Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Oedipus as Tragic Hero
One of the greatest classics of all Western literature is Sophocle'sSophocles' trilogy The Oedipus Plays may be considered one of the greatest literary works of the Western world. In tThe second of these plays, Oedipus the King, the protagonist, Oedipus the King, is described by Sophocles as a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the characteristics of a tragic hero are - must be an influential person, is far from perfect, makes an error in judgment due to his or her own arrogance, and must suffer the consequences of his or her own actions. Aristotle points out that Oedipus' tragic flaw is excessive pride (hubris) and self-righteousness. - maybe this can be changed a bit to make a better thesis) Can you take these ideas and build a paragraph.
THESIS
Aristotle" s argument that Oedipus was the perfecta tragic hero is sound because Oedipus is noble but imperfect, his downfall is the result of a tragic flaw but his punishment is greater than his failure, and his tragic end is elevated by his own
...
Oedipus' tragic flaw is rooted in his stubborn pride and in ignorance. While many events within the play are not motivated by pride and are rather the work of the gods. It can be argued that thoughTrue, Oedipus kills Laius on the road, for refusing to give way on a narrow pass, but the fact that this happens to be his father cannot be attributed to a flaw in his characterhis stubbornness prevented him from allowing Laius to pass and that both men are at fault (Sophocles, 44). Furthermore, when he tries to find out who murdered Laius and restore peace and order to Thebes, his stubbornness does not allow him to see the truth. Even when Tiresias tells him, "I say, the murderer of the man/whose murder you pursue is you," Oedipus refuses to listen to what he Tiresias has said and instead tries to prove that he is wrong (21). As he continues to press for the truth, he does not realize, nor does he accept that King Polybus and Queen Merope were not his biological parents. Even when his wife/mother Jocasta pleads with him to stop pursuing the truth, warning him, "Do not proceed… I'm pleading for what's best for you," Oedipus' stubbornness, and possibly curiosity, prohibits him from doing so (59). It is this stubbornness that leads him to the truth and out of ignorance.
The first…
As a tragic hero therefore, Oedipus does not err because his character is somehow flawed. Instead, his inevitable fall is caused by an error of judgment: instead of accepting his own fate, he tries to find out the truth about his origin and thus begins the quest that will lead to his dramatic end. Oedipus' almost paranoid search for the truth of his birth shows him as a social nonconformist
Oedipus as Tragic Hero In most dramatic plays, tragedy usually strikes the protagonist of the play and leads him, or her, to experience devastating losses. While tragic instances can be avoided, there are other instances where one's fate and future is out of the protagonist's control. In Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles and first performed around 249 BC, Oedipus cannot escape his destiny and even though he tries to overcome
A short time later, Oedipus comes across Jocasta who has hung herself. He immediately blinds himself with her brooches in a fit of madness brought on by the recent developments. Oedipus ultimately seeks to banish himself out of the Kingdom to escape his reality and for the good of the people of Thebes. Conclusion Oedipus fits the classic model of an Aristotelian tragic hero very neatly. First, Oedipus exhibits and is
Oedipus the King: A Tragic Hero In the Bedford Introduction to Drama, Lee Jacobus writes, "Greek Tragedy focused on a person of noble birth who in some cases had risen to a great height and then fell precipitately." The modern critic, Kenneth Burke expands on this. He developed a pattern for these tragedies. Burke believes that that the tragic hero goes through three developmental stages, the first is purpose, the second
Arthur Miller was certainly aware of the nature of Greek tragedy and made a deliberate decision to use the structure of Greek drama as a basis for his play A View from the Bridge, as he had previously done for All My Sons. The central character, Eddie Carbone, fits well with the central figure in All My Sons and Death of a Salesman, being a family patriarch who has also
Tragic Hero begins with an examination of Oedipus Rex. But, while he is the archetype of this particular literary character, Hamlet is, perhaps, the most well developed and psychologically complex of tragic heroes. For the Greeks, all things in life are preordained, which is what makes for the tragedy of Oedipus - his attempt to make his own destiny. Over the course of time, however, while the form of