Introduction: Many people in the world have great power, though only few abuse it. Oedipus is one of these people that abuse their great power. He is the king of Thebes and he likes to show it, from commanding everyone to obey his orders to calling the people of Thebes his children.
Thesis: In the play Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, the Abuse of Power is one of the themes that stands out the most, ending up being the downfall of Oedipus.
Body Paragraph 1:
Statement: Oedipus abuses his power by referring to the people of Thebes as his children, making himself the father of Thebes.
SOAP: In the quote, Oedipus is addressing the people of Thebes and he calls them his children. By calling them his children he is abusing his powers as a king.
Proof: Oedipus: “My children, generations of the living\In the line of Cadmus, nursed at his ancient hearth.”(1.1-2) Oedipus: “Children,\ I would not have you speak through messengers,”(1.7-8).
Analysis: By calling them his children, he his putting himself in a position of power over them. He is the king however, it still does not mean that the people are his children. He’s trying to act like a father to them. A king that is modest would refer to them as “the people of Thebes”. With Oedipus thinking of himself as a father of the whole kingdom, it shows that he is abusing the power that he has as a king.
Body Paragraph 2:
Clark 2
Statement: Another example of Oedipus’s abuse of power, is Oedipus giving commands to Teiresias who is the same status as him.
SOAP: Oedipus told Teiresias, the blind prophet, to leave his presence. Even though they have the same social status.
Proof: Oedipus: “What a wicked old man you are! You’d try a stone’s\Patience! Out with it! Have you no feeling at all?”(1.321-322)
Analysis: This shows abuse of power, he is trying to put himself above Teiresias. Teiresias is a prophet, there for he has the same status as Oedipus. Teiresias makes this clear to Oedipus when he responds later by saying, he will leave when he says what he has to say. This means that Oedipus can’t command Teiresias to do anything. By doing so he has abused the powers he holds.
Conclusion: These examples go to show that Oedipus abuses his power as a king. He refers to the people of Thebes as his children and he tries to command people of the same status as him. There are many other examples of why he abuses his power but those are some of the major reasons. In the play Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, the Abuse of Power is one of the themes that stands out the most, ending up being the downfall of Oedipus.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
This instantly places him right on top and boosts him up to fulfill the Kings position. His intuitive instincts and drive to put together his life signified him as a man always on a hunt. These qualities where huge attributes to his life however, he also had many negative traits which would end him. He was a man with a huge temper which leads right to his downfall. Since his temper is what ultimately killed his father, it was obvious that it would not stop there. His lack of emotion and sensitivity to these killing sprees was a sign of a broken man unwilling to wear his heart of his sleeve. A man of pride. This follows even more problems for Oedipus as time continues. He refuses to listen to Teiresias, the blind seer of Thebes. He is informed about his future and is taking back by all that makes sense to him now. He is left alone to figure out what to do next. Instead of handling the situation calmly and effectively, he goes out on an rampage and seeks to kill his wife/mother for not telling him to the truth. Once he arrives, he instantly finds her hung by her own hair. This forces him to completely lose his right state of mind and punishes himself by gauging his…
- 471 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In Oedipus the King, lines 1477-1484 form the conclusion of the play. After Oedipus is banished from Thebes, the Chorus addresses the people with this passage, explaining Oedipus’ success and downfall. This passage also indicates to the reader how throughout the play, the people’s perspective of Oedipus shifts from respect to shame. In the beginning of the play, the people of Thebes regard Oedipus with respect and envy. On line 14, a priest calls Oedipus “my country’s lord and master”, a title that displays the priest’s respect of his king. As he was highly regarded, Oedipus was the subject of the people’s envy: on line 1749, the Chorus proclaims Oedipus was the “Envy of all in the city who saw his good fortune”. The people’s admiration for…
- 360 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The first example of how Odysseus earns his powerful status is by dismissing the suitors’ unwelcome…
- 716 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
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 -
After learning about the prophecy, Oedipus ran away from his foster parents [believing they are his real parents] so he wouldn’t fulfil the prophecy by killing his father and marrying his mother (42). He tried to avoid the dreadful prophecy, and once he escaped from Corinth, he believed the he went against the prophecy. In his pride, Oedipus instead of escaping the prophecy, got intertwined in it even further. He then began to learn that Thebes housed his real parents. Slowly, he realized that the man he killed was his father (64). Not only hat, his wife was none other than his birth mother.…
- 389 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Oedipus ascended the throne of Thebes; as to many years ago he had solved the riddle of the Sphinx, saved the city of Thebes and was welcomed as King. We see that this quality makes him an excellent ruler who anticipates his subjects’ needs. Taking up the responsibility of being a king by serving the citizens, Oedipus is adequate to the challenge, believing he can purge the land. Oedipus the King is a character that tempts fate, thinks he can change fate as a man who…
