Oedipus
"Oedipus the King" is the story of one man's discovery, through his persistent questioning, that he is guilty of unwittingly killing his father and marrying his mother, and his horrific reaction to this discovery. Oedipus's own strengths, his pride, self-confidence, intelligence, power, and his quickness to anger, are eventually revealed as sources of his error and frailty, ending in his self-blinding. His mistakes through ignorance, his mistakes through excesses of temper and over-confidence, along with his unjustified suspicions against Tiresias and Creon, suspicions that go so far as to express the uncertainty of truth about the oracles, and his attempt to avoid his fate, are evidence of his frailties.Oedipus's psychological make-up made him a victim of his own frailties and subject to errors of judgment. He encountered situations in life that people never believe could possibly happen; situations like marrying his mother, killing his father, and unbearable anguish leading to the gouging out of his own eyes. He did these things because of the way he reacted to new information. Oedipus was emotional in his actions, and this caused him to make decisions that he would not have made if only he would have stopped and listened
Oedipus's hate and hot temper at critical moments contribute to his dire situation. His wife had just committed suicide, and he used her brooches to blind himself. People had to prove over and over to him that he was the source of the problem in order for him to assess himself. Once he found the truth, he lost control. Oedipus swept through life without finding out the complete answers to his questioning. In reacting emotionally, he overlooked that fact. He continued running and came to a city plagued by the Sphinx. This prophecy scared him enough to run away from the city where he was raised; thinking that removing himself from the vicinity of his presumed parents would avoid the possibility of the prophecy coming true. Having killed the king, a new curse plagued the city of Thebes. Works CitedSophocles. While he ran from his hometown, he encountered and killed a group of men on the road to Thebes. He had to know if this was the truth, so he went to Delphi and asked for the truth.
Common topics in this essay:
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Acceptance Essays
