Traditional Greek theater is used to entertain and make its audience experience and reflect, since most focuses on society and human behaviors. In order to initiate and fulfill the “action” in a play and draw out the intended emotions, as Aristotle says in Poetics, a classic tragedy has six main elements: plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, and song.Sophocles, who wrote the great tragedy of Oedipus Rex, develops his plot and character in order to convey to the audience a message about the inevitability of fate in the lives of mortals. Oedipus 's morally upstanding character and pressure from his role as king directly influences his actions and decisions, but even as he goes through the pains of avoiding his fate, Oedipus meets with
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The audience gets to know Oedipus as a dedicated King who is loyal to his people. Very early on, he shown as extremely honest with the people of Thebes by saying “Let them all hear it. It is for them I suffer, more than for myself.” (Sophocles 7) and “You shall see how I stand by you , as I should, to avenge the city and the city’s god…” (Sophocles 9). Additionally, he leads with confidence, commanding his people to “act as the crisis demands” in order to “have relief from all [those] evils.” (Sophocles 13). Oedipus comes off as a dependable, confident leader with a good moral compass. It is a shame to see such a terrible fate like incest and murder befall on a man who had always tried to uphold the highest standards. However, it is important to note that Oedipus also exhibits stubbornness and arrogance. The scene where he mocked Teiresias for his blindness and the time he said “That above all I will not hear you deny.” (Sophocles 28) in heated argument with the seer are examples of instances where he shows a lack of clear judgement and unbiased thought. Rather than turning the audience completely off from his character, the moral aspects in combination with this parts of his personality give him a relatable image of someone can also have faults even though they are someone as high class as a king. In the end, though, it is somewhat both admirable and saddening to see him uphold his moral standard rather than take the opportunity to try and change his life upon deciding that the “punishment that [he has] laid upon [him]self is just.” (Sophocles
The audience gets to know Oedipus as a dedicated King who is loyal to his people. Very early on, he shown as extremely honest with the people of Thebes by saying “Let them all hear it. It is for them I suffer, more than for myself.” (Sophocles 7) and “You shall see how I stand by you , as I should, to avenge the city and the city’s god…” (Sophocles 9). Additionally, he leads with confidence, commanding his people to “act as the crisis demands” in order to “have relief from all [those] evils.” (Sophocles 13). Oedipus comes off as a dependable, confident leader with a good moral compass. It is a shame to see such a terrible fate like incest and murder befall on a man who had always tried to uphold the highest standards. However, it is important to note that Oedipus also exhibits stubbornness and arrogance. The scene where he mocked Teiresias for his blindness and the time he said “That above all I will not hear you deny.” (Sophocles 28) in heated argument with the seer are examples of instances where he shows a lack of clear judgement and unbiased thought. Rather than turning the audience completely off from his character, the moral aspects in combination with this parts of his personality give him a relatable image of someone can also have faults even though they are someone as high class as a king. In the end, though, it is somewhat both admirable and saddening to see him uphold his moral standard rather than take the opportunity to try and change his life upon deciding that the “punishment that [he has] laid upon [him]self is just.” (Sophocles