The Downfall of Oedipus Essay

about Greek tragedies. In Sophocles’ plays, Oedipus Rex and Antigone, the main characters Oedipus and Creon, are both found in a position of power as the ruler of Thebes. Oedipus, who has been doomed by a prophecy, finds out that his wife is truly his mother and the person he killed on the roadway is really the King, and his father. Creon, who is Oedipus’ uncle, takes the throne after Oedipus leaves Thebes due to his mother committing suicide and Oedipus blinding himself. Creon becomes King, and…

varies family to family. Though no other mother son relationship compares to the legend of Oedipus and Jocasta. Jocasta and Oedipus want the best for their kingdom and family but their weaknesses causes them to make decisions leading to the inevitable prophecy actualization. They are alike in that their weaknesses lead to their eventual downfall. Jocasta’s careless actions create unresolved guilt while Oedipus must deal with his hubris and anger that causes him to make rash decisions. Jocasta’s…

What do all tragedies have in common? They all have someone or something that suffers and throughout history there have been many literary examples of tragic heroes. The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and published in 1925 is an American classic that played with the ideas of a materialistic American Dream, disillusionment, and what it truly means to be a tragic hero. A tragic hero is defined as a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities. In contrast with…

flaws. According to Aristotle in the Sophoclean Hero and Aristotle's, “...Hamartia... ‘to miss the mark" (as in archery), ‘to fail in one's purpose’, ‘to make a mistake’...”and Pentheus and Oedipus mistake is that they are too proud of themselves. In Oedipus Rex By Sophocles and The Bacchae by Euripides, Oedipus and and Pentheus respectively have excessive pride because of their high standing in society. They both believe that nothing is above them and nothing can bring harm othem. This…

Both Oedipus and Othello have similar qualities that portray a noble character. Oedipus’ nobility is given at birth because fate rescues him as he is left to die in the mountains. Not only is Oedipus noble in his birth and upbringing, he is additionally noble in action. He is noble in action because he leaves upon finding out that he wants to harm his father as well as later on answering the riddle of the Sphinx, once arriving in Thebes. Othello, on the other hand, is noble only by his…

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…

contrasted with the character Oedipus in Oedipus Tyrannus, written by Sophocles. Zeus can be characterized as the father figure, the leader, and very powerful. In the Iliad, his motives center on remaining impartial but also aiding the Trojans at the same time. Zeus’ actions are usually the focal point in the Iliad because he is the one who usually determines the winner on the battlefield. Oedipus can be characterized as the king, doomed, and honest. His motives in Oedipus Tyrannus first focus…

is blinded, he cannot see the truth that lies in his reflection. Sophocles writes a great detective story in Oedipus Rex. Oedipus is a hero that turns to be a detective king, which turns into a tragic hero through hamartia. “Although hamartia is often translated as ‘tragic flaw,’ there is a debate among scholars as to the nature and scale of the error that causes a tragic hero’s downfall. Some interpret the term to mean a mere accident or mistake of perception.” According to Aristotle a tragic…

common man. In the play “Oedipus the King”, Sophocles tells the story of Oedipus, who strives to defy his prophecy, to ultimately show that fate is predestined and cannot be avoided. Upon hearing his destiny, he ignorantly puts the foretelling aside and suffers from dramatic irony as well as elements of astonishment and great change throughout the play. Thus, “Oedipus the King” is a prime example of a tragedy with the countless upbringings of tragic irony as well as Oedipus’ portrayal as a…

characters had tragic flaws that led to their downfalls. In two of Sophocles’s plays, Oedipus the King and Antigone, the main characters both had a tragic flaw of arrogance. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus had a tendency to let his arrogance overpower him, and he was the one who caused the plague because he blindly killed his father Laius, the first king of Thebes. In Antigone, Creon is the king after Oedipus left the city. Creon wanted to be different than Oedipus, but really he wasn’t because…