Oedipus Rex
Discuss why Oedipus is a tragedy (i.e. its elements)„X Man does not control his own destiny/fateOedipus as a tragic hero. „X Pride arrogance (characteristics) Oedipus is seen as a tragic hero in the play, a principal character, in a position of social importance being the King of Thebes. His downfall is the result of incidents beyond his control, and is rather the result of fate. In Oedipus Rex, it is not so much a hamartia that leads to his downfall, but more the role played by fate and destiny. His characteristic flaws of pride and arrogance don¡¦t so much contribute to his downfall, but play more the role of hastening it. From birth, a prophecy existed that he would kill his father and marry his mother, and so his downfall seems inevitable. When Oedipus at a party hears that he may not be his fathers son, he yearns to know more. He finally hears ¡§a tale of horror and misery¡¨ about how he must marry his mother and kill his father. Through his suffering, he gains more and more knowledge. In a similar way Laius tried to manipulate fate by having Oedipus¡¦s feet pierced and ankled together and sending a messenger to leave him on a . . .
The role of fate and destiny, and the impact of the prophecy is further seen when the reward for the person who destroys the pestilence brought on by the riddling sphinx is Jocasta, Laius¡¦s wife and Oedipus¡¦s mothers, hand in marriage. Tireasias in the play is a blind prophet given a depth of knowledge and the truth by the gods. As a result the worsened by Oedipus¡¦s punishment which is unfitting of the crime he committed. The gods in the play took advantage of his flaws, even though he displayed the qualities of a good man and a loving father and husband. He is banished from the city he loved and once rules, deprived of his eyesight, and humiliated. However the gods took advantage of his flaws and made them worse than the appeared to be, demonstrated by his harsh punishment, which is worse than he deserved. The tragedy of Oedipus is brought upon, not only by a flaw which occurred previously, but also because of his characteristics including his pride, uncontrollable and rash nature, his blindness from the truth and his attempt to manipulate truth. While much of the tragedy of Oedipus Rex resides in the protagonists flaws, Sophocles also raises the serious question of the treatment of man by gods. In addition, it is his blindness to the truth which causes him to be careless in what he says, setting the punishment as banishment, and portraying the killer as the enemy of society through his speech the people of Thebes ¡§If any of you know whose hand it was that killed Laius¡K. ¡§the leader roughly ordered me out of the way¡K It was the driver that thrust me aside and him I struck¡¨ Oedipus at that stage, had an idea about the prophecy, and so should have been careful about who he kills, and what he does, but his indiscriminate, violent and careless nature leads him to killing his own father over an incident only pride would cause. This worsened the tragedy, adding to his humiliation in end, as a result of his thoughtless accusations against Creon and Teiresias. May justice and all god be with you forever¡¨ Through portraying the killer as the enemy, when he discovered the truth, he knew his life was over, blinding himself forever, not being able to look any longer at his loved ones, or the places of his sins, but knowing the truth, a contrast to before. If Oedipus had any hamartia, it was his pride and anger.
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