Suffering and Oedipus
1. Is Oedipus a strong ruler/leader?
Oedipus displays confidence and he is a strong ruler. Not necessarily a great leader because his own hubris takes him down later on. The people of Thebes were worried about the plague and Oedipus had a plan to mitigate the issues. His intelligence is shown when he solves the Sphinx’s riddle in a short amount of time.
2. Is Oedipus the “worst of men” as he calls himself? He asks “was I not born evil? Am I not utterly unclean? is he evil? Unclean?
Oedipus might have an unclean history but his choices have the ability to cleanse himself. That ability is almost useless because Oedipus believes that anything he does will be evil so he attempts to achieve many goals based on just sole purpose.
3. Who is to blame for the mess of the play? Oedipus? Jocasta? Laius? Tiresias? The gods?
The person responsible for the main conflict of the play is Tiresias. When Tiresias is asked about the murder regarding Laius, he flat out rejects any wrong doing. When the initial plague occurred Tiresias did absolutely nothing at all to mitigate any issues.
4. Are fate and the will of the gods synonymous in Oedipus, or are they independent of each other?
The fates are intertwined in Oedipus because when the Oracle informs that Oedipus will marry his mother and kill his father his fate was in a way sealed.
5. How might have death been a lesser punishment of Oedipus?
Gouging of his eyes and exiling himself puts Oedipus through much more pain and suffering than simply just dying. If Oedipus just got killed or committed suicide, he would not have to deal with all the troubles that resulted from his journey to find the truth. The punishment he gave himself was much greater and prolonged than ending his life. He still has to deal with the decisions that he made and all the moral issues.
6. How did Oedipus Hubris contribute to his downfall?
The pretentious nature of Oedipus led to his downfall from a number of reasons. In his
Oedipus displays confidence and he is a strong ruler. Not necessarily a great leader because his own hubris takes him down later on. The people of Thebes were worried about the plague and Oedipus had a plan to mitigate the issues. His intelligence is shown when he solves the Sphinx’s riddle in a short amount of time.
2. Is Oedipus the “worst of men” as he calls himself? He asks “was I not born evil? Am I not utterly unclean? is he evil? Unclean?
Oedipus might have an unclean history but his choices have the ability to cleanse himself. That ability is almost useless because Oedipus believes that anything he does will be evil so he attempts to achieve many goals based on just sole purpose.
3. Who is to blame for the mess of the play? Oedipus? Jocasta? Laius? Tiresias? The gods?
The person responsible for the main conflict of the play is Tiresias. When Tiresias is asked about the murder regarding Laius, he flat out rejects any wrong doing. When the initial plague occurred Tiresias did absolutely nothing at all to mitigate any issues.
4. Are fate and the will of the gods synonymous in Oedipus, or are they independent of each other?
The fates are intertwined in Oedipus because when the Oracle informs that Oedipus will marry his mother and kill his father his fate was in a way sealed.
5. How might have death been a lesser punishment of Oedipus?
Gouging of his eyes and exiling himself puts Oedipus through much more pain and suffering than simply just dying. If Oedipus just got killed or committed suicide, he would not have to deal with all the troubles that resulted from his journey to find the truth. The punishment he gave himself was much greater and prolonged than ending his life. He still has to deal with the decisions that he made and all the moral issues.
6. How did Oedipus Hubris contribute to his downfall?
The pretentious nature of Oedipus led to his downfall from a number of reasons. In his