“[He] did it all [himself]”: Oedipus’ Self-destruction Oedipus is demonstrating a very key component to the play when he says that “the hand that struck [his] eyes was [his] alone.” The metaphor of three fingers pointing back at you when you point a judging finger at someone else is perfect for this situation. In being so quick to judge the situation and assume that he will bring honour to the land‚ uncovering Laius’s murderer‚ Oedipus curses the one responsible and declares that they will be
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Sophocles’s play‚ "Oedipus the King" is one of the most well known of the Greek tragedies. The play’s interesting plot‚ along with the incredible way it is written are only two of the many reasons why two thousand years later‚ it is still being read and viewed. For those who are not familiar with the story of "Oedipus the King"‚ it is written about the results of a curse put on King Oedipus which claims that he will murder his father and marry his mother. After reading or viewing this play‚ it
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cause a sort of hamartia; it truly is a fatal flaw. In the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles‚ the hubris and hamartia of Oedipus and Jocasta lead them to their drastic fate. Excessive pride and confidence of outsmarting the gods made their tragic prophecy come true. When a prophet comes to Oedipus to tell him who the murderer of Laius is and accuses Oedipus of the crime‚ Jocasta looks at the prophet as ignorant and explains to Oedipus that she had outsmarted the gods‚ saying “A prophet? In that
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The Six Elements of a Tragedy in “Oedipus Rex” Aristotle’s “The Poetics” describes the process of a tragedy. It is not the guide per se of writing a tragedy but is the idea’s Aristotle collected while studying tragedies. A tragedy‚ according to Aristotle‚ consists of six major points. The first and most important is the plot‚ which is what all the other points are based on. Such points are: character‚ language‚ thought‚ melody‚ and spectacle (Aristotle). A prime example of the usage of these
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they were born with a curse set upon their life? A man named Oedipus Rex is born in Thebes with a punitive curse in the form of a prophecy. No matter how hard or far he tries to run from this curse he cannot escape it and it will follow and harass him throughout his whole life. In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles Oedipus is a tragic hero because he is doomed from the start‚ he is very prideful‚ and he must suffer more than he deserves. Oedipus being doomed from the start proves that he is a tragic hero because
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Blindness plays a two-fold part in Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus the King.” First‚ Sophocles presents blindness as a physical disability affecting the auger Teiresias‚ and later Oedipus; but later‚ blindness comes to mean an inability to see the evil in one’s actions and the consequences that ensue. The irony in this lies in the fact that Oedipus‚ while gifted with sight‚ is blind to himself‚ in contrast to Teiresias‚ blind physically‚ but able to see the evil to which Oedipus
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Oedipus Rex‚ written by Sophocles is a Greek tragedy built on the basis of a riddle given by the maleficent Sphinx‚ who in Egypt is considered the protector of the three pyramids‚ however‚ the perspective given to us by the narrator in this drama allows us to view that it is really a "disease" which plagues‚ torments and confines the citizens of Thebes. Despite that fact‚ the Sphinx can represent all that is rational about man‚ as in the tragedy she chooses to challenge man’s thought and intellect
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In "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles we see many occasions where a reader or perhaps even a scholar can begin to get confused. However‚ Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex takes time to look at some of the most debated events throughout the entire book. E.R. Dodd’s transforms Oedipus Rex into a descriptive legible masterpiece. Within we find the answers to many key questions and elements which have plagued undergraduates and scholars for years‚ and perhaps even years to come. "In what sense‚ if in any‚ does
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Oedipus Rex Study Guide The Prologos 1. What initial step does Oedipus indicate he has already taken? 2. What is the significance of Delphi? What is the message from the oracle at Delphi with which Creon returns? 3. What does Oedipus think about the clue Creon reveals about who murdered King Laios? What might this perception foreshadow? 4. What does Oedipus promise to do at the end of the Prologos? 5. Of what symbolic significance are the olive boughs‚ strewn at the alter steps as
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Oedipus Rex Questions The Prologue (p5-12) 1. Where does the play take place? 2. Which character begins the play? 3. What is Oedipus’s attitude toward the suppliants seeking his help? 4. What does the priest ask Oedipus to do? 5. What has Oedipus already done? 6. Who is Creon? 7. What is the message from the oracle of Delphi with which Creon returns? 8. What prevented Thebes from tracking down the murderer of Laius at the time the murder occurred? 9. What does
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