Oedipus the King

             Throughout history there have been many great tragedies written. To better understand a tragedy one must first know the rules of a tragedy. In every story or play there must be a noble hero, who inturn has a tragic flaw. The time period of most tragedies is within a twenty-four hour period and teaches an important lesson. Something bad, that causes chaos, happens to the hero to change the route of the story. The entire tragedy goes from order to chaos or a reversal of fortune takes place. This is known as peripateia. Oedipus the King follows all of these rules. Everything from the hero to the important lesson learned is in this tragedy written by Sophocles in 425 B.C.
             Oedipus the King takes place within a twenty-four hour period like most tragedies. The history line of the story is much longer but the actual events happen in one day. There is no concrete evidence of this, but by reading and looking for small clues one can tell. For example the phrase the next day or that morning or anything of that nature is never mentioned in the play. So one must take it as all of this happened in a short amount of time.
             In the tragedy Oedipus the King, the noble hero is Oedipus. He fits the qualities that a tragic hero must have. He was born of a King and Queen and has a tragic flaw. Oedipus's hamartia, tragic flaw, is his outrageous and quick temper. Without thought he quickly and aggressively verbally assaults other characters in the play. In the beginning of the play Oedipus scolds Teiresias, the blind prophet, after being accused for the responsibility of the curse. "Am I to bear this from him? – Damnation take you! Out of this place! Out of my sight!" He once again shouted anger toward Teiresias after being told about his father in an indirect way. "Your infantile riddles! Your damned abracadabra!" Because Oedipus does not understand or like what the prophet has told him, he attacks his knowled
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Oedipus the King . (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 05:25, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/63270.html