The Morality Of Creson And Creon In Oedipus The King

Brilliant Essays
Register to read the introduction… “Creon thus serves as a pivot about which Oedipus turns in his contrasting phrases of self-confidence and abasement” (Kirkwood 70). He not only ignored others but even accused them of the crime. “Oedipus is proud and overconfident; he harbors unjustified suspicions against Teiresias and Creon” (Dodds 19). Rather than acknowledging the information of other characters, Oedipus was threatened by their attempts to help. “The suspicion is confirmed, the connection between Creon and Teiresias is established, and the existence of the whole web of enmity stands corroborated as fact” (Reinhardt 51). Oedipus felt that he did not need the other characters. It was his desire for the truth and his search; he did not want help from anyone else. Oedipus continued his path alone with the same intensity and desire for the truth that he had since the news from the …show more content…
We get caught up in the quest, it consumes us, and it becomes our central concern. Oedipus Rex was about King Oedipus quest to discover his origin. He needed reassurance, personally and as king. To discover this truth, Oedipus went to great lengths. Along his path, he received clues, direct and indirect, about his past. Yet, Oedipus desire for the truth was just as great as his blindness to the clues on his journey. Oedipus’ blindness is attributed to his tragic flaw hubris. This hubris led to his innate and eventually outward blindness, his eternal wandering of the earth and everlasting suffering. “He was suffering humanity personified” (Jaeger 103). His tragic flaw led to his downfall. An example of his hubris and blindness was in Oedipus’ dealings with the blind seer Teiresias, the wise man who knew the truth that he desired. His irreverence and ignorance caused the peaceful man to reveal the awful truth to Oedipus. The truth that Oedipus needed was finally …show more content…
M. "Two Questions of Dramatic Form in the Oedipus Tyrannus." 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 67-71. Print.
Knox, Bernard. “The Last Scene.” 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 91. Print.
Lattimore, Richmond. "Oedipus Tyrannus." 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 43-45. Print.
O’Brien, Micheal. “Introduction.” 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 8-10. Print.
Owen, E. T. "Drama in Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus." 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 33-35. Print.
Reinhardt, Karl. “Oedipus Tyrannus: Appearance and Truth.” 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 51. Print.
Segal, Charles. Oedipus Tyrannus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge. New York: Twayne, 1993. Print.
Sewall, Richard. "Richard Sewall." 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 112.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Oedipus reveals his worry and his need to meet his safety necessities. His promise to not return to Corinth demonstrates his efforts to eradicate his…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Christopher Nassaar’s article brought up strong arguments that explained why Oedipus was forced to confront his fate and how his own actions ended up costing him his fortune. Nassaar’s point of view is supported by a solid back end…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Oedipus Rex, a tragic hero crushed because of his hamartia, was not a perfect man by any means. He had all he wanted, but by the end of the story everything he thought was true turned out to be untrue. Although Oedipus considered fate to be real, he had more confidence in his own knowledge and achievements to control his future. Also, Oedipus’ dependence on himself made his purpose and insight the best way to establish all of his decisions. Oedipus was very short tempered and tended to get anger if he did not agree with someone.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the play Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, many themes are present that add to the complexity of the story. He explores the potential dangers of pursuing self-knowledge, the question of guilt and innocence, and the nature of fate. Throughout this journey, the characters undergo major transformations. Everything from how they see themselves and those around them, to the actions they take. Oedipus had the most drastic and noticeable change of all.…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “It has all come true. – I stand revealed—born of shame, married in shame, an unnatural murderer.” (Sophocles, 69) Therefore, Oedipus provides two more qualities of a tragic hero—the reversal of destiny, and the understanding that he brought it upon…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Oedipus Ignorance Analysis

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ignorance and insight go hand in hand when analyzing themes in, Oedipus the King. Ignorance can occur from a lack of knowledge or information, and it can be caused by a person’s disregard for the truth. Oedipus is both unknowledgeable and oblivious. In opposition to the theme of ignorance, the theme of insight is presented in the play. While some characters are blinded, others know a tremendous amount of information, and this aspect creates conflict between individuals and pins those who know against those who do not.…

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Judgment is a main theme in the play King Oedipus by Sophocles, and throughout the play, this theme comes up repeatedly. Sophocles might also be said to be using this idea of judgment to reflect upon the society, of Sophocles, and even that of the modern day reader. This paper will show the 3 elements of judgment that is illustrated by the play and the various angles Sophocles attempts to address using King Oedipus as the tool. The idea of judgment in the play is first portrayed as being a premature and faulty conclusion.…

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Theme Of Arrogance In Oedipus

    • 1630 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 6 Works Cited

    1 Apr. 2012. Edmunds, Lowell. Oedipus. Routledge, 2006. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).…

    • 1630 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 6 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people believe that they achieve the ultimate understanding of things in the universe, until they found the “truth”. In Sophocle’s Oedipus Rex, the limit of human understanding and Oedipus’ rational form of investigation into his father’s murder clearly marked the limit line of human condition. In the play, Oedipus is living in his fantasy where he just starts to awake. In his fantasy world, he believes that he has total control over his fate and identity. He thinks that he has three virtues: reason, intelligence, and self-control.…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Having too much knowledge can destroy, more than it can benefit. The truth can bring light into our life as well darkness. It may haunt us in the future and nothing is recoverable. In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, a Greek tragedy, Oedipus becomes king after saving the city from the Sphinx but, Thebes was contaminated by a dreadful plague; a plague caused by Oedipus himself. The son of the King from Cornith, was honored and applauded by various people of Thebes for his fearless action.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ironically, this bold decision is what set on on the literal and figurative path to slaying his own true father. When meeting this traveler on the road, Oedipus’s hubris took control once again, as he refused to be ridiculed by this man in a carriage. And with this murder, Oedipus had unknowingly fulfilled the first half of the…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sophocles’ tragic play, Oedipus the King, serves as yet another didactic tool of Ancient Greek culture. It heavily focuses on the recurrent theme that a fate assigned by the gods can not be escaped by any means. Sophocles embodies this theme through his tragic hero Oedipus. Even though Oedipus proves himself as a confident capable leader, his tragic flaw is seen through his consistent use of human reason in his attempt to locate the murderer of king Laius. His hubris contributes to his downfall because it allows him to think he can use reason to conquer his fate.…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Oedipus Rex and 21st Century World The story of Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles is a tragedy. This story reveals a lot of truths not only Oedipus has to deal with, but all of humanity. He faces a great deal of pain and suffering much like there continues to be pain and suffering in today’s society.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tragic Destiny In Oedipus

    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Tragic Destiny of Oedipus Oedipus the king by Sophocles is a distressing play filled with transgression, grief, and tragedies. The unfortunate incidents that the tragic hero, Oedipus, goes through invoke catharsis in the readers. He has been prophesied a dreadful fortune and feels as though “...no one suffers more than [him]” (Sophocles 27).Foretold destiny cannot be derailed as fate will always interfere and insure that the prophecy is fulfilled. Moreover, every tragic hero has a tragic flaw; rashness and temper are two of the major ones that lead Oedipus to make poor decisions. In addition, many humans use ignorance as a shield to protect themselves from a harsh reality and therefore restrain themselves from the light of true knowledge.…

    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The author uses the theme of sight to present a sense of false sight in Oedipus. This use of sight also helps to develop the reasons for Oedipus’s fate and also assists in the formation of the second theme of blindness. The use of blindness throughout the play plays a key factor in the author’s purpose of showing the consequences of ignorance to the gods’ will. Sophocles then contrasts these two themes in order to explicitly show the direct consequences of blindness and lack of knowledge. The literary juxtaposition of these two themes is important because this contrast helps to create the solemn tone that Sophocles was hoping to achieve.…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays