The Downfall of Oedipus Essay

Catatonic Stubbornness Hamartia. From Greek meaning a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. In Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex and Antigone, Oedipus, Antigone, and especially Creon all display their flaw of being stubborn which ultimately leads to the tragedy in each play. When Teiresias challenges Oedipus by saying that he is the one plaguing the city, instead of listening to the other side of the argument, Oedipus tells him to be “Out of this place! Out of my sight!”…

hero? According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a literary, noble character who makes a judgment mistake that eventually leads to his/her downfall. In the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is our tragic hero. Okonkwo is considered a tragic hero due to his leadership and eventual nobility, his big reverse as a character, and his tragic flaws that lead to his downfall. First of all, Okonkwo starts off as a poor child as shown when the book states “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many…

and the downfall of a man. Sophocles even states that "all men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride." This quote can be seen through the chorus when they say "Great words of boasting bring great punishments"(Sophocles 1536). Creon’s fate is shown by the chorus quote, when he learned much too late that he was wrong and faced a terrible punishment. Creon's pride is the key factor most responsible for his downfall and…

A tragic hero is best defined as a person of high power, such as a king or queen, who has a tragic flaw that leads to their downfall and causes the conflict of the play. Antigone is the tragic heroine of Antigone, and Creon can also be considered a tragic hero because of his role in the plot. The young woman is a person of power, since she is in line to be queen. For many, Antigone’s tragic flaw should not be considered a flaw at all. She is unbelievably loyal to her beliefs and family and that…

Creon for her misfortunes, she claims ‘’I have not sinned before god…but if the guilt lies upon Creon then. I pray may his punishment equal my own.’’ According to Aristotle a tragic character must go through a ‘’Nemesis’’ which is a fortune that the protagonist cannot avoid, usually due to retribution of his/her hubris. Throughout the play “Antigone” many people have tried to advise Creon but his hubris was too large for their words to resonate. He was adamant to admit his wrongful verdict…

daughter of Oedipus, a daughter of Oedipus’ stubborn pride, was above the law?” (Jewkes, 198). He doesn’t believe anyone is above the law, even if it is to please the natural order of the gods. The law, as Creon often indirectly states, is the most important philosophy in…

their way around these limits without bypassing a certain point beyond repair. Antigone, written by Sophocles, features two key people: Antigone and Creon. This drama lays out a basic format where there is a hero who has a flaw which leads to their downfall-- that being Antigone. Set after the great battle for the royal throne, both Polyneices and Eteocles die in the battle, leaving Creon king. The first edict Creon makes…

Since Creon is King he believes, he has the power over everything, and does not need to obey anyone. Antigone the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, siblings; Eteocles, Polynices, and Ismene. Both of Antigone’s brother killed each other in a battle between Thebes and the City of Argos. Antigone to give respect to her brother Polyneices she wants to bury him, but King Creon orders that corpse of Polynices remains unburied because of his fighting against Thebes. Although Creon orders for Polynices…

plagued it since Oedipus left the city blinded and disgraced. Creon was so focused on this task that he would have done almost anything to fix the problems he saw. Creon’s son Haemon on the other hand was not particularly concerned with matters of state. Haemon was young and in love and this was the most important thing to him. These two had very different opinions on what punishment Antigone should receive and this leads to a very heated argument and that plays a large part Creon’s downfall.…

determined by fate, but what he did in Thebes, he did so of his own will.” Oedipus was destined by fate to experience certain things, but he also used free will to make his own decisions. In Oedipus the King, “5 He shall be proved father and brother both to his own children in his own house; to her that gave him birth, a son and husband both; …sower in his father’s bed with that same father that he murdered” (line 535-9). Oedipus was destined by fate to kill his father and sleep with his mother.…