Preview

What Is Bias In Oedipus Speech

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
227 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is Bias In Oedipus Speech
In Oedipus the king by Sophocles an ancient Greek play, Oedipus’ speech Tiresias is anger fueled. The tone Oedipus maintains is rage towards Tiresias. This reveals his love for justice no matter what may be at stake no matter what may be at stake for his own reputation.
Oedipus speaks to Tiresias in a tone filled with rage. This is evident because of the words he uses. The first example of this is when he speaks of Tiresias’ “envy”. Oedipus yells, “... what envy lurks inside you!” (435) This shows his anger because he believes that Tiresias is keeping the murderer from him for Tiresias’ own well being, and not his own.
Oedipus’ thirst for the knowledge of the murderer of his father, Laius, reveals his oblivion to all things that may affect

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Oedipus summons Tiresias to prophesize what he should do to help the city, but Tiresias knows what he has done and does not wish to prophesize for Oedipus. First, Tiresias tries to hint at the mistake Oedipus has made but Oedipus’s pride is too great and he refuses to listen to Tiresias and blames him for the murder. You see this when Oedipus says “… You did the work, yes, short of killing him with your own hands- and given eyes I’d say you did the killing single-handed.”(Fagles 178) Another time when Oedipus is blinded by his pride is when he is talking to Tiresias and Tiresias tells Oedipus of his own blinding. When see this when Tiresias says, “I pity you, flinging at me the very insults each man here will fling at you so soon.”(Fagles 181) Finally once more after Oedipus is very unkind to Tiresias, Tiresias prophesizes what Oedipus’s life is and what it will be. We see this when Tiresias says, “… you’re blind to the corruption of your life... double lash of your mother and your father’s curse will whip you from this land one day… That day you learn the truth about your marriage, the…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As each story unfolds, we notice many similar qualities being shown through the rule of Oedipus and the rule of Creon. Creon and Oedipus both portray rage and how impetuous they are at many times throughout these stories as they struggle with issues that they face as rulers. One example of this is when Oedipus encounters a chariot on the highway which pushes him off the road. Oedipus "struck him in [his] rage […] [and] killed him" (Scene II. 283-288). This plus the fact show that the man he strikes down is actually his father, shows how impulsive and driven-by-rage Oedipus' actions are. Creon's harsh judgments against Antigone show his rage rashness as he sentences her to be buried alive. Another way their impulsiveness is shown is how both characters disregard what Teiresias tells them and Oedipus even fail to heed the warning from the Gods about the events that are destined to happen. Pride is what drives both characters to their ultimate demise, blinding them from seeing the evils that are occurring right before their very eyes. This pride prevents Oedipus from seeing the very fact that he is the murderer of King Laius which he has invested so much time and energy into finding. When Creon and his son, Haimon argue over principles of wisdom and rule, Haimon states that any man who thinks…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.”…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Essay for Lit Draft 2

    • 1309 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Knowledge plays a huge role in peoples lives when it comes to growing up. For Oedipus and Barry, their fathers control their level of knowledge. Oedipus is born and immediately abandoned by his father. Since Oedipus has no knowledge of his past he ends up unknowingly killing his father, King Laius. Much of the playwright is about the search for the man who killed King Laius. There is a repeated contrast in the dialogue between the known and unknown. For example when Oedipus is speaking with Tiresias for insight on how to find the killer.…

    • 1309 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    When he asks Teirisias, “What parents? Stay…and who of men is my sire?” (123), he doubts his origins. For his entire life, Oedipus had been certain that Polybus and Merope were his parents. Not knowing his origins shows that he’s not omniscient. This ambiguity throughout the play causes Oedipus to question every bit of evidence about Laius’s killer as he tries to figure out who killed him. Oedipus also tries to figure out what his true origins are. This search for his identity after realizing he is not certain of anything is the focus of the play.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Rex is full of people searching for justice. Throughout the play Oedipus acts upon what he believes is justice.…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Flaws

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Oedipus' arrogance is a double-edged sword, which propels the story forward and goes in hand in hand with his detrimental hubris. On many occasions he is told to stop wondering. Tiresias, the blind prophet who can see much clearer than our fateful King, tells Oedipus, "Please let me go home. It's for the best." The Corinthian messenger also warns him of such atrocities, which lead him to the next element of Greek…

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Together they have four children, and Oedipus' dire fate had been fulfilled, all without his knowledge. Problems begin with a plague that ravages the city of Thebes and Oedipus sets out to find the cause of Laius’s death. At length, he discovers that he himself is the cause for he was guilty of both patricide and incest. When that realization is manifested, the utter shock and disgust of the horrific situation causes the tormented and disillusioned Oedipus to blind himself of a self-inflicted.…

    • 1552 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Rex is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. It tells the story of a man named and Oedipus who runs away from Corinth becoming the King of Thebes unintentionally fulfilling a prophecy he was trying to avoid. When Oedipus is told that he has fulfilled the prophecy he was desperately trying to run away from he goes through stages of denial before finally accepting his fate but even then he hasn't fully accepted what he has done.Sophocles develops the theme that the truth is hard to accept.…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    His anger would always overwhelm his intelligence and reason, and that’s what got him into problems through that play. For an illustration of this flaw; he yelled at the Blind prophet, Teiresias, and afterwards accused the murder on him out of fury about the fact that he would not talk to him about the situation, “ Rage? Why not! And I’ll tell you with I think: You planned it, you had it done, you all but killed him with your own hands: if you had eyes, I’d say the crime was yours, and yours alone.” (Sophocles, 215). The Hubris that Oedipus had been the main reason he never listened to the people that were trying to help him or let them help when it was most necessary. This hubris caused him to become egotistic during the story “I, Oedipus who bear the famous name…” (Sophocles,…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Rex is an example of how a character reacts and understands justice in his time. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, so it is expected for him to be the one making important choices and justice. Oedipus demonstrates different responses to injustice, than expected.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tiresias is an appealing character in the play and gives meaning to the overall theme. He is a blind prophet that informs Oedipus of the truth. Tiresius tells Oedipus that he is the murderer of his own father and married to his mother. He quotes, “I say: you have been living unaware in the most hideous intimacy with your nearest and most loving kin, immersed in evil that you cannot see.” Oedipus defensively says, “You have blind eyes, blind ears, and a blind brain.” The irony of his blindness is that Tiresias is not blind at all within the realm of knowledge. He has a clear vision and sight into who Oedipus is and what his future holds. Oedipus is oblivious and can only see what his eyes choose. The other characters in the play with physical sight are also unenlightened to this truth about their king.…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Vs Creon Essay

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Oedipus’ quick temper leads him to have dreadful interactions with others that end up leaving some people no more. While Oedipus was on the road traveling away from his home city, he has a confrontation and scuffle with a man, and in the…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    * Oedipus’ arrogance is demonstrated very early on in the play, when his uncle ‘unknown at this time’, Creon, returns with news from the Gods. On his arrival at the palace of Thebes, Oedipus demands the news. Creon is reluctant though as he brings only bad news, “If you want my report in the presence of these people...I’m ready now or we might go inside”. Oedipus in reply say’s, “Speak out, speak to us all. I grieve for these my people, far more than I fear for my own life”. This ignorance to accept advice from Creon, led the problem to become public to the people of Thebes, which later results in Oedipus’ own demise as he had the potential to deal with it privately.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When Oedipus realized that he may have committed the very crime he is trying to solve, he says “I think that I myself may be accurst by my own ignorant edict.” (Pg. 40) Here, he even finds himself ignorant. Oedipus was unknowing of many things prior to this discovery; one which was who did it. Who killed Laius? When he found out it was himself it all fell into place. Oedipus killed his father and was sleeping with/had children with his mother. Ignorance was the only way for him. Ignorance was the best…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays