Oedipus Character Analysis Essay

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At the beginning of Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus is overly confident, and with good reason. He is notorious for being the one who saved Thebes from the curse of the Sphinx and become king virtually overnight. He announces his name proudly as though it were a healing charm to others by saying "my children, I am here, famous Oedipus." Oedipus acts very swiftly, and he seems to be very confident even through the very end of the play where he calls upon his brother Creon and his mother Tiresias. Oedipus threatens to banish them both from Thebes, and goes into the palace to stab out his own eyes. Then Oedipus demands to Creon that he is to be exiled from the city when he finds out what truly happened to Laius. Throughout the play Oedipus is constantly …show more content…
Then ironically Oedipus blinds himself so he wouldn 't have to look at his children and siblings because of the shame that he has went through. Oedipus is distinguished for his compassion, his sense of justice, his swiftness of thought and action, and his honesty. At this early stage in the play, Oedipus represents all that an audience could desire in a citizen or a leader. He continually shows his concern for the health and well-being of all of his people, and his people show him respect because he previously freed Thebes from the sphinx. He is so serious about the punishment for the killer of Laius Oedipus says even if the murderer turns out to be someone close to himself he wont hesitate to banish them from Thebes. Yet, Oedipus is so blinded to catch the killer he doesn 't realize that he is in fact the killer. This comes up when he is insistent that Tiresias tells him who the killer is. When he refuses to let it be known he then accuses Tiresias of killing Laius. This is when Tiresias then tells Oedipus that he is the reason for the plague. This is when Oedipus ' traits begin to work against him, which makes his personality begin to shift when he begins to change his view on Tiresias by calling him scum and asking questions that are doing nothing but accusing rather than seeking answers to what he wants to

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