Oedipus The King Research Paper
Majesty of Oedipus’ Downfall
If one thing is for certain throughout the play Oedipus The King, it is that Oedipus has many good qualities to go along with his few flaws. These good traits, such as his generosity, selflessness, quest for truth, and kind nature prove that Oedipus is very noble, which means that he possesses high ideals or excellent moral character. This nobility is a major reason as to why Oedipus’ downfall is majestic, or large and impressive in extent or conception. Oedipus goes from being a “child of luck”-as he refers to himself in one translation of the play-and King of Thebes, to being blind and exiled from his land by the end of the play. We first see that Oedipus is a kind and selfless king on page 114, when he goes to the priests of Thebes to ask them what is …show more content…
By going to the priests himself to see what is wrong, and showing his people that he too is sorrowful, Oedipus is showing his people that he is human. While this humanity is comforting when he visits the people of Thebes to show he is trying to help them in the first few pages, the humanity soon becomes discomforting later on in the play when he comes to show the people of Thebes his scratched out eyes, and says “The hand that struck the eyes was none save mine, wretched that I am! Why was I to see when light could show me nothing sweet!” (144) Oedipus never tries to hide the fact that he is human, but this humanity takes on a new role by the end of the play. Where at one point this humanity showed goodness, it now shows sin. At the beginning of the play Oedipus’ humanity and the fact he did not consider himself to be a G-d instilled hope in his followers because they felt he could help them. Now, the sins that Oedipus has carried out due to fate which he could not escape-because he is human-has been found to be the source of his followers’
If one thing is for certain throughout the play Oedipus The King, it is that Oedipus has many good qualities to go along with his few flaws. These good traits, such as his generosity, selflessness, quest for truth, and kind nature prove that Oedipus is very noble, which means that he possesses high ideals or excellent moral character. This nobility is a major reason as to why Oedipus’ downfall is majestic, or large and impressive in extent or conception. Oedipus goes from being a “child of luck”-as he refers to himself in one translation of the play-and King of Thebes, to being blind and exiled from his land by the end of the play. We first see that Oedipus is a kind and selfless king on page 114, when he goes to the priests of Thebes to ask them what is …show more content…
By going to the priests himself to see what is wrong, and showing his people that he too is sorrowful, Oedipus is showing his people that he is human. While this humanity is comforting when he visits the people of Thebes to show he is trying to help them in the first few pages, the humanity soon becomes discomforting later on in the play when he comes to show the people of Thebes his scratched out eyes, and says “The hand that struck the eyes was none save mine, wretched that I am! Why was I to see when light could show me nothing sweet!” (144) Oedipus never tries to hide the fact that he is human, but this humanity takes on a new role by the end of the play. Where at one point this humanity showed goodness, it now shows sin. At the beginning of the play Oedipus’ humanity and the fact he did not consider himself to be a G-d instilled hope in his followers because they felt he could help them. Now, the sins that Oedipus has carried out due to fate which he could not escape-because he is human-has been found to be the source of his followers’