Unraveling the Riddle of Oedipus Study Guide PITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER’S STUDY GUIDE Oedipus the King by Sophocles Translated by William Butler Yeats September 28 – October 29‚ 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS SOPHOCLES Sophocles’ Life 3 Works by Sophocles 4 THOUGHTS FROM THE DIRECTOR 5 OEDIPUS THE KING Synopsis 6 Characters 7 Glossary 8 The Translator 9 Themes 10 The Riddle of the Sphinx 11 ANCIENT GREECE Daily Life 12 Why Ancient
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Another flaw of Oedipus that leads to his self-destruction is his excessive self-pride. He made it his mission to find the killer of Laius in order to end the misery that the plague in Thebes caused. He was sure of himself that he will save the land‚ ironically not realizing that he is the one at fault. He sees himself as being all mighty since he presumably escaped his fate. He was able to save Thebes from the Sphinx so he thinks history can repeat itself and he can be a hero ones again for his
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“blindness” from very literal perspective. Whereas Sophocles‚ in his play Oedipus Rex‚ approaches the sight-blind dichotomy metaphorically. Sophocles associates sight with possession of prophecy and knowledge while connecting blindness to ignorance‚ using Tiresius and Oedipus as physical representations of the latter and former. Sophocles uses sight and blindness to establish that humans are natural drawn to the unknown and that insight of the future is detrimental to man‚ revealing that ignorance of what
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Through the character of Oedipus in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex‚ Sophocles shows the futility and consequences of defying the divine order. In going to the oracle at Delphi‚ he was informed that he "should lie with [his] own mother" and "breed children from whom all men would turn their eyes" (42). In addition‚ he is told that he "should be [his] father’s murderer" (42). Oedipus‚ in an attempt to escape his destiny‚ he flees from Corinth. Oedipus served Thebes as a great ruler‚ loved by his subjects;
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Rise and Fall of Oedipus In his novel Brave New World‚ Aldous Huxley uses intellect as both the rise and fall of John the Savage. The Savage’ enters civilization and instantly becomes somewhat of a celebrity because of his knowledge of the outside world. He learns quickly of the conformist society‚ and is eventually disgusted by what he sees. Shortly after his arrival in civilization‚ John the Savage is internally torn apart by his knowledge and eventually commits suicide. Oedipus the Play is somewhat
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many aspects that reflected the moral values and ideals of society. Their customs were tightly woven into the scripts of plays. Antigone and Oedipus the King‚ two renowned works of the Greek playwright Sophocles‚ explore these values through a plot thick with corruption‚ virtue‚ and determination. These plays reveal the burdens two Theban kings‚ Oedipus and Creon‚ as their lies and poor judgment corrode the integrity of their city‚ their families and themselves. Possessing a strong faith in their
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In Ancient Greece the existence of gods and fate prevailed. In the Greek tragedy King Oedipus by the playwright Sophocles these topics are heavily involved. We receive a clear insight into their roles in the play such as they both control man ’s actions and that challenging their authority leads to a fall. The concepts of the gods and fate were created to explain things. In Ancient Greece there was a lot that was not understood; science was in its infancy and everything that happened could be
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the downfall of a tragic hero within a piece of literature. In the play Oedipus Rex‚ Oedipus is a tragic hero with a hamartia that leads to his inevitable downfall. He possesses three traits that have been debated on to be his hamartia: his hubris (excessive pride)‚ his heinous temperament‚ and his consummate determination. Of these three traits Oedipus possesses‚ I’ve believe that his hamartia is his profligate pride. Oedipus was a proud man. After all‚ who wouldn’t be proud of defeating a Sphinx
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Hamlet vs Oedipus Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Oedipus the King by Sophocles are both tragic stories which contain many elements of which are similar and different. Although both Hamlet and Oedipus suffer from fate‚ Hamlet’s father is murdered by his brother Claudius‚ while Oedipus kills his own father. Both Hamlet and Oedipus have the opportunity to shun their fate‚ but the two men believe themselves to be the only individual who can resolve the predicament which they are faced with. The
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needs before their own. Selfish parents would rather buy materialistic items for themselves than anything useful for their children. In Sophocles’s "Oedipus Rex‚" the protagonist is literally blinded by his own arrogance. This attitude begins before he even travels to Thebes‚ and that is apparent due to the circumstances of his father’s death. Oedipus seals his own fate with his egotistical attitude and he cannot change his destiny after everything is set into motion. During his journey on the road
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