and Creon are lying. That they just want the blame off of themselves and on to him. He says this because he does not believe it and because he wants to make…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Tragic Hero
    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Oedipus Tragic Hero

    As more proof surfaces, increasingly of said confirmation focuses to Oedipus' blame. The tragic hero ought to be either preferable or more regrettable ethically over typical individuals, so as to permit the audience to relate to them.It additionally presents pity, which is critical in catastrophe, as though the hero was flawless we would be insulted with their destiny or not minds particularly in light of their ideological prevalence. If the hero were blemished or insidious, then the crowd would feel that he had gotten what he merited. Striking a parity in the hero's character is…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus: A Tragic Hero
    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Oedipus: A Tragic Hero

    The major focus of this tragedy is on the character of the hero, Oedipus. He is a person of great importance; in fact, the security and health of the community depend upon him. And he has to meet an urgent crisis, something which threatens the continuing existence of the city. And because he is very conscious of his own qualities, he takes upon himself that responsibility. Oedipus, above everything else at first, is a person who acts decisively and who is celebrated for so doing.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus and His Tragic Character
    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Oedipus and His Tragic Character

    In the play Oedipus the King we identify the classic tragic hero. The character, Oedipus Rex plays the role of the tragic hero perfectly. He shows the three main characteristics being talented and of noble birth, possessing a tragic flaw that causes the downfall and pain of everyone, and the recognition of responsibility.…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Rex: a Tragic Hero
    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Oedipus Rex: a Tragic Hero

    Through Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, it can be inferred that Oedipus is a tragic hero because of three main reasons: he discove his fate by his own actions, he falls from great esteem and his story arises fear and empathy. With all these attributes, Oedipus directly fits Aristotle’s definition.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More