Acting on Emotion

Acting on Emotions Sophocles designs his plays to instruct his audience members to behave morally correct. People’s actions are ruled by their emotions (jealousy, suspicion, anger, pride, and love) and it leads to negative effects for them. But when acting in a sage demeanor, it gives evidence to a person’s character. Sophocles writes his characters to be ruled by their emotions and to teach people to behave in a prudent demeanor. Sophocles designs his plays to have the people of authority act in an immorally correct fashion.
For example, Oedipus is one of Sophocles’ characters that allowed his actions to be ruled by his emotions when he was traveling along the road. Laius’ group passed and the leader and the master ordered him out of the way. The driver shoved Oedipus out of the way and in fury he struck the driver. But the master (Laius) saw it and as Oedipus passed, he struck Oedipus on the head. But Oedipus, in a fit of rage, killed everyone in the party not knowing that the master was Laius, his father. Oedipus is ruled by his anger and if he were to act in a morally correct demeanor, he would not have had road rage and killed everyone in Laius’ party. Oedipus would have had the wisdom to step out of the way and not kill them. This would have shown wisdom because he could have seen that the master must have been important if he had so many people to escort him. To kill him would mean that maybe people would want to know who the killer was and serve justice. Also, if Oedipus let him be, he probably never would have found out that Laius and Jocasta were his parents. (Page 48)
Another example of Oedipus being ruled by his actions is when he vowed that he will find Laius’ killer to purify the city of its evil presence. He vowed that he would banish the killer of Laius and expelled from every house, the unclean, and accursed. Oedipus vowed to find Laius’ killer with only the attention of making himself look better. He thought that if he found the killer it