Preview

Who Is Responsible For Oedipus's Downfall

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
280 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Who Is Responsible For Oedipus's Downfall
Oedipus Oedipus is an epic hero in that he suffers from a flaw, later falls from the flaw, and is of noble rank. Oedipus is a king who suffers from hubris which leads to uncontrolled anger. Due to these two flaws, Oedipus kills his biological father and marries his biological mother, as the oracle had predicted. By the end of the play, Oedipus gouged out his own eyes and lost his position as king of Thebes. There is no way for him to avoid the Oracle. The Oracle only states what Fate had already decided; Oedipus was destined to commit these heinous acts. Oedipus is not completely responsible for what happened. Fate had determined that he would commit murder and incest. Being that it is engrained in his destiny, Oedipus does not know

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    After learning about the prophecy, Oedipus ran away from his foster parents [believing they are his real parents] so he wouldn’t fulfil the prophecy by killing his father and marrying his mother (42). He tried to avoid the dreadful prophecy, and once he escaped from Corinth, he believed the he went against the prophecy. In his pride, Oedipus instead of escaping the prophecy, got intertwined in it even further. He then began to learn that Thebes housed his real parents. Slowly, he realized that the man he killed was his father (64). Not only hat, his wife was none other than his birth mother.…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus ascended the throne of Thebes; as to many years ago he had solved the riddle of the Sphinx, saved the city of Thebes and was welcomed as King. We see that this quality makes him an excellent ruler who anticipates his subjects’ needs. Taking up the responsibility of being a king by serving the citizens, Oedipus is adequate to the challenge, believing he can purge the land. Oedipus the King is a character that tempts fate, thinks he can change fate as a man who…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hubris In Oedipus The King

    • 1852 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King in the 5th century BCE, in contrast with the work of the Roman Ovid. The character of King Oedipus demonstrates his attitude of overconfidence from the beginning, as he speaks to the children outside his palace and introduces himself as, “I, Oedipus whom all men call the Great” (Oedipus the King 73). As a result of this hubris, he tries to defy the prophecies given by the gods, but he goes on to follow the prophecy as it was laid out and do exactly what he was most afraid of doing (Oedipus the King 83). The Oracle of Delphi gives him the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, but his overconfidence convinces him that he can overcome this; instead of taking the advice of the prophet Teiresias, he attacks Teiresias in anger over the prophecy (Oedipus the King 80-81, 86). He embarks on an adventure towards Thebes from Corinth, and on his way, he kills an old man and marries the queen of Thebes (Oedipus the King 105), completely unaware that in doing so, he is fulfilling the prophecy. Throughout the story, his pride shines through both his actions and his attitude, as he attempts to prove that he knows more and is more powerful than the prophet, stating, “it has no strength for you because you are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes…You life is one long night so that you cannot hurt me or any…

    • 1852 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The role of fate is the power that determines the outcome of events as well as the actions of how people choose what they want to do can contribute to a breakdown of a person. In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus’ own actions through his life contribute to his downfall at the end of the play. It is Oedipus choice to look for answers of his childhood. Oedipus’ blindness to the truth of his life causes him to make a decision to become blind at his downfall. The excessive pride Oedipus has results in his decision to going after king Laios murderer not knowing he is the murderer. The actions of Oedipus are factors in his downfall as he chooses to fill in missing information of his childhood.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The tragic hero in the story "Oedipus the King" is Oedipus himself, and every tragic hero must have a tragic flaw; the tragic flaw for Oedipus was becoming the King when he married his mother. "Wealth, power, [and] craft of statesmanship! Kingly position everywhere admired, " stated by Oedipus, where he is in the high position of the play. Going on with the play, Oedipus discovers that his "parents" (King Polybus and Queen Merope) were not actually his real parents, making him question the King and Queen, who denies everything; Oedipus, of course, does not stop there. The reversal takes place when he hears his destiny by the oracle, leaving him to make the decision to go "to a land where [Oedipus] should never see the evil sung by the oracle,"…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus blinds himself in shame, accepting full responsibility for poising the city and willingly takes the punishment of exile. In the end, Oedipus’ arrogance led to his downfall. He lost his wife, his eyesight and his kingship. He uncovered the riddles of his life and found out that he was the boy who was the subject of the prophecy. His intelligence, egotism and arrogance led to this finding which caused him losing all that he had. The resolution of his life puts Oedipus above any other tragic hero. He unravels his life in a way that pushes the limits of agony a human can take and there he finds incomparable greatness of…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This instantly places him right on top and boosts him up to fulfill the Kings position. His intuitive instincts and drive to put together his life signified him as a man always on a hunt. These qualities where huge attributes to his life however, he also had many negative traits which would end him. He was a man with a huge temper which leads right to his downfall. Since his temper is what ultimately killed his father, it was obvious that it would not stop there. His lack of emotion and sensitivity to these killing sprees was a sign of a broken man unwilling to wear his heart of his sleeve. A man of pride. This follows even more problems for Oedipus as time continues. He refuses to listen to Teiresias, the blind seer of Thebes. He is informed about his future and is taking back by all that makes sense to him now. He is left alone to figure out what to do next. Instead of handling the situation calmly and effectively, he goes out on an rampage and seeks to kill his wife/mother for not telling him to the truth. Once he arrives, he instantly finds her hung by her own hair. This forces him to completely lose his right state of mind and punishes himself by gauging his…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Adade-Yeboah, Ahenkora, and Amankwah (2012), “Tragedy is of action and not character as Aristotle puts it” (p. 10). Therefore, Oedipus’ tragedy deals with his ignorance and not his character. Oedipus is ignorant in the fact that he does not realize he is committing patricide or incest (Adade-Yeboah et al., 2012, p. 11). Oedipus grows up knowing two opposite people that he thought were his parents, which leads to him killing his biological father and marrying his biological mother. Oedipus then goes on to search for his biological father’s killer and soon realizes that it was he himself who committed the atrocious acts toward his family. He came to this realization after it was revealed to him by an oracle. Originally, Oedipus believes that the man he originally kills is only just a shepherd, when in return it is his biological father. According to Greenburg (2012), “Oedipus has been told, and has come to believe, that at the end of his life and in death he will have the power to protect the city that has taken him and buried him” (p. 52). Oedipus maintains the belief that things will always be the way he knew them to be and he would be in charge of the city he knew and loved. He maintains this belief until an oracle reveals his misfortune. At first, Oedipus and his wife (biological mother) refuse to believe that what they were told is true. According to…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To what extent do you think Oedipus deserved what happened to him, and does he deserve our sympathy?…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The main concentration of Oedipus was preventing his downfall in the story, but due to his inner blindness and the rest of his character flaws he was unsuccessful in this journey, which is the reason that Oedipus was a static character throughout the whole story. He has various flaws, which always started multiple conflicts in the story, all of which gradually directed him to his downfall in the plot of the play. All of the shortcomings of Oedipus are the reason for his quick, horrific downfall from his kingliness into poor, ever-wandering blind man he has become by the conclusion of the story.…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although Oedipus is an ideal leader who saved Thebes from the monstrous Sphinx, his fatal flaws of anger and pride ultimately lead to his tragic downfall. One example of Oedipus's flaw that caused his downfall is his hot temper. Because of Oedipus’s hot temper, he acts before he thinks. One example of his quick temper occurs when Oedipus killed Laius where three highways meet. Laius, who was in a rush to get to the Oracle of Delphi to save Thebes, tried to run Oedipus off of the rode with his colt-drawn chariot. Enraged, Oedipus attacked and killed Laius and all but one of his guards. “The groom jostled me and I in fury landed him a blow,” Oedipus stated regretfully. Oedipus’s pride is connected to his anger because his pride fuels his anger. Even as a young…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Rex Hero

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Oedipus being doomed from the start proves that he is a tragic hero because he is destined to do terrible things according to the prophecy that is placed on him. This curse and prophecy is that Oedipus would be son and husband to his mother, brother and father to his children, take part…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Oedipus the King” is a drama that portrays misfortune that dwells among mankind. The tragic sequence of events first starts with the birth of Oedipus. His biological parents are stricken with grief when they discover a secret that causes them to banish their son from the city of Thebes. Little did they know that, despite their actions, fate would still play out which would, in turn, cause the society of Thebes to be stricken by the plague. Although many people suffered from the unfortunate destiny of Oedipus, perhaps the person that suffered the most was Oedipus himself. Oedipus endured an unforgiving reality check after being blindsided by the current state of his life.…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus is the main character in the play Oedipus the King. Oedipus is thought of as a tragic figure because he was doomed from birth. Tiresias, an old blind prophet, told Oedipus' parents about Oedipus' fate. He told them that Oedipus would kill his father and sleep with his mother. So, his parents decided to have him killed, only it did not happen that way. He was passed off by two shepherds and finally to the King and Queen of Corinth, Polybus and Merope to raise him as their own. Oedipus finds his way back to Thebes and on the way kills his father, but Oedipus did not know that one of the men he killed was his real father. This is the beginning of the prophecy coming true. In short Oedipus obtains the throne, Marries his mother and has kids with her. Oedipus' fate has come together without him even realizing what is going on. Eventually he is told what has happened and asks to be banished by his uncle/brother-in-law Creon. The tragedy in Oedipus' life began with his birth and the realization by his parents that his whole life was doomed.…

    • 620 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Production of Bamboo

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The play Oedipus: “The King” presents the reader with a look into the horror of Oedipus’ destiny. Freud writes, “Oedipus was exposed as an infant because an oracle warned his father his son would be his murderer”(69). Oedipus was rescued and began another life with another royal family. After Oedipus found out about the oracle he tries to free himself from the oracle. Oedipus fulfilled the oracle and was driven away from the land. Was Oedipus guilty of murder and incest or not? Many facts have been found to prove that he is guilty, while many opinions are raised in favor of his innocence.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays