Oedipus Ruin
Sophocles is perhaps one of the greatest tragedians ever. Sophocles said that a man should never consider himself fortunate unless he can look back on his life and remember that life without pain. For Oedipus Rex, looking back is impossible to do without pain. This pain stems from his prideful life. Oedipus is aware that he alone is responsible for his actions. Oedipus freely chooses to pursue and accept his own life's destruction. Even though fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his fidelity to the truth ruin him.Oedipus' pride, strung from his own heroic qualities, is one factor that ruined him. A hero prizes above all else his honor and the excellence of his life. When his honor is at stake, all other considerations become irrelevant. The hero "valued strength and skill, courage and determination, for these attributes enabled the person who possessed them to achieve glory and honor, both in his lifetime and after he died" (Rosenburg 38). Oedipus was certainly a hero who was exceptionally intelligent though one can argue that killing four men at Phokis single-handedly more than qualified him as a physical force of reckoning. He obv
As the truth unfolds, the people of Thebes see Oedipus "as prideful and overweening," and they "call on Zeus to correct his pride" (Sewall 36). He cannot live with a lie, and therefore must learn the truth behind the illusion he has lived for so long. Teiresias, Iokaste, and the herdsman all try to stop Oedipus, but he must read the last riddle, that of his own life. "The story of Oedipus fascinates us because of the spectacle of a man freely choosing, from the highest motives, a series of actions which lead to his ruin. Therefore, one can see Oedipus' need to uncover the truth about Laius and then about himself as proof of his commitment to uphold his own nature, pride. Oedipus' constant struggle to discover the truth for the sake of his people ruined him most in the end. World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics. The hero's conscious choice to pursue and accept his doom makes him a tragic figure.
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Acceptance Essays