- 714 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King in the 5th century BCE, in contrast with the work of the Roman Ovid. The character of King Oedipus demonstrates his attitude of overconfidence from the beginning, as he speaks to the children outside his palace and introduces himself as, “I, Oedipus whom all men call the Great” (Oedipus the King 73). As a result of this hubris, he tries to defy the prophecies given by the gods, but he goes on to follow the prophecy as it was laid out and do exactly what he was most afraid of doing (Oedipus the King 83). The Oracle of Delphi gives him the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, but his overconfidence convinces him that he can overcome this; instead of taking the advice of the prophet Teiresias, he attacks Teiresias in anger over the prophecy (Oedipus the King 80-81, 86). He embarks on an adventure towards Thebes from Corinth, and on his way, he kills an old man and marries the queen of Thebes (Oedipus the King 105), completely unaware that in doing so, he is fulfilling the prophecy. Throughout the story, his pride shines through both his actions and his attitude, as he attempts to prove that he knows more and is more powerful than the prophet, stating, “it has no strength for you because you are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes…You life is one long night so that you cannot hurt me or any…
- 1852 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
With the title as king of Thebes, Oedipus was shown to be arrogant and aggressive as shown when he was questioning the holy prophet, Teiresias (Fitts and Fitzgerald 16). During the questioning, Teiresias mentioned that Oedipus was responsible for the death of his father (Fitts and Fitzgerald 24). The king of Thebes refused to listen to the words of the holy prophet and so had lead Teiresias away from the palace (Fitts and Fitzgerald 24). When Teiresias was shown to be right, Oedipus lost some hope and changed his personality. He was shown to be loving towards Antigone and Ismene; and he had befriended the king of Athens, Theseus, despite the slight misunderstanding at the beginning of “Oedipus at Colonus” (Fitts and Fitzgerald 118). Oedipus was no longer an arrogant man in the second drama but a fair man who wanted to keep good people safe from…
- 662 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
At the beginning of the play, Oedipus exhibits strong leadership qualities. King Oedipus solved a past problem by defeating the Sphinx. Doing so the people of thebes went straight to him to try to solve the next problem in the city. Oedipus asks the people of thebes what the new problem is. ”what is it my children?”(1) trying to be a strong leader he accepts. Oedipus was destined to find out who was laius’s murderer. Oedipus asks apollo's oracle for the answers to his problem. ”I command you to do first for me!”(2) oedipus is fully motivated to solve the mystery and once again be the hero. Oedipus listens to the oracle and does not want to believe it.…
- 449 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Although ruling with an iron ego, Oedipus has the admirable qualities that a leader of any place would and should possess; he has a deep devotion to the Theban population, “whose fame all men acknowledge” (Sophocles, 8). At the outset of the play, Oedipus’ intentions were honorable; he was determined to find Laius’ murderer and went to such lengths to end the plague on his people. His intentions were there and good. As a man of such noble status, he was dedicated to his people. Despite his dedication and apparent likability, it is his immense pride that disallows him from seeing his true nature: a hot-tempered, proud and cocky individual who ends up, in a paradox, blind as he “sees” the truth that he murdered his own father and has married and procreated with his mother, however unaware of that fact he was. Even in seeing his own truth, no pun intended, Oedipus begs for exile as a way to escape his cursed family; he asks his brother-in-law Creon to protect his daughters/half-sisters Antigone and Ismene in a move of selflessness counteracting his normally proud…
- 1447 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
* In one of the early Greek tragedies written by Sophocles in 470 BC, ‘Oedipus the King’ demonstrates the arrogance portrayed by human nature which he therefore turns away the obvious truth. This early Greek Myth shows the way in which Oedipus, the King of Thebes, is so arrogant in wanting the truth in regards to the mishaps that shroud his land and so persistent that he is ultimately leading himself into his own demise.…
- 484 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Oedipus announces his name proudly, for he has become the savior and the king of the great city of Thebes, almost overnight. In the opening page of "Oedipus the King", he states, "Here I am myself, I, Oedipus, whose fame is known afar". He also says "I grieve for you my children". This shows that Oedipus thinks of himself as a father to the entire city and that he was proud of his name and title. This all changes by the end of the play, however, and Oedipus' name becomes a curse, that everyone frights at when they hear it. By doing this Sophocles' showed that pride was bad in any form, even if it was substantiated by actions that one could be proud of. Personally I believe that this lesson is the most important of the four in modern day society. Arrogance and conceit, both brought on by pride, are problems commonly faced in today's…
- 830 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Thesis: Oedipus the King tries to take fate into his own hands and it backfires.…
- 674 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Throughout this play Oedipus shows too much pride and arrogance toward everyone that he comes across. He always has to have the last word. He does not care what effect the outcome of his words and actions will later have on…
- 1245 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Even though he committed a crime and unknowingly married his mother, there is some merit to his accomplishment of defeating the Sphinx. Because Oedipus granted Thebes salvation from this terrifying creature, the Theban people continue to feed his ego and reinforce his false sense of authority. They believe that without Oedipus, their city would be extinct. In addition, Oedipus incites a sense of community and belonging in the hearts of the Theban citizens in the following quote: “We will see our triumph – or our fall (167).” By using the word “we,” Oedipus is showing that he is the leader of a unified nation in which everyone acts with loyalty and commitment to one another. According to a priest of Thebes, the spokesperson for the city, Oedipus is “rate[d]… first of men (161)” and is considered their “greatest power (160).” His intelligence and riddle-solving ability created his position of power, but he is not humble enough to realize that his power does not extend to situations beyond human control, such as his foreboding…
- 916 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays