Preview

Thyself In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
216 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Thyself In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'
In “Oedipus the King” Sophocles shows through the actions of Oedipus that to know thyself is to be thyself. Oedipus doesn’t know himself. He always believed Polybus and Merope were his parents. He believed because of them he was born of royalty and a Corinthian. His real parents were Jocasta and Laius. He tells about he realizes he made mistakes and that are really his through this quote, “O light, may I behold thee nevermore! I stand a wretch, in birth, in wedlock cursed, a parricide, incentuosly, triply cursed’’(Sophocles 24).He knew of his prophecy, which was That he was to kill his father and marry his mother. He decided to ignore his prophecy, unknowing himself. He believed he was Corinthian so he went to Thebes to escape his real self,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    english 066

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages

    On the road to Thebes Oedipus defended himself, oblivious that he killed his real father. His lonely wandering led him to Thebes which was besieged by the sphinx. “He was a homeless, friendless man to whom life meant little and he determined to seek the sphinx out and try to solve the riddle.” (Hamilton 269) By solving her riddle, Oedipus became king and married Jocasta ignorant of the fact she was his mother.…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good 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
  • Powerful Essays

    Hubris In Oedipus The King

    • 1852 Words
    • 8 Pages

    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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pride In Oedipus Rex

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The people believed at the time of Sophocles that an individual achieves his destiny as a result of his own fate. This is true in the case of Oedipus the king, whose anger; pride and blindness towards the truth bring his tragic downfall. At the start of the play, Oedipus is depicted as a confident ruler, who saved Thebes from the curse of Sphinx, furthermore, he becomes the king overnight. He declares his name gladly just as it were itself a recuperating charm: “Here I am myself— / you all know me, the world knows my fame: / I am Oedipus” (7–9). At the end, this pride becomes the curse for him (Sophocles, 1882).…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Oedipus Tyrannuss play, a Corinthian came to Oedipus to reveal the news that his father Polybus has passed away and therefore Oedipus needed to go to Corinth to assume his father’s role since he has passed away. (Sophocles 2.8) During this time Jocasta knew about the oracles of the holly gods but she wanted to do the right thing by trying to convince Oedipus to go away from her to Corinth and rule that land because during that moment Jocasta knew that she was her fraternal mother but Oedipus did not know. (Sophocles 2.8) One thing led to another during the conversation between Oedipus, Jocasta, and the Corinthian that led to the Corinthian to ask why Oedipus is so afraid to go back to Corinth since his father is already dead and he did not kill him, the Corinthian did not know the whole oracle yet, he only thought that Oedipus was afraid of killing his father but he did not know that he was also afraid of having to marry his mother if he was to go to Corinth.…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Faith In Oedipus Rex Essay

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Oedipus did not know his real parents. The King of Corinth was his foster dad. The king gave him the name Oedipus, because…

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    When he asks Teirisias, “What parents? Stay…and who of men is my sire?” (123), he doubts his origins. For his entire life, Oedipus had been certain that Polybus and Merope were his parents. Not knowing his origins shows that he’s not omniscient. This ambiguity throughout the play causes Oedipus to question every bit of evidence about Laius’s killer as he tries to figure out who killed him. Oedipus also tries to figure out what his true origins are. This search for his identity after realizing he is not certain of anything is the focus of the play.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Oh, I fled from there, I measure out the stars to put all of heaven in between the land of Corinth and such a damned destiny," Oedipus shouted ferociously. Perhaps the most significant example of Oedipus’s flaw of pride occurs when he hears of Polybus’s death. When the messenger from Corinth tells Oedipus the news, joy consumes Oedipus. Although his father is dead Oedipus now believes that he is free of the curse of the gods. “Aha, my wife! So we are done with delving into Pythian oracles, this jangled mongering with birds on high, which foretold—yes, had it all arranged—that I should kill my father. Ha! He’s dead,” Oedipus exclaims with great joy. The messenger tells Oedipus that he came to bring him home, but Oedipus will not go home because he is scared of the curse. Oedipus tells the messenger the curse, and that he will not go home because his mother is still alive. The messenger is surprised because he knows that Merope and Polybus are not his real parents. The messenger then goes on to tell Oedipus that he received him as a baby from a shepherd, and he gave Oedipus to the king and queen of…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To be selfless is to be concerned more with the needs and wishes of others rather than one's own wishes; whereas to be self centered is to be preoccupied with oneself and one's affairs. One may easily refer to someone as "self-centered" simply because that someone may be acting very vain. However, one has to be ignorant of others emotions, actions, etc. to be definitively considered self centered. In Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles, Oedipus' life is haunted by a prophecy that he would kill his father, marry his mother and also have children with her. When King Laius is killed, Oedipus steps in and becomes the new king of Thebes. He makes it his duty as the new king to solve the crime that he unknowingly commit. Although Oedipus thinks he is…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Adade-Yeboah, Ahenkora, and Amankwah (2012), “Tragedy is of action and not character as Aristotle puts it” (p. 10). Therefore, Oedipus’ tragedy deals with his ignorance and not his character. Oedipus is ignorant in the fact that he does not realize he is committing patricide or incest (Adade-Yeboah et al., 2012, p. 11). Oedipus grows up knowing two opposite people that he thought were his parents, which leads to him killing his biological father and marrying his biological mother. Oedipus then goes on to search for his biological father’s killer and soon realizes that it was he himself who committed the atrocious acts toward his family. He came to this realization after it was revealed to him by an oracle. Originally, Oedipus believes that the man he originally kills is only just a shepherd, when in return it is his biological father. According to Greenburg (2012), “Oedipus has been told, and has come to believe, that at the end of his life and in death he will have the power to protect the city that has taken him and buried him” (p. 52). Oedipus maintains the belief that things will always be the way he knew them to be and he would be in charge of the city he knew and loved. He maintains this belief until an oracle reveals his misfortune. At first, Oedipus and his wife (biological mother) refuse to believe that what they were told is true. According to…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once the shepherd had delivered his account of my birth origin, I felt as though I could’ve been ill. “Oh, Oh, Oh, they will all come, all come out clearly! Light of the sun, let me look upon you no more after today! I who first saw the light bred of a match accursed and accursed in my living with them I lived with, cursed in my killing.” (Sophocles 19)…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Oedipus Rex

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (rpt. in James P. Place, Literature: A reader for Freshman Composition II, 1st ed. [Boston: Pearson, 2011] 122-168), the oracles had prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and beget children by his mother. Oedipus does not want to do the things that Apollo predicted; he is no puppet, but indeed the controller of his own fate. Oedipus was unwilling to have his fate come true; he was frightened that he would kill his adopted parents. He believes they were his real parents, therefore he left to Thebes. The decision he made was based on the stories he heard. This led to Oedipus’s own downfall.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Truth In Oedipus The King

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Oedipus believes that he is married to a woman he has no relation to, and that the parents he left behind are in fact his own. Teiresias, no longer willing to allow Oedipus to be blind says, " he shall be proved father and brother both to his own children in his own house; to her that gave him birth, a son and husband both; a fellow sower in his father's bed with the same father he murdered" (535- 539). Oedipus himself was ignorant to the fact that he married his mother and then is by blood the father and brother to his children. Regardless to the fact that, Oedipus is unaware of such circumstances they are still the true. In fact ignorance can not inhibit truth from being true. There is only so long Oedipus could be blind to the facts in front of him before he is truly able to see. After Teiresias' words Oedipus begins to question his wife, Jocasta, about her previous husband's murder. All she says leads him to fear that in fact he killed him. Jocasta mentions a shepherd who was still alive that witnessed the murder, so Oedipus decides that in order to figure out if he was the murder he would question the Shepard. In refrence to questioning the shepherd, Oedipus says to Jocasta, "I'll tell you; if I find that his story is the same as yours, I at least will be clear of this guilt" (974-975). Oedipus has guilt inside himself because he is aware that he killed the king. His…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Originally, this is introduced in the conversation with Tiresias where Oedipus, having no idea that he is the center of all this disarray, believes that he is just a king that simply wants to avenge the previous king. Tiresias begins by refusing to “reveal my dreadful secrets, or rather, yours” (21) and goes on to the point of depleting the patience of Oedipus. This leads to Oedipus beginning to suspect whether or not his life was a complete lie. In the beginning, Oedipus claims that he is the one who can see while all others are blind. However, after one defining moment, it dawns on Oedipus that he himself was blind the entire time and that he is not who he thinks he is. Wanting to free himself from this blindness, Oedipus searches only to find the horrifying truth - the prophecy already occurred. In shock, Oedipus reveals to all that he was “born in shame, married in shame, and an unnatural murderer.” (89). Realizing that everything actually revolved around him, he exiles himself in “honor” of the curse he put up on the murderer saying to Creon to “take me away from here at once” (107). If Oedipus was not genuine, then he could have easily disregarded the curse he put up and continued to rule as king. Instead, Oedipus lives up to his code and accepts his…

    • 952 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus the King

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages

    When Oedipus is completely blind to the truth, he is safe from fulfilling his terrible destiny. It is when he begins to see the truth that he starts to approach his fate. "...a drunken man maundering in his cups / Cries out that I am not my father's son! / ...the suspicion / Remained always aching in my mind," Here, on page 42, Oedipus, in a very minor way, starts to see the truth. By becoming slightly aware of the truth, Oedipus's situation only got worse as his knowledge only escalated with every curious inquiry. Because of what the drunkard said, Oedipus learned about the oracle ("[Oedipus] should lie with [his] own mother... / ...and that he should be his father's murderer" (42) ) and fled for safety from what he thought was his fate. However, he was doing the exact opposite; while fleeing from Corinth, he met his real father, King Laїos, and killed him. He then made his way to Thebes where he married his real mother, Iocaste.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays