The King's Change In Oedipus And Colon

It only takes that one traumatizing moment to change what someone is. One moment, a man could be cheerful, but at the next be full of tears or filled with hate. When a person realizes that he or she had wronged in some way, they tend be overwhelmed and have a desire to pay repentance for their mistakes by doing harmful or crazy actions or activities. In the books “Oedipus Rex” and “Oedipus and Colonus,” Oedipus, the protagonist, faces things which cause him to do these harmful things and which cause him to change his personality as well. Oedipus changes how he acts, what he looks like, and his mannerisms after the events of the book. “Oedipus Rex.” Oedipus changing his physical expressions and going to the extreme when punishing himself was
one change in character. After finding out that he was responsible for his father’s death and the fact that he married his own mother, Oedipus cut his eyes out of his sockets (Fitts and Fitzgerald 69). While in the book, Oedipus did this to punish himself for all his wrong doings, Oedipus made himself blind because he was blind to the truth. His arrogance and aggressiveness all disappeared when his eyes saw the truth as he was depressed and full of sorrow after Choragos asked Oedipus what madness had come over him (Fitts and Fitzgerald 71). This changed Oedipus’s physical character and made him a weak and blind man. Oedipus also changed his personality after the events of Oedipus Rex.
With the title as king of Thebes, Oedipus was shown to be arrogant and aggressive as shown when he was questioning the holy prophet, Teiresias (Fitts and Fitzgerald 16). During the questioning, Teiresias mentioned that Oedipus was responsible for the death of his father (Fitts and Fitzgerald 24). The king of Thebes refused to listen to the words of the holy prophet and so had lead Teiresias away from the palace (Fitts and Fitzgerald 24). When Teiresias was shown to be right, Oedipus lost some hope and changed his personality. He was shown to be loving towards Antigone and Ismene; and he had befriended the king of Athens, Theseus, despite the slight misunderstanding at the beginning of “Oedipus at Colonus” (Fitts and Fitzgerald 118). Oedipus was no longer an arrogant man in the second drama but a fair man who wanted to keep good people safe from
harm. Finally, Oedipus changed his character in his speech.
Oedipus was not only known to behave aggressively in “Oedipus Rex” but also to have aggressive speech as well. In the first drama, the king of Thebes was shown to speak harshly to others who had done nothing to him (Fitts and Fitzgerald 17). In “Oedipus at Colonus,” Oedipus was shown to be kinder when he spoke. When Oedipus told the Chorus his name, the Chorus wanted him to leave the country immediately due to his “family curse” (Fitts and Fitzgerald 98). Despite this however, Oedipus spoke kindly to the Chorus and asked then of the promises that were made towards him (Fitts and Fitzgerald 98). Oedipus also spoke kindly to the King of Athens, Theseus. The son of Laius spoke to the king of Athens with great respect. When Theseus told Oedipus his actions were childish, Oedipus asked Theseus to get to know him first (Fitts and Fitzgerald 118). Oedipus’s aggressive speech changed upon realizing the mistakes made in “Oedipus Rex.” When that traumatizing moment occurs, there will be a change. This change might change a person physically like it did to Oedipus, and will almost certainly linger in their mind and scar it with this thought. Oedipus was changed for the rest of his life when he found out that he was responsible for marrying his own mother and slaying his own father. Knowing this, Oedipus changed his own character by changing his facial features, changed his behavior, and changing the way he spoke. This traumatizing
moment changed the life of Oedipus.