Sacrifice is the relinquishment of entity for the interest of something or someone else. Many sacrifices are made every day by people throughout their lives for something greater that they believe in. These losses however, are either made with false ideals or with true noble convictions. Sacrifices are generally made to achieve something more worthy, but sometimes others can have misconceptions and undertake losses for the worse. In the plays Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, and Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, it is displayed that the two protagonists make sacrifices throughout their stories without high moral judgement, leading to inferior outcomes. In the two texts, it is clear that the main characters Oedipus and Willy
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Because of this, he sacrifices his eyesight and begs for death since his overconfidence and vanity begins to turn into a profound amount of disappointment and embarrassment. Oedipus’ lack of self-worth and achievement moves him to think foolishly and make senseless detriments because he is particularly attached to the idea of being an achieving and powerful hero. Instead of understanding what he has done and taking credit for his actions in a mannerly way, Oedipus scrapes his eyes out and pleads to be killed when he is overwhelmed by his loss of pride and ego. Furthermore, Oedipus’ sense of achievement and satisfaction with himself causes him to act poorly in situations with family members. For example, instead of working in a calmer state, Oedipus is fast to sacrifice his relationship with Creon and accuses him of lying. After being told by Tiresias that he is the murderer of the king, he quickly turns to his brother-in-law and calls him a “marauding thief himself scheming to steal [Oedipus’] crown and power” (Sophocles, 181). Because he is so overwhelmed by his confidence, he cannot bring himself to believe Tiresias’ knowledge of his fate and immediately begins to think that his own brother is plotting against him to take away his accomplishment, which is power. Oedipus’ large extent of confidence and vanity within himself makes him quick to sacrifice his peaceful relation with Creon and consider that
Because of this, he sacrifices his eyesight and begs for death since his overconfidence and vanity begins to turn into a profound amount of disappointment and embarrassment. Oedipus’ lack of self-worth and achievement moves him to think foolishly and make senseless detriments because he is particularly attached to the idea of being an achieving and powerful hero. Instead of understanding what he has done and taking credit for his actions in a mannerly way, Oedipus scrapes his eyes out and pleads to be killed when he is overwhelmed by his loss of pride and ego. Furthermore, Oedipus’ sense of achievement and satisfaction with himself causes him to act poorly in situations with family members. For example, instead of working in a calmer state, Oedipus is fast to sacrifice his relationship with Creon and accuses him of lying. After being told by Tiresias that he is the murderer of the king, he quickly turns to his brother-in-law and calls him a “marauding thief himself scheming to steal [Oedipus’] crown and power” (Sophocles, 181). Because he is so overwhelmed by his confidence, he cannot bring himself to believe Tiresias’ knowledge of his fate and immediately begins to think that his own brother is plotting against him to take away his accomplishment, which is power. Oedipus’ large extent of confidence and vanity within himself makes him quick to sacrifice his peaceful relation with Creon and consider that