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Oedipus the King
At the beginning of Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus clearly sees it as his purpose in life to be the best leader he can. In his mind, this meant to be as close to his people as possible, especially when the play opens and the land being in trouble. This is clear in what he says to those who come to him with the problem of their suffering. Oedipus assures then that nobody suffers more than himself as king, because, while each citizen carries only his or her own suffering, Oedipus suffers not only for himself, but for all the others in his land as well.
As such, Oedipus also considers it his duty to do what he can to relieve the suffering of his people, which is why he sends Creon to the Delphi oracle for divine advice about how to remedy the situation. When Creon returns with news that Laius needs to be avenged, Oedipus is still filled with zeal about doing the right thing and helping his people out of his misery.
It is only when Tiresias begins to indicate that Oedipus himself may be the culprit that he becomes less than enthusiastic about his duty to help his people. This is a clear indication of his pride at the beginning of the play. Oedipus has...
Part of his reluctance to accept his guilt, at least initially, may also lie in the fact that he truly believes there can be no better leader for his people.
Hence, at the start of the play, Oedipus derives meaning from his life by being a good king and leader to his people. On a broader scale, one might interpret this to mean that a purpose of a man's life is to play the role assigned to him in life as well as possible and to the best of his ability. Perhaps this is also why Oedipus finds it so difficult to accept Tiresias' accusations. He has honestly tried to be as good a king as he could, and for a time, he succeeded. In the context of this, one can hardly blame him for his unwillingness to accept a wrong that he was unaware of committing at the time.
Medea by Euripides
Like Oedipus, Medea's initial purpose in life is positive. Falling in love with Jason, she abandons all she know to be with him and have his children. Her life with him starts with her complete devotion to her family. Also like Oedipus, however, this changes in reaction to the events around her. When Jason cheats on…
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
He complains that his name "is now begrimed and black" (3.3.384) and fears that Desdemona has made him a "fixed figure for the time of scorn" (4.2.53). His fears might be those of any man, insecure in his position, concerned about how he is viewed. Thus, both heroes are true to life in that each has his own particular faults, like any man. Aristotle's fourth condition of the tragic hero
His physical loss of sight is penance for the lack of insight he had at the start of the play. He has exchanged physical sight for mental insight into the truth. 4. Rhetorically, Oedipus uses the diction of a king at the beginning of a play. He plays the role of one in power, and of a person in full control of and with confidence in himself. When his people
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
At this point, no room is left for Oedipus's self-defense. He has dissolved from proud, father-like king to delusional denying maniac to an irrational, sorrowful self-abuser. At Colonus, the reader is given another glimpse into Oedipus's evolving character. Now, he is resigned to his fate, hating the fact that he must often retell his story. Still, he regains some of his pride, insisting his mistakes were not his fault.
Despite his love of the estate, the future is far better and far more promising than the Russia of the previous era. Another tragic feature of Ranevskaya's character that makes her uniquely 'modern' is that she knows her flaws. She admits that she squanders money, while Oedipus seems unaware of his arrogance until the very end of the play. Chekhov's subtlety as a playwright is that he knows that people