Oedipus Rex the Great In the play, Oedipus the king, Oedipus is a king whose life goes from the best life to the worst life a man could ever live. According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, Oedipus is a tragic hero. Aristotle has many characteristics that describe a tragic hero. Five of the characteristics are; being a man of noble stature, having a downfall that is their own fault, being good but, not perfect, having a downfall that is not wholly deserved, and having a downfall that is not a complete loss. By all of these characteristics the audience can tell that Oedipus meets all of the criteria’s of being a tragic hero. In the play Oedipus is considered a man of noble stature because of many things. One of the things that make him
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The reason that Oedipus has a downfall that is his own fault is because he refuses to listen to the truth and what people have to say to him, and only wants to listens to what he wants to hear. Towards the beginning of the play Oedipus brings in a blind prophet, Teiresias, and begins to yell at him because he thinks that the prophet is not saying everything, but really the prophet is saying what Oedipus wants to hear, but Oedipus is too busy yelling at him “Tell us, you villain, / tell us, and do not stand there quietly/unmoved and balking at the issue” (Sophocles 362-364). This shows the audience that even though the prophet is telling him things Oedipus wants to hear more, and only the things that he likes. He also refuses to listen to the things that the prophet has told him because of his fate and how arrogant he …show more content…
This characteristic fits Oedipus perfectly, because during the play Oedipus does many good things like, he once saved the city of Thebes “For now this land of ours/calls you its savior since you saved it once”, and he cares for his city, and for the people of the city (Sophocles 54-55). Even though these are some good qualities of Oedipus he does have some bad qualities. The people of the city Thebes see Oedipus as a good person throughout the play, but the audience can tell that he is not that good of a person. Oedipus is arrogant, and thinks highly of himself, and having too much confidence is not good. These are his flaws that make him not perfect. Also, at the end of the play he discovers the truth which makes him not the perfect person he thinks he
The reason that Oedipus has a downfall that is his own fault is because he refuses to listen to the truth and what people have to say to him, and only wants to listens to what he wants to hear. Towards the beginning of the play Oedipus brings in a blind prophet, Teiresias, and begins to yell at him because he thinks that the prophet is not saying everything, but really the prophet is saying what Oedipus wants to hear, but Oedipus is too busy yelling at him “Tell us, you villain, / tell us, and do not stand there quietly/unmoved and balking at the issue” (Sophocles 362-364). This shows the audience that even though the prophet is telling him things Oedipus wants to hear more, and only the things that he likes. He also refuses to listen to the things that the prophet has told him because of his fate and how arrogant he …show more content…
This characteristic fits Oedipus perfectly, because during the play Oedipus does many good things like, he once saved the city of Thebes “For now this land of ours/calls you its savior since you saved it once”, and he cares for his city, and for the people of the city (Sophocles 54-55). Even though these are some good qualities of Oedipus he does have some bad qualities. The people of the city Thebes see Oedipus as a good person throughout the play, but the audience can tell that he is not that good of a person. Oedipus is arrogant, and thinks highly of himself, and having too much confidence is not good. These are his flaws that make him not perfect. Also, at the end of the play he discovers the truth which makes him not the perfect person he thinks he